Yesterday's humble, make-shift instagram Award Ceremony wasn't short of excitement, bloopers, sheer joy and emotional moments. If you missed it, you can watch it on our Instagram TV. We are extending a huge thank you to all of the judges who diligently combed through every single portfolio, and brought us a stunning selection of recipients. With support from our donors we presented over $40,000 cash and in-kind awards. The award winners each had compelling stories to tell, and we can’t wait to dive deeper into them in the next few months. The most poignant and touching moment was Peter Owusu-Ansah’s speech. He took home the $6,000 Murray & Marvelle Koffler Founder’s Award. Peter has been deeply driven by his passion to build a better world for the Deaf community through his artistic expression and skillful inventiveness and motivation. The Founder's Award honours those whose vision is greater than the sum of their work, and Peter was a clear stand-out. We were honoured that Tiana Koffler Boyman and Marc Boyman joined us, on behalf of the Koffler Family Foundation, to present the award and connect with Peter in person. This was truly an inspiring and memorable experience.
A very special congratulations to Carrie Perrault, who earned the Catherine Bratty Best of Art Fair Award as the most outstanding artist of TOAF60! Congratulations to all the award winners; you can see their works here.
For today, curator Emilie Croning, is bringing you a selection of evocative photographic works playing with gestures of absence and presence in the Still, here collection. Artist and pioneer of Contemporary Figurative Op Art Alex Garant has put together portrait works that capture external & emotional sensitivities in Visual Voices. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Alex has an exhibition currently held at stackt market right beside our office! Make sure to check out her mesmerizing works when you visit us at stackt market this weekend.
The new collaboration with Henderson Brewery, a beer featuring Varvara Nedliska’s work, has launched! You can also buy the Radical Gose Beer, featuring Kima Lenaghan from LCBO’s across the province. Kima is at stackt market today with stunning new works along with a great roster of artists.
And last but not least, we are chatting tomorrow with Rudy Adler, Co-founder of Wealthsimple and an avid NFT collector. This talk will go live at 10:30 am on Zoom (advance registration recommended). It will be the last of our Art Collectors in Conversation series, co-present by The Power Plant Contemporary Gallery. Rudy’s vision in collecting NFTs is deeply rooted in his commitment to supporting emerging artists. Sign up for the talk here.
This was a long one, but we have so many great stories to share!
2021 Award Winners
Catherine Bratty Award for Best of Art Fair | Carrie Perreault
Supported by The Rudolph P. Bratty Family Foundation
Judged by Jennifer Rudder, Independent Curator and Assistant Professor of Criticism and Curatorial Practice at OCADU
Murray and Marvelle Koffler Founder's Award | Peter Owusu-Ansah
Supported by The Koffler Family Foundation
Judged by Tiana Koffler Boyman, Co-Chair of the Koffler Centre of the Arts & Flavio Belli, artist, curator, art consultant and art collector
Best of Student Award | Sid Sharp
Marie Collins Memorial Award and Artscape Award
Judged by Stanzie Tooth, Artist
Mayor's Purchase Award | Vanessa Dion Fletcher
Supported by the City of Toronto
Selected by Mayor John Tory and Neil Brochu, Curator, City of Toronto Art Collection
View full list of Award Recipients
Curated Collections
Visual Voices, curated by Alex Garant
Portrait of Ung Yol Park, Sherry Park, 2021, Kozo paper, fibre reactive dyes, hand-cut
untitled, mesoma onyeagba, 2019, Photography
Still, here, curated by Emilie Croning
Natural Leather, Olga Chekaryeva, 2021, Photograph
What's On Today
Artist Chats with StreetARToronto Artists
12:30 pm | Instagram Live
Co-presented by StreetARToronto (StART), with Artists Cedar Eve and Nishina Shapwaykeesic-Loft
Studio Tour with Becky Comber
7:30 pm | Instagram TV
With Artist Becky Comber
Take a tour and go behind the scenes with one of our photography & digital media artist, Becky Comber. See where all the magic happens, and some of the processes our artists use to create amazing artworks!
Upcoming
July 10 10:30 am | Register on Zoom
Co-presented by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, with Moderator Joshua Heuman and Speaker Rudy Adler
Join Rudy Adler, top NFT collector, Co-founder of Wealthsimple, as he speaks with Joshua Heuman about his passion for supporting artists through various and cutting-edge ways of collecting.
And more Artist Chats & Studio Tours!
Stay tuned on TOAF's Instagram for casual conversations between artists and tours of their spaces! Visit TOAF.ca for the full and most up-to-date programming schedule.
