On display from October 11 – November 21, 2026 in The Sunroom at Central Library, Picturing Grief by Susan MacLeod and Savannah Tries.
About the Exhibit
What does grief look like to you?
We each experience grief in our own ways. It comes in many shapes and sizes. We can grieve human or animal deaths, as well as changes in health, roles, jobs, our climate, and dreams. Perhaps that is why grief is so often misunderstood. When grief is misunderstood, we can do harm to ourselves, and to other grievers.
Grief literacy is a grass-roots movement that is working to reduce the possibilities of this harm by helping community members to better understand their own and other people’s experience of grief.
Picturing Grief is an exhibition of comics and visual storytelling that presents works from Co-Cartoonists-in-Residence at Grief Matters: Susan MacLeod and Savannah Tries. By using comics to support grief literacy they aim to make grief visible - inviting conversations that normalize and broaden our experiences of grief to shape, teach and connect us all.
Grief Matters is a Canadian charitable organization that aims to improve how we understand and make room for grief, using creative, community-based activities. More information can be found at griefmatters.ca.
We would like to acknowledge Hospice Halifax, Sparrow Hair Inc, and Propeller Brewing Co. for their generous support of this exhibition.
We respectfully recognize and acknowledge the relationship that the First Nations, Inuit and Métis across Canada have with the land and each territory.
About the Artists
Susan MacLeod is a Nova Scotian artist writing and drawing about health care issues. Her book, Dying for Attention, follows her nine-year journey shepherding her mother through a callous long-term care system, which inspired her interest in end-of-life issues. Her illustrations have been published by Kaiser Permanente, Halifax Magazine, Lion’s Roar Magazine, Maisonneuve, The Fold, and The Globe and Mail.
Follow her on Instagram @susanmacleodstudio, opens a new window and at susanmacleod.ca, opens a new window
Savannah Tries is an artist and writer originally from Alberta, now based in Halifax. Her artwork and comics have been featured in various galleries by the Alberta Society of Artists and in publications including Renegade Arts Entertainment and the Society for Northern Alberta Print-Artists. She is drawn to visual storytelling in all forms and is grateful to support grief literacy through her comics as the Co-Cartoonist-in-Residence at Grief Matters.
Follow her on Instagram @savannahtriesart, opens a new window
Please join us for a reception
Tuesday, October 20 | 6:00-7:30pm
The Sunroom | Floor 5
Halifax Central Library
We hope you will join us to celebrate creativity, embrace curiosity, and be inspired by budding and celebrated artists from our community.
The Sunroom is made possible by the generosity of Margot and Layne Spafford.
Add a comment to: In The Sunroom: Picturing Grief