Current students, faculty, and staff
Among the finalists for the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards, which celebrate excellence, diversity and innovation in Toronto’s arts sector, are two OCAD University graduates, a current student and Onsite Gallery’s executive director and curator of Indigenous art.
Ryan Rice, the executive director and curator of Indigenous art at Onsite Gallery, is a finalist for the Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award.
This award celebrates an artist, creator, volunteer or administrator who has demonstrated cultural leadership in the development of arts and culture in Toronto. Finalists in this category receive $1,000, with the recipient receiving a $10,000 prize.
Rice’s curatorial career spans 30 years in museums, public spaces and galleries. His research and writing have focused on contemporary and Onkwehón:we art. In 2022, Rice received the Changemakers BIPOC Award from Galeries Ontario/Ontario Galleries for his scholarship and community-based advocacy. He is a co-founder of the Indigenous Curatorial Collective and a board member of the Inuit Art Foundation.
Student Catherine Blackburn is a finalist for the Indigenous Artist Award. The award recipient, an Indigenous artist or collective who has made a significant contribution to creative cultural life in Toronto, will receive $20,000. In addition, the recipient will receive a week-long stay at the Valleyview Artist Retreat and will select a mentor/Elder or mentee to receive $5,000.
Blackburn, a graduate student in OCAD U’s Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art, Media and Design program, is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, jeweller and member of the English River First Nation (Dënesųłinë́). Her work addresses Canada’s colonial past, Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and representation. She is the recipient of an Eiteljorg Fellowship and a Forge Residency Fellowship. In 2023, Blackburn was included in the Sobey Art Award’s longlist.
Transdisciplinary artist Vladimir Kanic is one of two OCAD U alums nominated for the Breakthrough Artist Award, which celebrates the accomplishments and future potential of an emerging Toronto-based artist working in any discipline.
Kanic was nominated for his innovative living algae sculptures that transform breath into oxygen, reimagining art as a space for communal healing and hope. The OCAD U graduate received the Governor General’s Academic Medal and more than 10 sustainability and fine arts awards. He recently presented Living Algae Cyborg Ecosystem (LACE) at the 2025 DemocracyXChange Summit, a carbon-capturing sculptural installation that included a C02-responsive video projection.
The second Breakthrough finalist, alum Oreka James, is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist. James’s work examines issues of identity and the human experience. Their art has been exhibited at Pangée, the Patel Brown Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto.
Six of the awards will be presented at the Mayor’s Arts Lunch on Tuesday, April 29 at Arcadian Court. Two additional honours, the Newcomer Artist Award and the Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award, will be presented on April 15 and June 24, respectively.
Founded in 1995, the Toronto Arts Foundation is focused on bringing the arts to communities throughout the city. Since its inception, the Foundation has been recognized as a champion of the arts, bringing attention and investment to the sector.
Source: The Toronto Arts Foundation