## Breadcrumb 1. [Home](/index%2Ephp/) 2. [News and Stories](/index%2Ephp/news) 3. [OCAD U Opens Applications for THIRDSPACE: Emerging Artist Summer Residency 2026](/index%2Ephp/markdownify/node/4072) December 3, 2025 # OCAD U Opens Applications for THIRDSPACE: Emerging Artist Summer Residency 2026 ![On the right, a headshot of Erdem Tasdelen, on the left, documentation of an artwork by him: two blurry images framed and hung on a gallery wall. ](/sites/default/files/styles/1_5_1_large/public/2025-12/THIRDSPACE2026-45.png.webp?itok=Z5d4vXUn) Erdem Taşdelen, Apparitions: Plunge / Apparitions: Rush, inkjet-printed photographs, 45x60 cm each, 2025. Photo by Kayhan Kaygusuz. Courtesy of the artist. Headshot by Sarah Bodri rgb(255,255,255) OCAD University has opened applications for **THIRDSPACE: Emerging Artist Summer Residency 2026**, a month-long summer art program designed to support **emerging artists**, recent graduates and early-career creators seeking mentorship, studio access and professional development in Toronto. Led by OCAD U's 2026 Summer Artist & Mentor-in-Residence **Erdem Taşdelen**, the 2026 residency explores the theme ***Staging the Unseen***, encouraging artists to push the boundaries of conventional storytelling through text, image, sound and video. During the course of the month-long residency, participants will have access to open and specialized studios at OCAD U to develop new work while receiving mentorship, collaborating with peers and engaging with Toronto’s vibrant arts community through gallery visits and conversations with professionals across the sector. The residency will culminate in a public exhibition at the **OCAD U Graduate Gallery.** Building on the success of the inaugural 2025 edition, THIRDSPACE continues to foster experimentation, collaboration and critical dialogue among emerging artists. As one past participant shared, "THIRDSPACE is perfect for emerging artists in that it acts as a footing ground… showing us the importance of thematic works and to think beyond the canvas.” ![a collage of four images of artists working in various ocad u studios as part of the 2025 thirdspace residency](/sites/default/files/2025-12/THIRDSPACE2026-44%20copy%203_0.jpeg) ##### **About the 2026 Mentor-in-Residence: Erdem Taşdelen** Erdem Taşdelen is an artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Through the use of diverse materials and media, he constructs semi-fictional narratives that incorporate unique historical figures, events and texts to implicate contemporary sociopolitical realities. At the core of his artistic practice lies an exploration of how narrative interacts with its form, and how different forms “stage” narratives. Taşdelen has exhibited at venues including The Power Plant, Aga Khan Museum and Mercer Union in Toronto; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; VOX, Montréal; Framer Framed, Amsterdam; Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg; and Pera Museum, Istanbul. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Delfina Foundation and Studio Voltaire, London; Hangar, Lisbon; Rupert, Vilnius; and KulturKontakt, Vienna. He was awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts by the Canada Council in 2016, the Charles Pachter Prize. **Residency details:** - **Program dates:** June 1 to 26, 2026 - **Early bird deadline:** February 2, 2026 - [**Read more information and apply here**](https://bit.ly/OCADUTHIRDSPACE) ## Other Recent News [### 2027 Critical Distance Centre for Curators Projections Program Call for Artists OCAD University’s RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers (CEAD) and Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC) have partnered to co-create CDCC Projections Program Career Launcher. Four (4) to five (5) selected emerging artists will receive $690 to exhibit work in a single channel, projection-based screening program that will be displayed at the CDCC in March 2027. October 30, 2026 ](/news/2027-critical-distance-centre-curators-projections-program-call-artists) [### Call for Vendors: BAM! Holiday Art Market 2026 OCAD University's RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers (CEAD) is excited to partner again with Wychwood Barns to offer a curated group of OCAD U students and recent alumni the opportunity to share a vendor table at the BAM! Holiday Art Market. October 26, 2026 ](/news/call-vendors-bam-holiday-art-market-2026) [### OCAD U’s Global Centre for Climate Action and EU bring large-scale art to Toronto’s Canada Malting Silos "The Light" and "Melting Temporalities" transformed the waterfront into a canvas for climate reflection. October 6, 2026 ](/news/ocad-us-global-centre-climate-action-and-eu-bring-large-scale-art-torontos-canada-malting) Related Stories ## Related Stories [### OCAD U Welcomes Van Maltese as Summer Artist & Mentor-in-Residence OCAD University’s THIRDSPACE: Emerging Artist Summer Intensive Program is a month-long residency where emerging artists experiment, expand their practice, and showcase new work under the mentorship of OCAD U alum Van Maltese. February 10, 2025 ](/index%2Ephp/news/ocad-u-welcomes-van-maltese-summer-artist-mentor-residence) [### Successful OCAD U grads giving back to students and alums Photo above (from left to right): Ahmad El Sarraff, founder of A77 Inc., arts/cultural sector expert Sagan MacIsaac and Tiah Khuu, a partner and creative direct October 17, 2024 ](/index%2Ephp/news/successful-ocad-u-grads-giving-back-students-and-alums)