Curated Collections

Guest artists, curators, gallerists and art professionals have put together a collection of artworks from their points of views to inspire you and offer different entries into your art discovery journey. 

Not Fragile

Omar Badrin, Artist

Omar Badrin (he/him) is a Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His practice is based on his upbringing and examines identity formation through the lens of transracial adoption (i.e., the adoption of a child into a family in which the race of the adoptive parent(s) is different from their own). Omar’s work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally. He obtained his MFA from OCAD U, where he was awarded a graduate medal for his work.

Fashionable Finds

Jeanne Beker, Canadian Television Personality, Fashion Editor & Author

Jeanne Beker is a seasoned newspaper columnist and features writer, Jeanne was editor-in-chief of FQ and SIR magazines from 2003 to 2008, has authored five books and is a frequent keynote speaker and guest on myriad lifestyle shows, as well as a regular featured columnist for several publications. She’s been at the creative helm of numerous fashion lines under her own eponymous label, and since 2015, has been Style Editor for The Shopping Channel, where she currently hosts the series Style Matters.

Active with several charitable organizations, she has received honorary doctorates from St. Mary’s University and OCAD University, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Special Achievement Award from the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television and a Crystal Award from Toronto Women in Film and Television. Jeanne was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Hall of Legends in 2015 and received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2016. In 2014, she was named to the Order of Canada.

Permission to Unwind

Shelli Cassidy-McIntosh, Director of Olga Korper Gallery, Vice President of the Art Dealers Association of Canada (ADAC)

Shelli Cassidy-McIntosh is the Director of Olga Korper Gallery and Vice President of the Art Dealers Association of Canada (ADAC) and Foundation. With over 25 years in the industry, Shelli has become a noteworthy leader in the Toronto gallery network; specializing in curating Olga Korper Gallery’s programming and art fairs. 

Shelli holds an Honours degree in Art History and Criticism from the University of Western Ontario and is an experienced fine art appraiser and accredited member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA) from 1999-2019. Community outreach and mentorship initiatives are key areas of interest with years of service with various industry partners as a guest curator, juror and speaker. 

Shelli is a past President of the Board of Directors for Oakville Galleries from 2013-2016 and a vital board member from 2009-2016. She continues to lead special projects and initiatives with the ADAC Foundation and ADAC Board of Directors, promoting development, advocacy and communications within the organization.

Symbols of Safeguarding

Marie-Eve G. Castonguay, Jewellery Artist, Curator, Writer & Educator

Marie-Eve G. Castonguay is an artist, independent curator, writer and educator who lives and works in Tiohtià:ke | Mooniyang | Montréal. She is currently pursuing a MA in Art History at Concordia University, and her main research interest is contemporary craft practices. She holds a BFA in Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing from NSCAD University (2013). From 2014 to 2018, she was a full-time artist-in-residence at Harbourfront Centre, in Toronto. Her work has been featured in many exhibitions in Canada and abroad, and she has received numerous grants and awards, including the Autor-Joya Award in 2015, and more recently, the Jean-Cartier Award in 2020. 

An active member of the jewellery and fine craft community, she was one of the founding members of MetalAid, and she is the Canadian ambassador for Art Jewelry Forum since 2018. Her curatorial practice is focused on contemporary jewellery, but also on contemporary craft practices in a more comprehensive way. She teaches in the college programme at the École de joaillerie de Montréal.

An Introduction to Eight Noteworthy Emerging Artists

Hugues Charbonneau, Director and Owner of Galerie Hugues Charbonneau

Hugues Charbonneau is the director and owner of Galerie Hugues Charbonneau. He began his career in the visual arts at the Musée d’art contemporain des Laurentides (Laurentians Contemporary Art Museum) and at Esse magazine. His contemporary art gallery has been based in downtown Montreal since its opening in 2012. Its exhibition program celebrates the cultural diversity and the innovative potential of contemporary metropoles. Collaborators of the gallery have exhibited at the Venice Biennial, the Dak’art Biennial, the Whitney Museum, the AGO and The Power Plant, among other institutions.

Never Touch the Wild Animals

Michèle Pearson Clarke, Artist, Writer & Educator

Michèle Pearson Clarke is an artist, writer, and educator who works in photography, film, video, and installation. Using archival, performative and process-oriented strategies, her work situates grief as a site of possibility for social engagement and political connection. Born in Trinidad and based in Toronto, she has exhibited both nationally and internationally in cities including Chicago, Lagos, Los Angeles and Montréal. 

Most recently, Michèle served as the second Photo Laureate for the City of Toronto (2019-2022), and her work was added to the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. She was also awarded the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts Finalist Artist Prize in 2019, and she is currently shortlisted for the 2023 Sobey Art Award. Michèle holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto, and in 2015 she received her Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media from Toronto Metropolitan University, where she is an Assistant Professor in Photography in the School of Image Arts.

Objects of Desire

Irene Frolic, Sculptor

Trained at the Ontario College of Art, Irene Frolic is a sculptor working with glass. She has been part of the international studio glass movement, exhibiting and teaching for over 40 years. She is represented in many museums and private collections.

Now for Something Completely Different

William Huffman, Curator, Writer & Educator

William Huffman is a curator, writer and educator with extensive experience in the local, national and international cultural communities. In his day job, he works with the West Baffin Cooperative at its Toronto and Nunavut offices.

Emerging from Grief

Humza A. Mian, Drag Artist

Humza A. Mian aka Manghoe Lassi is a queer Canadian-Pakistani who currently resides in the GTA. He is a Registered Veterinary Technician who works in the downtown core, and a drag queen who got his start on social media. The focus of his drag is to bring awareness to the existence of queer Desi folk and break the chains of toxic masculinity that hold so many queer Desi’s back from expressing themselves. With the help of brands run primarily by PoC, Humza has branched into the world of commercial makeup artistry and is currently focusing on representing brands that encourage diversity and inclusion. His most current drag looks can be seen on his Instagram page (@_humzer) and are heavily influenced by his cultural background.

Conduits of Creativity

Tiffany Pratt, Designer & Creative Director

Tiffany Pratt is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary designer and artist with an unmistakable standout style. She supports corporate clients and the public on projects ranging from Creative Direction, Product Design, Interiors and Fashion.

Summer Selection

Devyani Saltzman, Arts Leader, Curator & Writer

Devyani Saltzman is a Canadian writer, multidisciplinary curator and arts leader with an in-depth practice in cultural programming at the intersection between art, ideas and social change. She was most recently Director of Public Programming at the AGO, and  previously the Director of Literary Arts at the Banff Centre, as well as a founding Curator at Luminato, Toronto’s international arts festival. She is a published author and her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Atlantic and Tehelka, India’s weekly of arts and investigative journalism. She is the President of the Toronto Arts Council and sits on the boards of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, and the Ontario Association of Art Galleries.

Silent Stories

Gordon Shadrach, Artist & Assistant Professor in the Drawing and Painting Department at OCAD University

Toronto-based artist Gordon Shadrach has exhibited in Canada, the United States and internationally. He received his B. Des. (MAAD) from OCAD University and has a M. Ed degree from Niagara University. He has worked in education for the past 18 years and in 2023 Gordon began teaching at OCAD U as an Assistant Professor in the Drawing and Painting Department.

Gordon’s allegorical portraits mostly focus on the Black male form in order to question the impact of cultural stereotypes in society and the prevalence of the colonial gaze. In the summer of 2022, Gordon was the lead artist and co-curator for “Dis/Mantle”, a ground-breaking, immersive installation that reimagined Spadina Museum as the manor of Mrs. Pipkin, a formerly enslaved person who escaped to Canada via the underground railroad.

Gordon’s work has been acquired by the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Agnes Etherington Gallery, and is included in notable American diasporic art collections.