Shandy Browett
Hope Alley
2026: “Hope Alley” is a collaborative community arts initiative that seeks to transform an overlooked downtown Winnipeg alley into a vibrant public space centered on the theme of hope. Located between two church buildings in Winnipeg’s urban core, the project will engage church members, residents, artists, schools, and community organizations in a series of creative workshops and neighborhood art activities that will collectively inform the design of a large-scale public mural. Through storytelling, collaborative art-making, and community engagement initiatives, participants will explore themes of hope, resilience, belonging, and community connection. Ideas and imagery gathered throughout the process will be incorporated into the final mural design, ensuring the completed artwork reflects the voices and experiences of the surrounding neighbourhood. In addition to beautifying a neglected urban space, the “Hope Alley” project aims to strengthen relationships between the church and surrounding community through accessible and participatory public art.
Shandy Browett serves as the Community Engagement Director at Calvary Temple Church in downtown Winnipeg, where she brings together faith, creativity, and community. She is currently completing a Master of Divinity degree through NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, where her studies continue to shape her perspective and ministry as it relates to reconciliation, radical hospitality, and asset-based community development.
As a multidisciplinary creative, Shandy enjoys integrating visual art, storytelling, music, and cultural art forms into her community engagement and ministry, creating spaces where people can encounter beauty, belonging, and one another. Her work is rooted in building relationships across cultures and communities, with a desire to see neighbourhoods flourish through creativity, compassion, and the love of Christ.
Congregations and Communities grants provide support for urban pastors, churches, faith-based community organizations, and theological institutions to share resources, ideas, and practices for life-giving ministry in cities across North America. We are truly inspired by the commitment of these churches, educational institutions, and community organizations.
Heavenly Father, Thank you for the city of Winnipeg, a gathering place of many nations for centuries. I ask that you would bring comfort to the weary, hope for the hurting, and peace to our communities. May your church be united in love, attentive to the leading of your Spirit, and faithful in serving as your hands and feet. Help us to walk in truth, love and humility, in the name of Jesus, Amen.