Orientation Events

How to acquire plinths for GradEx.

Learn how to stand out without selling out. This workshop covers branding, storytelling, and content strategies to help creative entrepreneurs attract the right audience and communicate their value clearly. Leave with practical ideas for promoting your work in a way that feels aligned with your creative vision.

Coffee Chats is a series of casual gatherings with industry guests. Hosted at the CEAD in small intimate groups, these gatherings will provide a space for group conversations with practitioners who are interested in supporting OCAD U students and grads to offer mentorship, and share their professional insights and journey, while collectively creating a community.

OCAD University Senate Meeting

Co-presented with UKAI Projects, this immersive day-long workshop invites you into collaborative experiments between humans and machines.

OCAD University’s 111th Annual Graduate Exhibition, Toronto’s largest free art and design exhibition, takes place May 6 to 10, 2026, featuring the work of more than 800 emerging artists and designers.

Moderated by Onsite Gallery's Senior Curator, Lisa Deanne Smith, join our panelists for a timely and thought-provoking conversation on the growing entanglement of AI systems within our cultural, economic, and ecological worlds.

Join us for an evening to celebrate this year’s OCAD U Creative Writing graduating cohort at Onsite Gallery 

Wander slowly, breathe deeply, and gather in ritual. This small-group meditative nature walk and tea ceremony invites participants into a quiet, sensory experience rooted in mindfulness, presence, and environmental connection—an intimate offering for up to 10 guests.

Following a standout debut last spring, the OCAD U Gala returns on May 27, 2026, as a rising highlight in Toronto’s cultural calendar.

FIVARS returns to Toronto from June 15 to 19, 2026, for its 12th edition, with OCAD U as presenting sponsor.