Pamela E. Witcher
Artist
Pamela continues her multidisciplinary practice from her home, working across signed music, theatre direction, and collaborative performance. She has contributed to major productions, conferences, and cultural initiatives across Canada and internationally.
In addition to her artistic work, Pamela remains active in leadership, mentorship, and advocacy within the Deaf and arts communities, continuing to influence conversations around accessibility and inclusion. She also remains closely connected to the Braid Studios community.
Artist Statement
An overlaps of old and new discoveries that have the power to change views and ideas around social marginalization and injustice is Pamela’s motivation. Pamela proclaims ,“When Deaf communities create information through art and documentation, our story and existence becomes concrete, known and valued.” Pamela creates in numerous artistic realms, one influences the other and art lays bare the dynamics of oppression and the strength and story of Deaf peoplehood. Pamela’s artistic expertise includes visual art, videography, and signed music.
As a multidisciplinary artist, Pamela’s works show that Pamela enjoys exploring and playing with various mediums. Those mediums bring life to Pamela’s mysterious bluntnesses that simultaneously please and disturb the viewers. Pamela’s exploration process is to plunge into the unknown, the pleasure and discomfort in creating. Pamela often does not know the creation journey, what the processes will turn out to be or how the final works will end. Pamela’s works could be categorized, as described by many: Avant-Garde, Existentialism and De’Via.
Biography
Pamela is a visual artist having exhibited artworks at numerous galleries, including the Dyers Gallery, Retrospective 2001-2011, Invited International Artist, Solo Exhibition 2011 and DEAF CULTURE CENTRE, Diverse Lives: Deaf Women Artists, Special Exhibition 2007-2008 and as cultural mediator, having planned and implemented the renowned exhibit, People of the Eye, 160 years in the history of the Deaf community, 2014-2016. Pamela served as Arts Coordinator, Deaf Canada Conference, Quebec City, 2004-2006 that engaged Canadian Deaf artists, filmmakers, and performers of all ages and various backgrounds. Pamela received a diploma of college studies in Applied Museum Studies, Collège Montmorency, Quebec, 2013, academic studies that followed a Bachelors in Social Work, McGill University, Quebec, 1998. Pamela served as museum technician at Écomusée du fier monde among various museums from 2011 to 2016.
Pamela’s Signed Music works have been featured on live stage at Phenomena Festival (Montréal, QC, 2022 & 2019); Les drags te font signer (Montréal, QC, 2017); Edinburgh International Book Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland, 2016); Signed Music: A Symphonious Odyssey (Towson, MD, 2015) and Par les mains pour les yeux (Montréal, QC, 2013). Pamela’s signed music video works are featured online as a medium that presents signed music from another perspective for audiences to process and appreciate. Featured signed music video clips such as I Honour you (2020); Be Kind (2020); Up and down frequency (2018); BRAVO ! (2013); and, Experimental Clip (2009) can be seen on Pamela’s YouTube Channel.
Pamela has been involved in numerous panel discussions, workshops, mentorships and documentary interviews on signed music such as the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) Conference (2023); Resonance (2023); Les pratiques et esthétiques des artistes de la diversité capacitaire (2022); Parition/Ensemble Conference (2020); and Signed Music Rhythm of the Heart Documentary (2015). Pamela also served as Signed Music Specialist for the first full feature signed musical, The Black Drum, Soulpepper, Canada; selected as featured performance for Clin D’Oeil Festival, France, 2019. Pamela’s published works include the following collaborative papers: Cripps, J. H. et al (2022), Cripps, J. H et al (2022), and Witcher, P. E. et al (2021). Pamela is also known for directing theatre. Pamela is currently Director Assistant, The Sound of Dogs, Montreal, (2022 – present); Director, Deaf Culture, Speaking Vibrations, Ottawa (2022 – present) and Director, Signed Music, The Real Us, CCSD Co-Production, Canada, (2024).
Pamela has vast experience as a nation-wide community relations manager. Pamela has served on the Peer Assessment Committee of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario; Inclusive Design Advisory Council for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR), Manitoba and Video Relay Service (VRS) and Rally Organizing Committee, Quebec. Pamela received Audism Training from Gary Malkowski in 2012, and has provided ongoing workshops, presentations, and trainings on topics such as audism and intersectional experiences, hearing privilege and supremacy, and the dynamics of oppression and inequities, and solutions. Pamela has received three relevant awards: Enterprise of the year, Council of Canadians with Disabilities (2014); Les sciences humaines changent le monde, Conseil de diplômés de la Faculté des sciences humaines, UQAM (2013); and, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012). With versatility and expertise, Pamela’s passion underlies her artivism, visual and performing arts, videography, written and filmed documentaries and publications.
