2026 TOAF Judges

Ana Serrano is President and Vice-Chancellor of OCAD University, Canada’s largest and oldest art, design and media institution. An award-winning executive with more than 25 years of experience, she has founded globally recognized labs, launched pioneering accelerators, and produced over 140 groundbreaking digital and immersive projects. Previously Chief Digital Officer at the Canadian Film Centre and founder of the CFC Media Lab, her work explores the societal impact of emerging technologies and creative practice. Serrano co-founded the DemocracyXChange Summit and serves on leading cultural and philanthropic boards, advancing responsible innovation and institutional transformation.

Flavio Belli is an artist, curator, collector, and art consultant with extensive experience across the Canadian cultural sector. His work is held in public, corporate, and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada and the George Brown Polytechnic School of Design. He currently serves as a Director of the Tate Canada Foundation.

Tiana is a Toronto-based arts advocate recognized for her extensive leadership in cultural organizations and her longstanding commitment to community service in the realm of science, education and the arts. 

Tiana is honoured to co-judge, with Curator Flavio Belli, the Murray and Marvelle Koffler Founder’s Award. 

Derek Sullivan is a Toronto and Stone Mills-based artist, whose work employs drawing, sculpture, book works and installation. In 2025 his solo exhibition, Field Notes, at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg collected his works based upon a year-long study of a field in King City Ontario. His work has been acquired for the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Ontario, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, amongst others. He has been longlist for the Sobey Art Award 5 times, being shortlisted in 2012. He is an Associate Professor (Sculpture/Installation) at OCAD University, Toronto.

With over three decades of experience, the City of Toronto’s Chief Curator, Tara Chadwick, is deeply rooted in art, archaeology, and intercultural learning experiences for residents and visitors of all ages.

As a Canadian-born Indigenous person with roots in Mesoamerica, Africa and Europe, Chadwick seeks to amplify equity-deserving voices while promoting economic development through culture, heritage and art.

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Renato Baldin is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist, curator, and set and costume designer. His current work focuses on immersive art installations reflecting an immigrant and queer perspective. His recent art installations and exhibitions include Between Breath, Between Places (2026), Uninvited Dinner Guests and Fluids (2024), Queerleidoscope (2023 and 2024), Narcissus (2023), Non Exhibition (2022), and Rocking Futures (2021).

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Michael Belmore, a member of Lac Saul First Nation in northern Ontario employs a variety of materials that speaks clearly and powerfully about the environment, land, water, and what it is to be Anishinaabe. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design, he completed his Master of Fine Art at the University of Ottawa in 2019. Practicing for over 30 years, Belmore is an internationally recognized artist and is represented in the permanent collections of various institutions including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the NMAI – Smithsonian Institute and the Canadian Chancery in Paris. 

Since joining the gallery in 2011, Taiga has focused on Olga Korper Gallery’s fifty-year legacy of excellence in representation of contemporary conceptual art. Specializing in writing, curating, art fairs, and studio visits, Taiga’s particular passion in the gallery is education and accessibility for breaking down ‘art speak’ barriers and strengthening ties with the art community.

Elisa has over fifteen years of curatorial experience in the public and private sectors. Her expertise is rooted in contemporary art, and her curatorial practice has been deeply informed by the diverse collections and artists she has worked with to date. Elisa is currently Associate Director & Curator at Demetriou Art Group, a Toronto-based art consulting firm working with private and corporate collectors.

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Rita Godlevskis has more than twenty years of experience in photography based, creative media work, in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. She has worked across multiple platforms with a diverse range of projects in her portfolio in editorial, and creative production contexts. A passion for promoting diverse voices in Canadian photography, and great coffee keep her fuelled.

Rebecca Travis is a curator, writer, and editor, originally from the UK and based in Toronto since 2014. She has a BA in Fine Art from Newcastle University and has worked in public and commercial galleries since 2010. Through her gallery work, writing, and curatorial practices, Rebecca is passionate about creating conversations around contemporary art, building connections between artists, collectors, and the public, and focusing on the vibrancy of the Canadian art scene with an international perspective.

Melanie Trojkovic is an active member within the Toronto arts community, and has over fifteen years of experience working in the contemporary art industry. She is the Gallery Director at United Contemporary, a role which allows her to champion the practices of emerging and established artists, and create a platform that supports diverse creative voices. Melanie has a Masters of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne, and has previously held positions in commercial and non-profit  spaces both locally, and internationally. She is currently the co-chair of the curatorial committee for the SNAP Photography Auction in support of the Aids Committee of Toronto, and has juried various photographic and public art programs.

Susan Friedrich is an architect with a practice focused on creating inclusive and accessible projects for diverse community-based, non-profit organizations including projects for institutional, educational and special needs groups.

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Gallery 1065 is a contemporary art space with deep roots and an open door. Tucked into Toronto’s Bloorcourt neighbourhood, it was founded in late 2024 by long-time west end resident Monica Gupta at 1065 Bloor Street West—home to her father’s real estate office since 1972.

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Canadian ceramic artist Steven Heinemann lives and works near Cookstown, Ontario. 

Since completing his MFA (Alfred University, 1983) he has taught widely in Canada and the U.S.A.  In addition, numerous residencies have taken him from Canada (Banff Centre) to the U.S.A. (Cranbrook Academy), Holland (EKWC), Hungary (ICS), and Korea (JINRO), among others.

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Nancy Jacobi, founder of The Japanese Paper Place (The JPP) in Toronto, started the company 40 years ago to encourage creativity through the special qualities of washi, Japanese papers, some of which have been in production for 1400 years.

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Tara Moore-Jones grew up in a household surrounded by beautiful paper, art and artists. Working at The Japanese Paper Place off and on for most of her life, it was a natural transition to take over running the business, when her stepmother Nancy Jacobi who founded The JPP decided to step back. With other life experiences under her belt like attending U of T, getting her diploma in Interior Decorating and working as a Realtor in downtown Toronto, Tara brings her well-rounded skills and systematic approach to overseeing the day-to-day operation of the business. In her other life, she has 3 children and a husband, all creative individually and benefitting from Tara’s seasoned multi-tasking ability.

Chung-Im Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea.  She immigrated to Canada in 1990.

She has taught textile courses in the Textile department at OCADU until 2021.  Kim exhibited in many institutions including Boston Museum of Fine Art, Museum Nagele Netherlands, Wollongong Art Gallery Australia, Poikilo Museum Finland, Tamat Museum Belgium, Dronninglund Kunstcenter Denmark, and Textilmuseum Germany.  Her work can be found in numerous collections: Foreign Affairs of Canada, Tamat Museum Belgium, Cheongju Craft Biennale South Korea, TD Bank Canada, Ritz Carlton Group, Emaar Hotel Group Dubai, as well as private collections.

Aaron M. Milrad was counsel at Dentons Canada LLP, a global law firm, retiring in 2021.

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Lee Petrie (BA, MA, MMSt) is a curator and arts program manager based in Toronto. In her 25 year career, Lee has worked with hundreds of artists to bring exhibitions and programs to Toronto Pearson International Airport, the Living Arts Centre, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Varley Art Gallery. Lee is Curator for Archive Hospitality, which operates Gladstone House and The Broadview Hotel in Toronto and The Postmark Hotel in Newmarket. She manages the creation and installation of art in the hotels and the resident artist program at Gladstone House. Lee is also Chair of the Toronto Public Art Commission.

Akrylic is a contemporary platform built to help artists organize, showcase, and share their work with clarity and ease. Designed as an alternative to traditional portfolio and archive tools, it provides visual artists with a structured, living system for managing their practice over time. We help artists maintain coherent bodies of work, making it easier to present their practice, build visibility, and respond to opportunities across exhibitions, clients, and sales. Our mission is to reduce friction in the business side of art, so creators can focus more fully on their work.

Meera Margaret Singh is a visual artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. She holds a BA in Anthropology, a BFA in Photography from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, and an MFA from Concordia University, Montreal. Singh has been the recipient of numerous residencies and awards, most notably Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council grants.

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Joy Wong is an artist and educator based in Tkaronto/Toronto with Hong Kong/Cantonese settler heritage. Focusing on material connections with the shifting physicality of the body, they are interested in precarity and fluctuating surfaces, and have worked in print media, painting, fermentation, and poetry. 

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