Toronto Outdoor Art Fair Reveals Exciting Programming for 60th Anniversary!
Art lovers can explore an online fair, a small showcase of artists at stackt market, stimulating talks and tours, and virtual reality exhibits.
June 17, 2021 (Toronto, ON): Going 60 years strong, Canada’s largest and longest-running outdoor art fair is bigger than ever, welcoming over 400 talented artists for the public to discover and purchase original works from July 2nd – 11th at TOAF.ca. The Fair will largely exist online for the second consecutive year with digital programming comprised of several talks and tours exploring topics from collecting art to NFTs and virtual reality exhibits featuring guest designer and television personality, Tiffany Pratt, art collector and philanthropist, Aaron Milrad, art collector and tech founder, Rudy Adler and many more. Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (TOAF) is also excited to present an in-person showcase at stackt market for the ten days of the Fair.
Celebrating their anniversary milestone, TOAF is hosting a very special exhibit, 60 Over Sixty, featuring 60 notable Canadian artists. Curated by art consultant, artist, and former TOAF board member, Flavio Belli, the exhibit will include art world luminaries Barbara Astman, Robert Bateman, Robert Houle, Suzy Lake, Micah Lexier, Michael Snow, Joanne Tod, Colette Whiten, and many more. The public is able to access the 60 Over Sixty exhibition via TOAF’s website now. TOAF’s 2021 60 Over Sixty is supported by local radio station The New Classical FM.
Tiffany Pratt is back to kickoff TOAF60 on July 2nd hosting Instagram Live chats with participating artists and will be launching a series of 100 hand-painted original postcards of which the proceeds will be donated to TOAF’s Gifts of Heart initiative that supports artists and frontline workers. Aaron Milrad, art collector, philanthropist, and avid supporter of TOAF for over 40 years, will speak with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery on July 6th on how he has invested in nurturing deep connections with TOAF artists and donating significant works to major museums across North America. On July 10th, learn about the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and collecting digital art, why NFT’s are a viable way of supporting artists, and how you can start your own digital art collection, with one of the top NFT collectors in the world, Rudy Adler, Co-founder & CPO/CMO of Wealthsimple.
This year, TOAF will offer an in-person component at stackt market where there will be a rotating roster of artists showcasing their works that the public will be able to discover, interact with and purchase from. Join muralist, illustrator, and TOAF60 Juror, Adrian Hayles and StreetARToronto (StART) on a virtual tour of stackt market’s murals created by StART artists. On July 3rd, talks will be presented by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery with young art collectors, Hirbod Human and Farnoosh Talaee, and Glodeane Brown who will discuss the next generation of artists who are demonstrating exceptional talent in pushing the boundaries of their art forms.
Making the most of their digital platform, an exhibit titles TOAF60 in Virtual Reality will feature select artworks from the TOAF60 artist roster in virtual reality (VR). In partnership with Art Gate VR and curated by TOAF Award Winner Daniel St-Amant and Toronto’s #Hashtag Gallery, a VR opening reception will take place on July 3rd, allowing for the public to rub ‘virtual’ elbows with the arts crowd, take a tour of #Hashtag Gallery’s virtual space, and see the curated showcase in (virtual) real life!
In addition to TOAF’s already robust Awards Program of $40,000 cash and in-kind awards that go to the top artists of each discipline, will be the Flavio Belli Emerging Curator Award. This Special 60th Anniversary Award is supported by The Lindy Green Family Foundation and will grant a mentorship opportunity for an early-career curator to advance their professional development by working alongside a senior curator. Under this mentorship program, the recipient will work towards curating a five-week online art exhibition and a two-week in-person exhibition at Propeller Gallery in January 2022.
Coming up this fall will be a unique presentation of every Mayor’s Purchase Award winner since 1979 at an in-person exhibition called 60 Works / 60 Years, presented by the Market Gallery in collaboration with TOAF. Every year the Mayor of Toronto, assisted by City staff, selects a work to be brought into the collection from TOAF that represents the diverse perspectives that make up the City of Toronto. The exhibition will include every award winning artwork in the City’s art collection, including recent winners George Boyer, Clint Griffin, Jesse Boles, Dionne Simpson, Ruby Zhang, Raoul Olou. The 2021 winner will be announced on July 8th at TOAF’s virtual Awards Ceremony. The public can view a preview of nine works from the upcoming 60 Works / 60 Years exhibition now at TOAF.ca.
Toronto Outdoor Art Fair will take place from July 2nd – 11th; for the full list of artists and programming, visit TOAF.ca.
About Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is Canada’s leading contemporary outdoor art fair. Founded in 1961, TOAF was established to put contemporary visual artists and makers in direct contact with the public and to nurture artistic excellence and entrepreneurial spirit. This free public event has historically showcased works annually by 350+ contemporary visual artists and makers and attracts 130,000 visitors each year to Nathan Phillips Square. In 2020, TOAF created its first online iteration of the Fair, creating public programming and income and exposure for independent artists during a much-needed time. TOAF’s online platform saw a 300% increase in visitor traffic to the website in July 2020 and facilitated sales of over 600 artworks throughout Canada, the US, Japan and Hong Kong.
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