09/26/2026
Please visit our Indigenous Art Installation, featuring local artists Cori Morin and Eileen Verdin.
Cori Morin - Metis Artisan
Cori was born in Alberta and journeyed to Ontario in 2005. Her grandfather was Ojibwe and as a child she was never able to identify as Indigenous. Cori grew up on an 80-acre deer, elk and ostrich big game ranch. Cori, her mother, father and sisters broke the land west of Edmonton in the Stony Plain region. They groomed, fenced, dug the well, built the barn, corrals, and moved their house onto the raw piece of land.
Cori began cross stitching as part of her pathway to sobriety having suffered a nervous breakdown seventeen years ago. Cori, a self-taught beading designer, beads daily as a way of healing her spirit and living her culture.
“I was never allowed to be me, to be Indigenous.”
Today, Cori is a proud Metis woman, living in Huntsville, who travels to pow wows and expresses her creativity and sense of self by way of designing and beading unique pieces of art.
“My pieces originate from who I am. My bloodline is Indigenous. I am proud of who I have become as an Indigenous woman in Canada.”
Eileen Verdin – Metis Artist
After raising a family and building her own photograph business Eileen and her husband moved to Huntsville in 2015. Muskoka has always been in her heart. From childhood summers spent on Skeleton Lake, to memories made with her own family at their cottage near Port Sydney. She now spends quality time with her granddaughter playing by the Muskoka River and creating art together in the studio.
Eileen finds inspiration for her acrylic paintings from her love of nature and her Metis culture, with particular respect for indigenous beading patterns. Through her art she wishes to honour her ancestors, their teaching and their resilient spirit. She hopes the observer forms their own personal connection to the piece and feels strength and joy from her use of bold colours.
Eileen was honoured to participate in the Indigenous Canoe Mural project for Huntsville Festival of the Arts in 2025. Other works by Eileen can be seen in occasional exhibits at the Muskoka Discovery Centre, vendor markets and creative ventures with Hope Arises Project Inc.