Transcript: 2025 CIBC C2 Art Program — Delali Cofie and Natia Lemay
[Music playing.]
[Artist Natia Lemay sitting on the floor of her studio, working on a piece with a knife. There is a wall behind her with two large windows that look out to a brick building. There are two large black decorative circles on the wall between the two large windows. Long lighting fixtures are hanging from the ceiling. There is a desk and an open concept black shelf against the wall with the windows, each having various art supplies and other items on them. There is a small couch against the wall to the right of the shelf, on the right side of the screen. There is a chair in front of the desk on the left side of the screen, and a chair in front of the shelf near the right side of the screen. There are more art supplies on the floor to the right of Natia.]
[Natia Lemay.]
[CIBC logo.]
[Natia standing and painting on a large circular canvas on the wall. Behind her and to the left of the screen is a wall with a window. In the forefront of the shot, there is a desk with cups holding paint brushes, and various other art supplies. There are large circular canvases on the floor behind Natia, on the left of the screen, against the wall with the window. There is a large canvas on the floor against the wall that Natia is standing in front of.]
[A close-up of one of Natia’s paintings of a woman’s face and shoulder as the woman is laying on or against an object.]
[Another close-up of one of Natia’s paintings of the profile view of a woman’s face and shoulder.]
>> Natia Lemay: I think the goal is when I make a piece of work, I just want people to feel something, and I want them to see the ways in which we're interconnected.
[A shot of photographer Delali Cofie holding his camera.]
[Delali Cofie.]
[A close-up of Delali’s camera taking a photo.]
[Delali in his studio photographing a model, who is standing in front of a white backdrop. The model is wearing a long flowing colourful dress. The studio has brick walls with large arched windows on the left of the screen. There is a desk and various other items against the bricked wall with the windows, on the left side of the screen.]
>> Delali Cofie: Art is just a way of life. It's a way to process emotions. I hope it brings us closer together as people.
[A gallery wall on the left side of the screen, with two large paintings hanging on the wall in the forefront, and two smaller paintings hanging on the wall near the end of the wall in the background. There are large windows in the background.]
[C2 Art Program: 2025 Recipients.]
[Claudette Knight sits in the gallery and speaks to the camera. On both her left and right side are walls with paintings on them.]
[Claudette Knight, VP, Special Initiatives, PC&B.]
[A close-up of Claudette sitting in the gallery and speaking to the camera, with a wall with paintings behind her.]
>> Claudette Knight: The C2 Art Program is a national art competition aimed at supporting emerging artists in Canada.
[A close-up of Natia mixing paint on a surface. There are also small tubes of paint on the surface that she is mixing on.]
[A close-up of Delali wrapping a package of film.]
[A close-up of Natia’s paint brush and the canvas as she paints on it.]
[A close-up of Delali adjusting his camera.]
[A close-up of Natia as she paints on the canvas on the wall in front of her.]
[Anna Bullock sits in the gallery and speaks to the camera. On her left side is a wall with paintings hanging on them.]
[Anna Bullock, Senior Art Curator & Manager.]
[A close-up shot of Delali taking a photo with his camera. ]
[Delali in his studio photographing the same model from a different angle. The bricked wall and the large arched windows are in the rear of the shot.]
[A close-up of Natia from her hands down as she sits on the floor of her studio shaving a block of wood. There is a block of wood near the bottom left of the screen, and wood shavings in front of her at the bottom of the screen.]
[A shot of Natia shaving the block of wood.]
[Anna Bullock sitting in the gallery and speaking to the camera. On her left side is a wall with paintings hanging on them.]
[A close-up of Anna sitting in the gallery and speaking to the camera, with a wall of paintings on it to the left.]
>> Claudette Knight: Each year we select two finalists and we host an exhibition for them here at CIBC Square.
>> Anna Bullock: What makes the C2 Art Program unique is that we provide artists with financial support to actually create a new body of work. Our goal with this program was really to provide artists with an opportunity to bring forward these ambitious ideas that they may not have been able to in the past.
[One of Delali’s photographs of a Ghanaian man in front of a painted background.]
[A close-up of one of Delali’s photographs of a Black bearded man wearing blond braids.]
[One of Delali’s photographs of four Black women in Ghanaian clothing.]
[One of Delali’s photographs of a group of Black people in Ghanaian clothing in front of a sculpted object.]
[Delali seated in his studio and speaking to the camera. A brick wall with windows is on the right side of the screen.]
[Delali Cofie, C2 Art Program Recipient, 2025.]
>> Delali Cofie: A lot of my artwork, I find, is tied to Ghana. Ghana’s my emotional anchor. For the C2 exhibit, I'm exploring themes of fantasy and imagining the household as a stage where stories come alive.
[Delali and another man are doing installation work in the gallery. There is a patterned wall behind them on the right side of the screen, and large windows in the background. There are boxes and a red banner in the background.]
[A man hanging Delali’s framed photographs on the wall.]
[Delali and another man are doing installation work in the gallery. Delali is standing in front of a large brown wooden cabinet. There are a framed poster and a wooden shelf on the wall, and an open box and a large window in the background. There is also a red banner with the CIBC logo and the word “Welcome” on it.]
[Delali seated in his studio and speaking to the camera. A brick wall with windows is on the right side of the screen.]
[One of Delali’s photographs of a Black man’s face. The man helping with the installation is on the right side of the screen.]
[Delali and the man helping with the installation are in front of the large brown wooden cabinet which is on the left side of the screen. Delali is seen through the cabinet door. There is a patterned wall behind them.]
>> Delali Cofie: My art practice is rooted in storytelling, whether it's of everyday life and real people, or something more fantastical that explores human identity through imagined worlds and realities.
[The man helping Natia with the installation in the gallery. There is a large painting on the wall behind them.]
[Two people are shown hanging one of Natia’s large paintings on the wall.]
[Natia’s smaller paintings are shown on the floor on a large cloth leaning against the wall near the right side of the screen. The person helping with the installation is in the background hanging one of the small paintings on the wall.]
[Natia seated in her studio speaking to the camera. A circular painting is on the wall behind her. There are canvases on the floor against the wall in the background on the left side of the screen.]
[Natia Lemay, C2 Art Program Recipient, 2025.]
>> Natia Lemay: For the C2 Program, I'm working on a collection of large-scale paintings and small-scale paintings, along with three sculptures that are both stone and wood.
[Natia in the gallery in front of a counter with a brown sculptured bowl on it. A woman is in the background.]
[Natia checking a detail on her large painting on the wall in the gallery. There are large windows in the background.]
[Natia seated in her studio speaking to the camera. A circular painting is on the wall behind her. There are canvases on the floor against the wall in the background.]
[Natia and another woman are installing one of her small paintings in a wooden setting.]
[A man hanging Natia’s small paintings on a wall. There is a box with a ladder and other items in the background.]
>> Natia Lemay: Art, for me, is a therapeutic practice. I've always said, “If I connect with it, there's at least one other person that will connect with it,” and I just want people to see the ways in which we're interconnected.
[Delali doing installation work at the gallery. Behind him is a wall with framed photographs on it.]
[Anna Bullock sitting in the gallery and speaking to the camera. On her left side is a wall with paintings hanging on them.]
[A close-up of Anna sitting in the gallery and speaking to the camera, with a wall of paintings on it to the left.]
[Two men are setting up the large brown wooden cabinet against the wall in the gallery.]
[Delali and another man are speaking to each other in the gallery. There are Delali’s framed photographs on the wall behind them.]
>> Anna Bullock: I think the two artists’ work really speak to each other. It's really a lot about storytelling and the different ways that that can affect a person.
[Two men are putting together an installation in front of a gallery wall as Natia looks on.]
[Natia setting up an installation in the gallery. There are paintings on the wall behind her.]
[Natia setting up the installation in the gallery. There are paintings hanging on the wall behind her. The brown sculpted bowl is set up behind her.]
[Natia seated in her studio speaking to the camera. A circular painting is on the wall behind her. There are canvases on the floor against the wall in the background.]
[A close-up of Natia seated in her studio speaking to the camera.]
>> Natia Lemay: I think that if somebody goes into a show of mine and they can feel as if they've been seen by the work, then, that’s the goal. That’s the most important thing that they walk away with.
[Delali standing in the gallery between two of his framed photographs on the wall behind him.]
[Delali setting up an installation in the gallery as another man looks on. There are large windows and a red banner in the background.]
[Delali setting up the large brown wooden cabinet in the gallery.]
[Delali seated in his studio and speaking to the camera. A brick wall with windows is on the right side of the screen.]
[A close-up of Delali seated in his studio speaking to the camera.]
>> Delali Cofie: Winning the C2 award has allowed me to be more ambitious, knowing that there's the right resources and safety net and team of people in my corner.
[Natia in the gallery blowing into the sculpted brown bowl, then setting it down on a thick matching surface.]
[Natia seated in her studio speaking to the camera. A circular painting is on the wall behind her. There are canvases on the floor against the wall in the background.]
[Natia taking a close look at her large painting on the gallery wall.]
[A close-up of one of Natia’s paintings of black-stroked green leaves.]
[A close-up of Natia seated in her studio speaking to the camera.]
>> Natia Lemay: Being the recipient of C2 has allowed me to experiment with new techniques that perhaps I wouldn't normally find the time to do. It's giving me the opportunity to be able to play a lot more than I have had in the past couple of years.
[A close-up of one of Delali’s photographs of a Black man’s face.]
[A close-up of one of Natia’s paintings of a woman reaching out to her mirror reflection.]
[Claudette Knight sits in the gallery and speaks to the camera. On both her left and right side are walls with paintings on them.]
>> Claudette Knight: This program is a reflection of our belief as a bank that art really matters. We're really proud to be supporting rich, diverse and connected communities in this way.
[An aisle of the gallery with large pieces on the wall, as well as sculptures on podiums on the wall.]
[Exhibitions on view, October 2025 to January 2026, CIBC Square.]
[The CIBC logo. ®The CIBC logo is a registered trademark of CIBC.]