WhatNext: New Gen Artist Series is a year-round free program from Gallery 44 that supports emerging artists aged 16–35 as they begin to shape their careers. Through seasonal virtual workshops, the series offers practical guidance on topics like freelancing, finding opportunities, writing for your practice, contemporary photography, and building sustainable professional habits.
The workshops are designed to be approachable and flexible, offering tools and advice that speak directly to the needs of early-career artists. By focusing on skill-building, connection, and care, WhatNext helps new-generation artists gain the confidence and knowledge they need to move forward in their creative journeys.
—
Workshop Description
Artist Opportunities 101
Join us for an introduction to professional practices in art making, arts working and navigating art communities. Learn about resources for emerging practices, professional development, exhibition opportunities, contract literacy and how to avoid exploitation in professional endeavours. This workshop demystifies arts culture by making space for honest conversations about the realities and collective experiences that come with pursuing art as a professional practice.
Philip Leonard Ocampo is an artist and arts facilitator based in Tkaronto, Canada. Ocampo’s multidisciplinary practice involves painting, sculpture, writing and curatorial projects. Exploring worldbuilding, radical hope and speculative futures, Ocampo’s work embodies a curious cross between magic wonder and the nostalgic imaginary. Following the tangents, histories and canons of popular culture, Ocampo is interested in how unearthing cultural touchstones of past / current times may therefore serve as catalysts for broader conversations about lived experiences; personal, collective, diasporic, etc.
He holds a BFA in Integrated Media (DPXA) from OCAD University (2018) and is one of four founding co-directors of Hearth, an artist-run space based in the city.
