OUTREACH Online Symposium

About

Wednesday, November 23 - Saturday, November 26, 2022
FREE

Gallery 44 will be running our fourth annual OUTREACH Symposium for past OUTREACH participants and emerging new generation artists (16-35), featuring presentations covering topics dealing with the ins and outs of ‘being an artist’ in a more practical sense. This year, the Symposium will take place virtually, over Zoom.

A series of evening workshop sessions will cover topics including finding art-related opportunities, research practices, concept development, artist writing, and professional gallery practices. The symposium will end with pre-registered virtual portfolio review sessions where participants have the opportunity to share their work with and receive feedback from Emilie Croning and Dainesha Nugent-Palache.

Holly Chang, Untitled, 2022

Schedule

Presentations and Events

An installation view of an art exhibition in a bright gallery space. Rectangular and star-shaped paintings hang on the walls, and a variety of objects are on the floor, including a wooded crate, plastic drink bottles, cleaning products, and exercise equipment.
Brandon Fujimagari, Yan Wen Chang, Andrew Harding, Madelyne Beckles, Dorica Manuel and Marissa Sean Cruz, The Bald Eagle’s Claw, Photo documentation by Philip Leonard Ocampo, 2019
November 23, 2022 5:15 PM
 – 
6:45 pm
Presentation

Art 101: Putting yourself out there

Philip Ocampo

Art 101: Putting Yourself Out There is an introduction into professional practices in art making and arts working. As a guide into how to navigate and get involved in art communities, attendees will learn about resources for emerging practices, professional development tips such as contact literacy, as well as how to avoid being exploited throughout professional endeavours. The workshop aims to demystify arts culture through making space for honest conversations about the realities and collective experiences that come with pursuing art as a professional practice.

Philip Leonard Ocampo (b.1995) 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 zeitgeists 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 currently a Programming Coordinator at Xpace Cultural Centre and one of the four founding co-directors of Hearth, an artist-run collective based in the city.

A black and white portrait of Syrus. He is sitting on a chair with his hands between his legs.
Holly Chang, Untitled, 2022
November 23, 2022 7:00 PM
 – 
8:30 pm
Presentation

Research Practices and Concept Development in Photography

Holly Chang

In this workshop Research Practices and Concept Development in Photography, the participants will experience a hybrid artist talk and discussion exploring research and concept development related to photographic practices. In the first hour, the artist Holly Chang will cover an introduction to her work, her research approaches and some techniques and tips that can be used when trying to develop a project. The last thirty minutes will be an open discussion with participants about their own work, how they approach research and some of the techniques they have used before to conceptualize photographic projects. The takeaways from this workshop will provide participants with tools to more critically approach projects and how to effectively develop ideas.

Holly Chang is a Toronto based artist, researcher, curator and photographer. She often works within the medium of photography to unpack the layered emotional nuances that are present with a mixed identity. Chang, as a second-generation Chinese Canadian, often working with her family and community to explore the topic of her hybrid background and how her work can meaningfully contribute to the dialog around these topics.

Josh Vettivelu, Prayers for a Word, Film Still, video by Michelle Homonlyo and Ashley Bowa, 2022

November 24, 2022 5:15 PM
 – 
6:45 pm
Presentation

Intro to Artist Writing

Josh Vettivelu

Artists often find writing an arduous but necessary process for personal and professional development. Join artist Joshua Vettivelu for a workshop that outlines the importance of writing for artists. The workshop will provide an introduction on how to approach artist statements, project proposals, and CVs. Participants are encouraged to bring in-progress statements or proposals to share with the group.

Joshua Vettivelu (they/them) is an artist working within sculpture, video, and installation. Their work investigates how language and interpersonal relationships build the material world. Recent and upcoming projects explore the tensions that emerge when personal experiences are mined for state-sponsored art production.

Exhibitions venues of note include the Art Gallery of Ontario, the British Film Institute, Eastern Edge in St. John's Nfld, The Academy of Arts in Prague, the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives Gallery, The Center for Contemproary Art Glasgow, Niagara Arts Center, Nuit Blanche Toronto (and more). Their work is included in multiple private and public collections, including a public installation in St. Michael's Hospital's St. Jamestown Clinic. Vettivelu has been invited to speak at Cornell University, University of Toronto, York University,  University of British Columbia, the Parliamentary Standing Committee, alongside multiple grassroots community platforms.

Image courtesy of Robyn Zolnai

November 24, 2022 7:00 PM
 – 
8:30 pm
Presentation

Gallery Practices for the Emerging Photographer

Robyn Zolnai

Robyn Zolnai, the associate director at the Stephen Bulger Gallery, offers her first-hand expertise in the photography art market to those pursuing a career as a professional photographer. Through a variety of topics, participants will leave the workshop with an understanding of how to assemble a portfolio, how to prepare work for exhibition and sale, understanding gallery structures, and setting professional goals.

Robyn Zolnai completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours at York University in 2008. From 2010 to 2012 she attended Ryerson University where she obtained a Master of Arts in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management. Robyn is currently the associate director at the Stephen Bulger Gallery, and a guest lecturer on collecting photography and career development for emerging photographers at various high schools, colleges, and universities in Ontario.

November 26, 2022 12:00 PM
 – 
3:00 pm
One-on-One

Portfolio Reviews

Emilie Croning

Participants will have the opportunity to receive a one-on-one virtual portfolio review with independent curator, artist, and art historian Emilie Croning or artist Dainesha Nugent-Palache. Each Portfolio Review is 20 minutes and participants must be registered for at least one other workshop in order to register for portfolio reviews.

6 slots available, 20 minutes each.

For tips on how to prepare for read our Guidelines for Portfolio Reviews.

Emilie Croning (lives and works in Toronto) is an independent curator, artist, and art historian of Middle Eastern and Afro-Caribbean descent. Her work explores issues and systems around representation and identity as they relate to visual language and diasporic narratives, working at the intersections of feminist theories and post-colonialism. Her practice is grounded in creating space and advocating for emerging artists in a global context. She is the co-founder of Artfully Yours Collective and has recently joined the Art Gallery of Ontario as Curatorial Assistant, Arts of Global Africa & the Diaspora.

Her recent curatorial projects include, Jorian Charlton: Out of Many (Art Gallery of Ontario, and Online (Gallery TPW, 2021), Colour Love (Cry Baby Gallery, 2020), Handle With Care (The Gladstone Hotel, 2020), a love ethic (The Gladstone Hotel, 2019).

A GIF of a ceramic vessel spinning overtop of a gradient background of light blue and peach.
Dainesha Nugent-Palache, Faux Mo, 2018

November 26, 2022 3:00 PM
 – 
6:00 pm
One-on-One

Portfolio Reviews

Dainesha Nugent-Palache

Participants will have the opportunity to receive a one-on-one virtual portfolio review with independent curator, artist, and art historian Emilie Croning or artist Dainesha Nugent-Palache. Each Portfolio Review is 20 minutes and participants must be registered for at least one other workshop in order to register for portfolio reviews.

6 slots available, 20 minutes each.

For tips on how to prepare for read our Guidelines for Portfolio Reviews.

Dainesha Nugent-Palache (b. Toronto, ON.) holds a BFA from Ontario College of Art and Design University (2016) where she was the recipient of The Dorothy Hoover Research Award, and an OCAD University Photography Faculty and Friends Award. Her work has been exhibited Nationally through venues such as Patel Brown, the National Gallery of Canada, The Portrait Gallery of Canada, Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, Gallery TPW, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and TRUCK Contemporary, and internationally in New York, Finland, and Vienna. Her work can be found in The Wedge Collection, Toronto Dominion Bank Art Collection, EQ Bank Art collection, as well as several private collections. Nugent-Palache was a 2021 recipient of the Scotia Bank New Generation Photography Award. She currently lives and works in Toronto, ON. and is a founding member of Toronto artist collective and gallery the plumb. 

Through her performative video works and photographs, Toronto-based artist Dainesha Nugent-Palache explores the dichotomies and paradoxes inherent in representations of Afro-Caribbean femininities. Dainesha’s artwork flirts with anthropological and archeological realms, often produced as a result of her familial digging. Her practice is concerned with visualizations of Black diaspora across pasts, presents, and speculative futures, producing portraits and other still life-based works. With an exuberant approach to colour and display, Daineshas work often negotiates with forms of glamour, excess, and other photographic strategies inherent to the visual cultures of capitalism. 

Upcoming Opportunities

A GIF of a ceramic vessel spinning overtop of a gradient background of light blue and peach.
January 15, 2023
Opportunity

EQ Bank Scholarship

The EQ Bank Scholarship awards one OUTREACH Symposium participant with enrolment in the Low Res program and facilities credits to prepare new work for inclusion in the Low Res exhibition. Low Res is an eight-session program to develop advanced visual literacy through group discussions, critiques, creative experiments, writing exercises and field trips. Low Res helps emerging artists push the boundaries of their practice and develop connections in the Toronto art community with a small, supportive group of peers. The EQ Bank Scholarship is open to all participants from the OUTREACH, OUTREACH Symposium and BIPOC Photography Mentorship to apply.

Course Timeline
Eight Sunday sessions (11:00 AM-5:00 PM) from May to June. The course culminates in a group exhibition presented in Gallery 44's Production Gallery in July.

Includes
Gallery 44 membership
A spot in Low Res Intensive Course ($650 value)
$350 (CAD) production/facilities credit at Gallery 44 to prepare new work for the Low Res Exhibition.
Free studio/camera/lighting rentals at G44 (during the course)

Deadline: January 15, 2023

A GIF of a ceramic vessel spinning overtop of a gradient background of light blue and peach.
April 15, 2023
Opportunity

Emerging Digital Artists Award

The Emerging Digital Artists Award (EDAA) is Canada’s first digital art award designed to foster experimentation in the work of emerging artists and create opportunities for those working in digital media. Resisting the notion that screen time lacks space for critical engagement, the EDAA champions a new generation of digital creators who challenge us to see the world through a different screen.

The next call for applications launches in April 2023 - visit the EDAA website to learn more and follow @edaa_eqb for updates.

OUTREACH Symposium is made possible through the support of