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[Announcing Penakee Das as the recipient of the 2026 Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) Residency Career Launcher!](/markdownify/node/4382) April 24, 2026 # Announcing Penakee Das as the recipient of the 2026 Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) Residency Career Launcher! ![TAIS studios with computer and animation gear.](/sites/default/files/styles/1_5_1_large/public/2025-04/TAIS-CL%20Banner.png.webp?itok=Khjb80Pm) rgb(255,255,255) OCAD University’s RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers is excited to announce **Penakee Das** as the recipient of the [**2026 Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) Residency Career Launcher!**](https://careerlaunchers.format.com/2026-tais) ![2026 TAIS Career Launcher recipient](/sites/default/files/2026-04/CL%20Recipient_TAIS%20%28square%29.png) **Penakee Das bio:** [**Penakee Das**](https://penakeedas.myportfolio.com/) is multi-disciplinary artist who is focused on researching the link between art and pedagogy. To him visual arts is another way of communication that allows deeper meanings and emotions to become tangible. His background before exploring Art as a career was in education for special demographics including; the elderly, the very young, and kids with learning disabilities or behavioral issues. In his personal experience working into those fields he experienced first hand how important visual language can be to communicate with those with barriers. Penakee’s interest in animation stems from the idea that animation is not one singular work but multiple chances to display the same concept over and over. His primary forms of animation are in stop motion and compositing. Many of his films focus on abstract sensory experience, utilizing real life textures and compositing them over each other to create the hyperreal. This visual experience not only shows a physical object or texture but actualizes the spiritual essence of the physical. ## Other Recent News [### 2026-27 Call for Funding Proposals for Student Groups that Support Creative Entrepreneurship on Campus The RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers (CEAD) invites OCAD University student groups with a mandate to support entrepreneurship on campus to apply for funding for student-led initiatives that strengthen and expand the creative entrepreneurship ecosystem at OCAD U. This funding is intended to help student groups create opportunities for entrepreneurship skills development, community building, and revenue-generating activities for students and recent alumni, while reducing barriers to participation for equity-seeking individuals. November 6, 2026 ](/news/2026-27-call-funding-proposals-student-groups-support-creative-entrepreneurship-campus) [### 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) Related Stories ## Related Stories [### 2026-27 Call for Funding Proposals for Student Groups that Support Creative Entrepreneurship on Campus The RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers (CEAD) invites OCAD University student groups with a mandate to support entrepreneurship on campus to apply for funding for student-led initiatives that strengthen and expand the creative entrepreneurship ecosystem at OCAD U. This funding is intended to help student groups create opportunities for entrepreneurship skills development, community building, and revenue-generating activities for students and recent alumni, while reducing barriers to participation for equity-seeking individuals. November 6, 2026 ](/news/2026-27-call-funding-proposals-student-groups-support-creative-entrepreneurship-campus) [### 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)