Today is an exciting day!
First, a special announcement regarding the Flavio Belli Curator Award and Propeller Gallery’s Emerging Artist Award: As we mentioned in the summer, the Curator Award is generously supported by the Lindy Green Family Foundation, in celebration of the 60th Anniversary, and to recognize Flavio Belli’s lifelong contributions to the arts and TOAF. The recipient of this exciting opportunity is Abisola Oni. She was selected through an open call to student curators through educational institutions to curate a selection of TOAF60 emerging artists.
This new award merges beautifully the return of TOAF’s popular award: Emerging Artists by Emerging Curator, a professional exhibition opportunity supported by Propeller Gallery. Please mark your calendars for Being+, an exciting new exhibition, opening on January 12. Stay tuned for more details, including the emerging artists in the show!
Second, the Call for Artists is now open. To inspire you, we thought to share the journey of second-time TOAF participant Rosi Di Meglio. Rosi joined us this Summer at stackt market all the way from Quebec, and took a major risk (of participating in an art fair during a pandemic, plus the challenges of an outdoor show and a new community). Her participation put her work in front of art lovers, collectors, and captured the attention of a sharp art consultant. A few short months later, she was showing at Art Toronto, represented by Corkin Gallery! Read the full story here.
These discovery stories are abundant here at TOAF, and we love sharing them with you. The Call for Artists is your chance to be a part of this wonderful opportunity platform and community.
About Abisola Oni
Abisola Oni is a multidisciplinary lens-based artist studying Visual Culture and Studio Art at the University of Waterloo. She is a top performing student who enjoys engaging with the cultural and philosophical elements of life with a critical eye.
Through the Flavio Belli Curator Award, Abisola will receive a $1,500 cash award, and will be mentored by Flavio Belli and supported by the Propeller Gallery team throughout the curatorial and exhibition process. Abisola is putting together the exhibition called Being+, featuring emerging artists from the current TOAF roster. Opening in January 2022, the exhibition will interrogate the cultural construction of identity in all its forms.
"It is a very exciting and rewarding program TOAF has put together. I am very much looking forward to working with Abisola to bring about an online and in-gallery realization of her curatorial vision… Though I must say, her proposal left me quite speechless – in a good way! It was so complete. I look forward to a creative dialogue."
– Flavio Belli on selecting Abisola Oni for the Curator Award
2022 Call for Artists is now open!
“I have recommended TOAF to many fellow artists. As an emerging artist, the Fair has given me more confidence in myself as an artist and in my work. TOAF also did a great job at marketing the event. We did a live Instagram tour, and a collector saw the live video, looked me up, came down and bought a painting from my Instagram. On my third day, an art consultant came to visit my booth. I did not know that she came to scout me out. The next day, Jane Corkin invited me to the gallery. Months later, I got to participate in Art Toronto, represented by Corkin Gallery!”
– Rosi Di Meglio, 2021 Participating Artist
