Last Chance To Apply: Calls for submissions!

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Get your Summer work deadlines sorted and start booking new projects and residencies before the nice weather arrives. Apply now! 

Outside The Box (City Of Toronto) - April 30 2018

World Of Threads Festival - April 30 2018

Career Launcher Prize 2018 – MAY 11 2018

OUTSIDE THE BOX - Traffic Box Proposal City Of Toronto - APRIL 30 2018

The Outside the Box program provides an opportunity for local artists to create works of art on traffic signal boxes across Toronto. Since 2013, over 350 boxes have been hand-painted by local artists, or wrapped featuring designs by local graphic artists, and transformed into extraordinary works of art. Artists and graphic designers applying to this program are encouraged to consider the context of the local area and the city as a whole. Art calls for hand-painted boxes, and graphic designs for wrapped boxes, are issued separately.

Eligibility & How to Apply

  • Applicants must reside in the City of Toronto.
  • Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
  • City of Toronto employees are not eligible to apply.

Finished works will be on functioning City of Toronto equipment that will need repair or replacing at some point in time. The City therefore cannot guarantee the duration of use of each traffic signal box. Artists and graphic designers should also be aware that traffic signal boxes are often targets for vandalism. Although the City will protect the artwork with a vandal-resistant clear coat or wrap, it cannot guarantee that vandalized traffic signal boxes will be repaired and the artwork restored to its original state. Artists must accept the risk that their artwork may be damaged, altered, or removed at any time after completion.

See here for Application Form and Traffic Box Dimensions.

WORLD OF THREADS FESTIVAL - OAKVILLE - Due APRIL 30 2018

Festival Dates: October 13, 2018 – November 25, 2018

Opening Reception: October 20, 2018

Artists from around the world are invited to submit bodies of work, installations or individual pieces to the festival. The curators will draw from the pool of submissions to create different thematic group exhibitions. We also mount dozens of solo shows.

Something that’s different about World of Threads Festival is that we let the art guide us. We don’t have predetermined curatorial ideas or impose our concepts on the artists. Each festival is a blank slate. Shows develop entirely out of the submissions received. Your work might inspire an entire exhibition! For Festivals 2016, 2014 and 2012 we curated using this process and it worked very successfully. Don’t assume what kind of exhibitions we will mount based on our past shows. Remember that they’re based on what the artists submit. So Festival 2018 could look very different. We’re also open to work that is not made of fibre materials but instead uses techniques of fibre like sewing and weaving or evokes fibre processes or aesthetics.

Festival 2018 will be focused around Queen Elisabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. In addition to the beautiful gallery, we will also be using the Display Area Gallery, the Corridor Galleries, lobby and open public spaces of the entire facility.

Your work may be for sale and we will try to sell it. There will be a 40% commission on any sales.

Fibre Artist Interviews: Some artists who are accepted will be invited to participate in our interview series.

Three Options for Submitting

Body of Work – Maximum 10 pieces + details.

Individual Pieces – Maximum 10 pieces + details.

Installations – Maximum 10 images + details and renderings.

Festival Background

The World of Threads Festival is a leading international showcase of contemporary fibre and textile art. We are a not-for-profit initiative with charitable status run by a couple of dedicated volunteers. The Festival is ambitious and constantly expanding into new territory. We believe that some of the most exciting and compelling artwork being made today is happening in the field of fibre arts. Through our initiatives we have discovered some remarkable artists and brought them to the attention of Canadian and international audiences.

We began in Oakville, Ontario in 1994 as a single exhibition, expanding to a full festival in 1998 and becoming international in 2009. Festival 2016 had 315 artworks by 134 artists from 23 countries. The festival draws visitors from across the region and internationally and has featured work submitted by hundreds of artists from around the world. Festival 2016 attracted more than 60,000 visitors. In 2015 Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate won the Oakville Arts Council 2015 Community Impact Arts Award, for bringing global attention to Oakville and elevating the fibre/textile art form around the world.

Our website has become a central hub for lovers of fibre art with our Fibre Artist Interviews series. We currently have a following in 95 countries. To date we have conducted over 135 interviews with Canadian and international artists. We encourage you to spend some time on our website to see what we have done in the past. For some examples of previous artists and exhibitions look under Artwork or check out our Artist Interviews and Curator Interviews.We are working on getting the albums up from the last festival.

CAREER LAUNCHER PRIZE - 401 RICHMOND - Due MAY 11 2018 5pm

Each year, 401 Richmond Street West welcomes an emerging artist into its community through the 401 Richmond Career Launcher Prize. The Career Launcher Prize provides an exceptional opportunity to occupy a coveted 500 ft2 studio for one year at 401 Richmond Street West, one of Canada’s most dynamic arts facilities. The award recipient will become part of a unique community of artists, cultural producers, creative pioneers, passionate activists and social entrepreneurs. The recipient is chosen from a Toronto-wide competition by a panel of visual arts professionals. The Career Launcher Prize has been presented annually since 2000 as a way of providing space and support for research and experimentation at a critical time in an emerging artist’s career.

Who is eligible?

  • Priority will be given to recent graduates of Toronto post-secondary fine arts programs (or equivalent), although all early career artists (less than 3 years as a professional artist) will be considered.
  • Applicants must have participated in at least one formal exhibition (school-based exhibitions are acceptable).
  • The juried selection process is based on the quality of the candidate’s work but will favour those who are strongly self-motivated, who show originality, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to developing their practice for the duration of the residency.
  • There is no age restriction for this award.

Duration

  • 12 months (September – August)

How to apply

Candidates must provide:

  • Full contact details
  • An artist’s statement
  • A résumé or curriculum vitae
  • A Letter of Intent (1-page maximum) including an overview of expected professional outcomes of the residency
  • Documentation of recent work. These should be audio/visual items on a USB.(please note that all support material will be discarded after the selection process)

Applications and supporting documents should be submitted to:

Career Launcher Prize
c/o Urbanspace Property Group
Studio 111, 401 Richmond Street West
Toronto ON
M5V 3A8

Deadline for applications is 5pm May 11 2018. No applications will be accepted after this date. Prize recipient will be notified by end of June 2018.

Assessment Process

A panel of Toronto arts professionals drawn from the rich pool of expertise at 401 Richmond and beyond, including visual and media artists, arts presenters, curators and critics, will review all applications. Final decisions are made based on the quality of the applicant’s demonstrated practice and the expected value a residency at 401 Richmond would bring to the candidate’s career trajectory. Consideration is given to how effectively the candidate would integrate into the 401 Richmond community. The assessment panel will also be available as advisors and mentors for the recipient during their year-long tenure in the studio, to discuss developments in the work and to share professional insights.

Conditions and Considerations

  • The prize recipient will be asked to sign a lease agreement which clarifies the rules and regulations of tenancy at 401 Richmond Street West.
  • Use of the studio is intended for the recipient only, and is non-transferable. The studio will be available 24 hours a day for one year, at which point it will be turned over to the next recipient. It is expected that the recipient will occupy the space for the full year.
  • Studio space is for working only; it is not to be lived in. Activities that require special ventilation or that make excessive noise are not permitted in the building. The recipient must be respectful of the building and its other occupants.
  • 401 Richmond will commission or select a work from the recipient for the 401 Richmond Permanent Collection (up to $1000). Recipients are asked to host an entrance and an exit exhibition of their work in the space, as a way of connecting with the 401 Richmond community. The successful candidate will receive exposure for their work through the 401 Richmond Update Newsletter.

Past Recipients

Sarah Blagg (2000), Angie Nishikihama (2001), Sarah Lowry (2002), Emma Shankland (2003), Kristine Moran (2004), Emmy Skensved (2005), Adam Brandejs (2006), Gareth Bate (2007), Nikki Woolsey (2008), Angela Noussis (2009), Winnie Truong (2010), Chelsea Jamieson (2011), Graham Curry (2012), Kerry Zentner (2013), Erin MacKeen (2014), Kelly Uyeda (2016), and Ellen Bleiwas (2017)

About 401 Richmond

401 Richmond is an early 20th century industrial building that was transformed in 1994 into a vibrant home for artists’, galleries, film festivals, charities, not-for-profits, magazines, architects, theatre groups and design firms. The building’s renewal, over 20 years ago, was inspired by author Jane Jacobs’ observation that “new ideas need old buildings” and the importance of diversity and mixed-uses in the city.

For more information please contact Careerlauncherprize@urbanspace.org

Introducing our Akin Vitrine Gallery artists for the month of April - Sarvenaz Rayati and Jill Smith

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** Please note that both exhibitions run for the entire month of April. **

Akin Dupont Current Exhibition:

'mother / rhythm' by Jill Smith - April 2018 / May 2018

Introducing our April / May 2018 artist, Jill Smith. Jill is an Akin Dupont member, and her new work 'mother / rhythm' is on exhibition in the Akin Vitrine Galleries for the months of April and June. 
 
Transforming space into narrative, 'mother / rhythm' presents a series of bodily sculptures that come together to explore complex power-based relationships. This installation emphasizes materiality, scale, and gesture as elements that have the ability to relate to human forms and body movement. Primarily using clay and concrete, mother / rhythm demonstrates a compassionate, yet commanding relationship between ambiguous material bodies.
 
Jill Smith is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto, Ontario (b.1995) and recently completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honors Specialization in Studio Art) At Western University. Her most recent work explores the fragility and absurdity of the body and mind, as well as the connective possibilities of materiality. Smith has exhibited work in galleries across Ontario, such as the Artlab Gallery, Forest City Gallery, The Arts Project, Open Studio, and Earl Selkirk Gallery at ARTiculations, as well as Friends and Neighbours Gallery in Montreal, Quebec. She has recently participated in artist residency programs at Sparkbox Studio in Picton, ON (May 2017) and at AGA LAB in Amsterdam, NL (September 2017). Currently, she is a member of the AGO Youth Council, and has upcoming residencies with Graven Feather and Artscape Gibraltar.

'mother / rhythm'
mixed media
2018
dimensions available

'mother / rhythm' will be on view for the month of April in our Dupont Akin Vitrine Gallery, located in the Clock Factory Building at 1485 Dupont Street (entrance on Campbell Avenue). Find Akin Studio 215 on the second floor and follow the sign into the hallway around the corner. The building is open from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday.
 
The exhibition will then travel to the Akin St. Clair Vitrine Gallery and be on view for the month of April at 1747 St. Clair Avenue West. Gallery is street level and can be viewed at any time.
 
To contact the artist:
www.jillpaulinesmith.ca
Instagram: @very.petite
#Akinvitrine

For more information about Jill Smith and her work, follow our Instagram account @akinvitrine.

Akin St Clair Current Exhibition:

'The Embrace' by Sarvenaz Rayati - April 2018

Introducing our April 2018 Akin St Clair Vitrine Gallery artist, Sarvenaz Rayati. Sarvenaz is a multidisciplinary artist and an Akin Lansdowne studio member, . Her new installation 'The Embrace' will be on exhibition at the Akin St Clair Vitrine Gallery. Her work discusses ones love or longing for nature, particular mountains and trees.

'The Embrace'
mixed media
2018
dimensions available
 
The Embrace will be on view for the month of April in our Akin St. Clair Vitrine Gallery at 1747 St. Clair Avenue West. Gallery is street level and can be viewed at any time.
 
To contact the artist:
www.sarvenaz-rayati.com
Instagram: @sarvenaz_ray
#Akinvitrine