To celebrate Pride and Indigenous History Month, our logo is getting a colourful makeover

Every month, we feature a new take on the CBC Arts logo created by a Canadian artist. Check out our previous logos!

Sheri Osden Nault has an extensive resumé. The two-spirit artist is an illustrator, educator, tattooer and community activist — and they can add one more title to that list. As of this June, they're also CBC Arts' logo designer.

Nault created this illustration, which will be appearing on our social media pages for Pride Month. We reached out by email to learn more about the design and Nault's work as an artist. Read on!

Name: Sheri Osden Nault

Age: 33

Homebase: I currently live and create on the lands of the Anishinaabek Nation, home of the Three Fires Confederacy and near the Delaware Nation in a region also known as Chatham-Kent, Ont.

Let's talk about your logo! What's the concept driving the design?

So, some of the work I do focuses on community care and support for two-spirit youth. What "two-spirit" means varies greatly between Indigenous communities and individuals, but it always speaks to being both queer and Indigenous. I am two-spirit. I wanted to create a logo that would bring queerness and Indigeneity together in a specifically two-spirit way that might remind those who see it that queer and trans people are sacred.

The main imagery is a sweetgrass braid and tobacco flowers. CBC asked me to include rainbow for Pride, and I chose to go further and ensure I was using the intersectional Pride colours, acknowledging the emphasis on Black, Brown and transgender presence in Pride. One of the flowers specifically includes the colours of the intersex flag. I wanted no one to be left out. 

What's the project you're most proud of?

Probably Gifts for Two-Spirit Youth. It's a community project that brings together the work of many creators to send packages to queer Indigenous youth each winter. We completed our second year in February and plan to keep going. It's all volunteer labour (except where we've been able to pay two-spirit youth to contribute) and donation-based. It's a lot of work, but it's work that means a lot. 

What's your favourite place to see art? 

Everywhere! Anywhere! I love art in all its forms — from the gallery to graffiti on the streets, public art installations and more. There are so many non-profit art galleries all over the place that don't charge any entrance fees. I encourage anyone to explore what's around them. 

Who's the last artist you discovered online?

The most recent person whose work has really stuck with me is Sharon Norwood. I think she makes really compelling and beautiful work that might challenge some folks in important ways. 

What work of art do you wish you owned? 

I'd love to have a Mike MacDonald butterfly garden. The responsiveness to local ecology and the needs of pollinators is so beautiful. It would be such a dream to live somewhere with one of those gardens. 

Anything new that you can tell us about? What are you working on these days?

I have work in the Winnipeg Art Gallery right now as part of the exhibition Kwaata-nihtaawakihk. I'll be attending Blood Lines Indigenous Tattoo Symposium as an artist and tattooer at the end of the month, and other things are always on the horizon. I'm best at sharing what I get up to on my Instagram. 

Where else can we see more from you?

My website has more projects being added to it at the moment, but it's a great starting point, and I'm @so_nault on Instagram and Tiktok. On Instagram, I share what I'm up to; on Tiktok, I share some of the processes I go through in my creative work. 

This conversation has been edited and condensed.