Events

All new students are invited to join us for Welcome Day! 

Convening Toronto’s most creative and influential minds in the art and design sector, OCAD University is excited to launch Toronto’s newest signature event! 

Each May, Doors Open Toronto invites the public to explore the city’s most-loved buildings and sites, free of charge. The event provides rare access to buildings that are not usually open to the public and free access to sites that would usually charge an admission fee.

Through the art of performative storytelling, Fortitude/Fragile exhibiting artists Francisco-Fernando Granados and Vessna Perunovich delve into the complexities of lived and diasporic experiences. Granados and Perunovich use their artistic practices to shed light on narratives often marginalized or constrained by dominant systems of power, creating space for critical reflection and dialogue. By intertwining personal and collective histories, they evoke a nuanced understanding of resilience and vulnerability, offering audiences an intimate exploration of identity, displacement, and belonging.

Explore the Fortitude/Fragile exhibition through a dyke lens with a democratize-the-docent polyvocal tour for the 2SLGBTQ+ community at Onsite Gallery. Continue afterwards from 8 pm till late at Sweaty Betty's for an afterparty featuring DJs, readers, and special guests.

TEDxOCADU is an event for bold ideas, real conversations, and creative transformation. 

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

OCAD University’s 110th Annual Graduate Exhibition, Toronto’s largest free art and design exhibition, takes place May 7 to 11, 2025, featuring the work of more than 800 emerging artists and designers.

A conversation with Ryan Gander

OCAD University Senate Meeting

Transmission: A Transatlantic Project Exploring Innovative Modes of Exhibition

Virtual Curator/Artist Talk: Avalon Mott In Conversation with Nabil Azab & Shannon Garden-Smith

A Student Group Exhibition | Integrated Media: Life Studies Specialization

A Hybrid Event: Sabbatical Presentations by Two Faculty Members.

The Office of Research and Innovation invites you to attend an extraordinary Octonary Book Launch featuring works of eight OCAD U faculty who have written or edited books over the past year. Please join us to celebrate the excellent work of our faculty members, learn more about the ongoing research at OCAD University and mingle with the research community!

Join us for a peer-led session facilitated by members of the Fineline Co-Op, featuring insights from OCAD U alumni.

Stories We Tell: Mythologies is a collaborative zine exhibition featuring student artists from OCAD University, Belas Artes in São Paulo, and RMIT University in Melbourne. The project explores how myth shapes identity, media, and culture across time and geography. On view at Stackt Market's North Hall Gallery from April 15–20, 2025.

A show combines fashion, art, and technology!  

An end-of-term performance by Experimental Animation Second-year students.

Coffee Chats is a series of casual gatherings with the CEAD team with industry guests. Hosted 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.

Meet us at Onsite Gallery for a public tour of Fortitude/Fragile with Onsite Gallery’s Senior Curator, Lisa Deanne Smith

Join Alumni Relations for an evening of life drawing on campus. 

Connect with fellow artists, learn about the co-op, and enjoy some snacks!

The Ignite Gallery Photography Award is open to all Photography majors, at OCAD University regardless of year level. Recipients of this high-profile award will have their work featured in a striking 8-foot-high mural along the east wall of the Ada Slaight Exhibition Center

 Year End show to recognize the work of first-year graphic design students in Design Process 1 + 2.

Coffee Chats is a series of casual gatherings with the CEAD team with industry guests. Hosted 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.
 

Join Alumni Relations for a morning of life drawing on campus. 

A special invite to the inauguration / inaugural exhibition of work done by students of GDES-1017-502 Photography for Communication. A short event from 1.00-1.30 pm, Friday April 4th, this inauguration is part of the last class of the course.

Directed by: Jee Hyewon

Join us for a showcase of Art, Coffee & Community at Dark Horse Espresso’s Grand Opening!

Join Alumni Relations for an evening of life drawing on campus.