Art Tours & Talks

Put the map away.
Let’s explore the fair differently.

Together, we’ll walk through Nathan Phillips Square and discover artworks, artists, and unexpected conversations along the way.

With a few simple prompts, let curiosity guide you through the aisles of Toronto Outdoor Art Fair 2026.

No need to follow a plan, just take your time, look closely, ask questions, and meet the francophone artists of the Fair.

Dyana Ouvrard is a curator and the Executive and Artistic Director of Le Labo, Toronto’s francophone media arts centre. Her curatorial practice is rooted in geography, interdisciplinary approaches, and a deep attentiveness to the dynamics of public space.

Founder of The New Other, Kristofer Sakamoto-Marshall spotlights artists whose work tells personal, powerful stories that shift something in you.

Kristofer Sakamoto-Marshall is the Founder of the nomadic gallery, The New Other. He curates programming that highlights the diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in Canada in order to facilitate dialogue, while fostering a greater sense of connection and community. Sakamoto-Marshall has presented independent exhibitions and shown at art fairs in Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles. At Art Toronto 2025, Sakamoto-Marshall won the Next Award, which recognizes galleries in their formative years making significant contributions to the contemporary art landscape through bold programming, artist development, and innovative approaches to gallery practice from the next generation of art world leaders. He has successfully placed works in private, corporate, and institutional collections.

Curator and art dealer Myta Sayo makes collecting feel personal. She spotlights emerging and established artists whose work makes you want more art in your life. 

Myta Sayo is a Toronto-based art dealer and studio manager at Kal Mansur Studio. She has overseen the production and placement of large-scale commissions for corporate and hospitality projects worldwide and has presented works at major art fairs in Toronto, New York, and Miami. In 2025, she was curator of Art Nest at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. Through her advisory platform, Myta Sayo Research Projects (MSRP), she collaborates with artists, collectors, designers, and institutions to place works, develop commissions, and organize exhibitions.

Director of Development and Programming at the Textile Museum of Canada and Founder of IC Contemporary, Ignazio Nicastro spotlights breakout artists whose work invites you to look closer.

Ignazio Colt Nicastro is the Director of Development and Programming at the Textile Museum, alongside founding and curating IC Contemporary. With over five years of professional experience, Nicastro has curated exhibitions that explore themes of queer identity, intersectionality, migration, diaspora, and cultural diversity. Through his work, Nicastro creates platforms for emerging and underrepresented artists to navigate personal, political, and social inquiries, transforming lived experiences into profound artistic expressions. Nicastro’s exhibitions have been showcased at prestigious events and institutions, including the Textile Museum of Canada, Miami Art Basel, Toronto Pride, Nuit Blanche, Queer Tech, and Vitaly.

Join artists and cultural organizers from Tangled Art + Disability and the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf for a guided tour celebrating Deaf and disabled artists at TOAF65. Explore works at the Tangled and CCSD booths and discover exhibiting artists whose practices are shaped by Deaf and disability culture and who are reshaping the arts ecology through access, community, and cultural innovation.

The tour is led by Carlisle Robinson, Maryam Hafizirad, Adam Cohoon, Sean Lee, Heidi Persaud, and Nicole Crawford, and will be in both Spoken English and ASL. Visual description can be provided.

Join curator Josh Heuman for an insider’s look at this year’s award recipients. Meet the artists, hear about their practices, and discover what set their work apart in the eyes of the judges.

Josh Heuman is currently Head of Artistic Engagement at Koffler Arts where he is focused on developing a wide array of public programs for audiences of all ages. He has held previous positions in education, exhibitions, and administration at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Salt Lake Art Center; Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University; and Joslyn Art Museum. Heuman has delivered guest lectures and participated in panel discussions at numerous galleries/museums and postsecondary institutions. He earned a BA in Visual Art and MA in Art History at York University.

To mark TOAF’s 65th birthday, Art Nest curator Rui Pimenta has brought together celebrated Canadian artists — Peggy Baker, Max Dean, Naomi Dodds, Micah Lexier, and Ed Pien — to reflect on what it means to retire as an artist.

Not retirement. A retreat forward. An exhibition about the longevity of art, of practice, and of the artists who keep the calling alive.

Join Rui for an Art Talk through this year’s public art installations, as he shares his vision and insights into each work and the artists behind them.