Several members from the OCAD University community are among this year’s recipients of the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (TOAF) awards, including alum Esther Doë Kim who received the Best of Art Fair award.
The award, which carries a cash prize of $10,000 by IG Wealth Management, was given to Kim for her work, The Green We Shared. Known as DOË, the Korean-Canadian artist explores the connection between nature and human emotion, drawing inspiration from the landscapes of her childhood. Her tactile paintings blend bold colours, playful textures, and sculptural elements to evoke both joy and reflection. Rooted in storytelling and emotional honesty, her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions, including The Artist Project and TOAF.
The awards highlight artistic excellence in every medium, recognizing creativity, innovation and a clear artistic voice at TOAF, which celebrated its 65th year from July 10 to 12, 2026.
OCAD U Instructor Brad Turner (above) was the recipient of the Best of Craft and Design award for his work, Redundant Vessel, #9.2, Extruded. The award includes a cash prize of $2,650 by Robert K.E. Mitchell and Brian H. Wade of Mitchell Studios. Turner has exhibited his work internationally and has been recognized with 26 national and regional awards, including the RBC Award for Glass and the Canada Council for the Arts. With an eclectic creative history, Turner has participated in artist residencies in Norway and Belgium, managed Terminal City Glass Co-op in Vancouver, B.C., became a father, was featured in Season 2 of Netflix’s Blown Away, and now works as the lead glassblower for The Goodman Studio in Toronto, Ont.
OCAD U Instructor Ruth Wickremesooriya was the recipient of the Best of Textiles award for her work, Will it ever end? The award carries a cash prize of $1,650 by Chung-Im Kim and Steven Heinemann. Wickremesooriya is a multi-disciplinary artist and weaver who creates conceptual abstract art that explores themes of brokenness, hope and transformation. Her artistic practice is a tactile meditation on the paradox that finds beauty and pain residing side by side in our lives. At the root of all her work is a commitment to the discipline of hope; a stubborn belief that however ugly things seem, there can be a beautiful tomorrow.
Figurative painter and alum Shannon Sandwell was the recipient of the Best of Painting award for the work, Riley. They received a cash award of $2,650 by Brett Ledger and Patricia Olasker. Sandwell’s work focuses on queer/trans community and connection. They have shown locally at Xpace Cultural Centre, Bau-Xi Gallery and the Etobicoke Civic Centre, and were a member of UNTAPPED at the artist project this year. They have also had their work displayed internationally in Japan, as the featured artist for summer 2024 and winter 2025 at Hankyu Men’s Department Store.
Alum Yueyang Wang received an Honourable Mention in the Best Painting category, which included a cash prize of $650 by Valérie Lockerbie and Richard Shimoda.
Alum and Indigenous photographer from Gitxaala, B.C., Manny Wood Lynes-Ford was the recipient of the PhotoEd Magazine Award, Exclusively Online. He specializes in analog photography with a range of mediums from cyanotypes to chromogenic prints in the darkroom. Working with themes of decolonization and the Indigenous experience, he draws inspiration from artists such as Fred Herzog and Carl Beam.
Multidisciplinary artist and alum Daria Khosravi received the Ceramics Excellence Award with a $650 gift card by The Pottery Supply House.
Artist and grad Nahúm Flores received the Most Innovative Use of Material award with a $850 gift card from Lonsdale Gallery/Chad Wolfond. The Honduran Canadian artist explores memory through materials and objects that transport him to the past. He makes sculptures with clay, wood, natural pigments, recycled cans, sardine tins and found objects.
Alum Vitaly Medvedovsky received the Akrylic Award for Narrative Imagination, which carries a cash prize of $1,650 by Akrylic. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Stuttgart and Berlin. He has received numerous awards, including the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, the Plaskett Award, the Ontario Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant, as well as the Canada Council project grant.
Alum Anna Tanner received an Honourable Mention Student Award, which includes a $500 gift card by the Toronto School of Art. The oil painter and curator is drawn to themes of tension; her practice traces her upbringing amongst rigid Southern American values to her experience as a femme lesbian woman. She depicts the commodification of the female form, reclaiming agency through her gaze. Her references come from vintage magazines, early 2000s media, rural America, and imagery from old Hollywood.
Alum Freda Tan received the Student Purchase Award. The Toronto-based painter works primarily with oil paint, believing that the universe is in constant flux and with that constant movement and change, it brings endless possibilities and openings. She calls these possibilities "becoming"! Her practice bridges such abstraction and representation through research and the recurring motif of the five elements: fire, wood, water, earth and metal.
OCAD U community members among judges
Several members from the OCAD U community were also judges for TOAF awards:
- OCAD U President and Vice-Chancellor Ana Serrano: Best of Art Fair and Jini Stolk Best of Online Art Fair
- Alum Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow: Mayor’s Purchase Award
- OCAD U Associate Professor and Chair, Integrated Media/Sculpture and Installation/Life Studies Derek Sullivan: Best of Student and Honourable Mention Student
- Alum and artist Michael Belmore: Best of 3D Works
- OCAD U Associate Professor and Chair of Photography, Printmaking and Publications Meera Margaret Singh: Best of Photography and Digital Media and Honourable Mention, Photography and Digital Media
- OCAD U Associate Professor Emerit Chung-Im Kim
