Sparkly Spotlight
The Recipients of 2023 Travel Bursary
Get to know the seven artists who received TOAF’s inaugural Travel Bursary
Hailing from Alberta, Nova Scotia, Vancouver, Québec and North West Territories! Get to know the seven artists who received TOAF’s inaugural Travel Bursary to join us at Nathan Phillips Square this past summer.
Alex Thompson’s (Edmonton, Alberta) body of print and installation-based work interrogates the structures of power and processes of land use that shape the contemporary world we occupy.
Maria Doering (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) explores the complex patterns and textures that make up a person in the layered pattern work “Lacery” to visualize what is going on beneath our surface.
Roisin Cadieux’s (Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia) work is inspired by antique music gathering and honouring. She merges papier-mâché with collage, sculpture and mosaic techniques to create new tapestries.
Emerald Repard-Denniston (Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam/Vancouver) Through her research on feminist and queer theorists and social commentary discourse, she explores the themes of humour, cynicism, and detachment in her figurative oil paintings.
Darrell Chocolate (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, with masterful acrylic portraits and wildlife paintings,he nurtures his passion for studying human faces and his admiration for the natural beauty of the northern landscape.
Anyuta Gusakova (Vancouver, BC) creates joyful and uplifting sculptures to help people restore their emotional balance and reconnect with their inner child.
Sayward Johnson’s (Chelsea, Québec) work explores her fascination with fabrics and sculptures that adhere to the laws of metalsmithing and those of textiles and present traditional textile patterns in unexpected contexts.
This first edition of the Travel Bursary program, with generous leading support by Tim and Frances Price, was born in response to enthusiastic demand for TOAF’s opportunities nationwide. The reception of this initiative, its incredible success, and its impact on the artists still warms our hearts many months later. Alex Thompson took home the Best of 2D Works award supported by Extrudex Aluminum; Emerald Repard-Denniston received the Most Innovative Use of Material Award supported by Lonsdale Gallery. And we definitely wouldn’t otherwise have heard about the inspiring story of Darrell Chocolate. We hope you enjoy their work.
TOAF63 Call for Artists opens tonight at midnight. This is always an exciting time, as it gives us a chance to find out about new faces and reconnect with returning artists and learn about their new bodies of work.
Artists can apply to the in-person Fair at Nathan Phillips Square or choose to participate Exclusively Online.
Thanks to our caring donors and supporters, there are now many exciting opportunities for Access and Accessibility, such as Art Encounters, Travel bursaries, and a sliding scale for booth options available to artists across Canada to make TOAF even more affordable and accessible.
Holiday Curated Collection
By TOAF Board Members
Enjoy this Holiday collection of beautiful works of TOAF artists through the eyes of our wonderful board members: Colleen Diamond, Melanie Egan, Sally Han, Darcy Killeen, Brett Ledger, Robert K E Mitchell and Nithikul Nimkulrat.
Our board is a true champion of our work and the arts community! We asked them to share why they enjoy being part of our community. Tune into our socials to hear what they have to say.
Holiday Curated Collection
By Heather Kerrison and Deanne Moser
Two great storytellers are supporting our work at TOAF! Heather Kerrison of Wild Media Co. is the force and boundless energy behind our popular social media stories.
Deanne Moser of the award-winning cultural public relations firm DM Public stewards the stories of our artists in the media world with great care and attention.
Call opens December 1st
