Call for Digital Art: Imagine Next

Deadline: September 14th 11:59pm 

About the opportunity 

Toronto’s biggest celebration of city builders and city lovers is back! Toronto the Good Party, created by ERA Architects, is held each year to spark fresh ideas for our urban future — highlighting a contemporary theme in a setting that challenges us to see the city in new ways. 

This year’s edition takes place within Art=Waterfront, another bold ERA initiative addressing Toronto’s cultural spaces crisis by envisioning a cultural corridor along the city’s entire waterfront — supporting both new and existing spaces for art, culture, and community. 

For 2025, ERA has invited Culturans, an international NGO based in Mexico City that uses art, culture, and social innovation to imagine and build sustainable cities, to bring its “Art You In?” platform to Toronto — an initiative that shows how the arts can transform constant negative narratives into positive action. In this edition, “Art You In?” will also act as a creative bridge between Canada and Mexico, highlighting the shared commitment of both countries to building a sustainable future for all. 

Now, ERA Architects, Culturans, and OCAD University have come together to launch “Imagine Next” — a collaborative project designed to engage Toronto’s youth in imagining and designing the waterfront of tomorrow, with a special focus on Exhibition Place as a model for the Art=Waterfront vision. 

The call features two distinct opportunities, both aligned with the vision of Imagine Next and the Art=Waterfront initiative: 

1. Digital art submissions of already existing student work, which will be showcased through QR codes in a unique art activation titled FutureFront, created by Culturans. 

2. Student participation in a hands-on co-creation workshop, hosted by Culturans, that invites the local waterfront community to dream, design, and shape the future of Exhibition Place and Toronto’s waterfront. 

This open call has been developed by Culturans, in collaboration with OCAD University and with the support of ERA Architects. 

Entry fee 

There is no entry fee charge 

Why should you contribute to the open call? 

Whether you’re working solo or as part of a group — from any background or discipline — we want your vision for a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable Toronto waterfront. This is your chance to showcase your ideas and creative work, contribute to a shared vision for the future of the city, and have your voice heard by an audience of city builders. Your contribution will be part of a multi-year initiative dedicated to reimagining and transforming Toronto’s waterfront for generations to come. 

Eligibility 

This call for entries is open to 

• Graduate, undergraduate and alumni from OCAD University, all faculties and programs are eligible to apply. 

• Entrants must submit work as an individual artist or a team. Entrants must submit already existing digital work. 

Location 

The winning proposals will be exhibited during the Toronto The Good Party held at the beautiful and iconic Old City Hall on October 3, 2025. The building is currently inaccessible to the public and this event will demonstrate its great potential for a range of uses. 

Calendar 

The timetable in relation to the call for entries is as follows: 

1. Submission Deadline - September 14th, 2025 , 11:59pm 

2. Selected candidates will be contacted by email - Monday, September 22nd, 2025 

Selection Process 

Through this open call, we’re inviting artists, dreamers, and visionaries to submit existing works that aligns with one of the main themes of “Imagine Next”?: The Cities of the Future, Art as a Way to Transform Public Spaces, Youth as City-Builders, Sustainability Can Be Cool. 8 artworks will be selected to be showcased in our exhibition. 

Selected participants will be notified directly by email, and the final list of winners will also be announced through the official channels of OCAD U and Culturans. 

How to Apply 

Please submit all materials in a single PDF no larger than 10MB to internationalprograms@ocadu.ca with the subject line: Call for Digital Art - Imagine Next Application – [Your Name]. 

Submission requirements 

1. Full Name

2. Student number (if applicable)

3.  A 500-word maximum artist statement explaining how your proposal aligns with the themes of the event, and how your artwork relates to your selected theme. 

4. Digital artwork that meets the following criteria: 

• Images in JPG or PNG, in any size 

• Videos and animations up to 30 seconds in length in mp4 format (include links).  

•  The digital artwork must align with one of the themes listed below. 

Themes 

1. The Cities of the Future 

Imagine what our cities could look and feel like decades from now. Think about innovative design, technology, mobility, green spaces, and the ways communities might connect in tomorrow’s urban landscapes. 

2. Art as a Way to Transform Public Spaces 

Show how art can reimagine and energize shared spaces, turning streets, parks, and plazas into vibrant places for gathering, dialogue, and inspiration. 

3. Youth as City-Builders 

Highlight the role of young people in shaping the future of our cities. Capture the creativity, courage, and fresh perspectives that youth bring to urban design and community life. 

4. Sustainability Can Be Cool 

Prove that caring for the planet is not just essential — it can also be exciting, stylish, and culturally relevant. Explore creative ways to make sustainability an irresistible part of city living. 

Award 

Selected works will be featured in a digital exhibition accessible through QR codes embedded in an art installation by Culturans, showcased during Toronto the Good Party on October 3, 2025. Winners will also receive a complimentary ticket to the party — a chance to present their work, connect with Toronto’s city builders, and network with key stakeholders. 

Funding 

As participating pieces are existing works, expenses and costs related to the creation of digital art is expected to be covered by each participant. 

For any inquiries or information please contact: 

• OCAD University 

Daniela Lee-Kim- dleekim@ocadu.ca 

• Culturans 

Karina López - community@culturans.org 

About Toronto The Good Party 2025 

For 15+ years, ERA has hosted an annual party for city builders and city lovers whose aim is to highlight a contemporary theme, issue, or topic, often held in a location that underscores and interrogates those ideas. Last year Toronto The Good was at The Bentway and our focus was the Art=Waterfront initiative generally. (The Mayor of Toronto gave a great speech in support.) We are excited about this year's TTG! 

About Art=Waterfront 

Art=Waterfront is an initiative by ERA that's advocating to address Toronto's cultural spaces crisis by creating a cultural corridor across the city's whole waterfront with supports for new and existing cultural spaces. We've held a series of events involving artists, city builders, policymakers, and cultural professionals from across the city; authored op-eds promoting the idea of using the waterfront to foster more cultural spaces in Toronto; and formed a diverse coalition of supporters with whom we produced a Policy Document showcasing different tools for stimulating waterfront spaces last year. We're looking to support and promote a diversity of cultural spaces on the waterfront through adaptive reuse of existing buildings, new developments, meanwhile uses, and larger reimaginings of under-used waterfront neighbourhoods such as Exhibition Place. ERA has previously been involved in and led large-scale transformations Toronto's Distillery District and Evergreen Brickworks. 

About ERA Architects 

ERA Architects Inc. (ERA) is an award-winning architecture and planning firm focused on conservation through reactivation. Working across a lively spectrum of scales and locales, we develop heritage planning approaches that renew and improve the built environment. Creative adaptive reuse strategies and building conservation techniques are a core expertise established at the firm’s founding in the 1990s by Edwin Rowse and Michael McClelland. Since then, we have expanded our in-house expertise to encompass a broad range of consulting, design, and advocacy work. For over 30 years, we have provided a high level of professional service to the public and private sectors from our offices in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa and we are currently licensed to practice architecture in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. The more than 130 talented individuals who comprise our integrated, multidisciplinary team are members of an array of professional associations and advocacy organizations. 

About Art You In? 

Art You In? is a movement and year-round initiative that connects art with the imagination of sustainable futures in creative, fun, and participatory ways — transforming negative narratives into positive action. Through a series of projects, collaborations, and events, it brings together young people, companies, universities, artists, local communities, and civil society to co-create spaces of discussion, creation, and celebration. Art You In? demonstrates the power of art to turn even the most difficult topics into empathetic and constructive conversations, setting new cultural trends. This journey is leading up to the first International Festival of Art and Futures held in Toronto and Mexico City in 2026, where the public, private, and academic sectors will meet in a dynamic program of conferences, exhibitions, installations, and a big closing celebration. 

About Culturans 

Culturans uses art, culture and social innovation to imagine and create sustainable cities –on a human scale. We work with local and global communities to transform urban well-being for people and nature. Our team offers a unique perspective on urbanism that combines creative industries, community engagement, and sustainable development. We see urbanism as a network of social relationships that combines community-based action with global cooperation. We work with and learn from grassroots communities, scientific and educational institutions, civil society organizations, and government agencies across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Culturans is based in Mexico City and works internationally. 

Legal
 

By entering the Competition and without more, each Entrant grants to Culturans, ERA, OCAD and/or any other ally or sponsor an unlimited and irrevocable license to use the Submission in any way that Culturans, ERA, OCAD and/or any other ally or sponsor deems appropriate, including educational, commercial, or any other use.
More thoroughly, without further authorization or any compensation owed to or due any Entrant, Entrant grants and authorizes, that Culturans, ERA, OCAD and/or any other ally or sponsor shall retain, a perpetual, non-exclusive royalty-free license to use any Submission, for any purpose, including displaying any Submission by any means anywhere in the world, including in any media which may include displaying a Submission on an Internet website, in a book, and for publication, promotional and marketing material in any format including but noy limited to, print, video and digital media.
Ownership of all intellectual property rights and copyright in submitted materials and concepts remains with the Entrant.
The Entrant shall be credited either by collective (team or design firm) name or by individual name(s) at their discretion in all publications and exhibits following the jury decision. Subject to any limitation herein, any design and intellectual property undergirding a submitted entry ("Submission") remains the property of the participant or participating team ("Entrant") and may be used for their own purposes. Entrants are solely responsible for protecting the intellectual property of a Submission. The Entrant warrants that in preparing their entry there has been no infringement of the intellectual property rights and copyright of others, and that they have obtained any necessary licenses or assignments from third parties.