Artist Material Fund 2026 at Steelcase Art Projects

Artist Material Fund, artLAB Gallery, Western University, 2022, Photo: Dickson Bou

Artist Material Fund Opens in Markham with Free Materials, Workshops, and Community Events

September – December 2026

The Artist Material Fund (AMF) is opening its doors at Steelcase Art Projects (SAP) in Markham to create a new public hub where artists, educators, makers, and community members can access creative materials at no cost, join workshops, and help shape a more sustainable future for the arts.

Presented by the Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) in partnership with Industrial Arts’ Steelcase Art Projects (SAP) and the City of Markham Public Art Program, the AMF rethinks what happens to materials left over from exhibitions, productions, installations, and creative projects. Instead of ending up in landfill, these resources are redistributed free of charge to artists and the public, extending their life through a growing creative network while cutting environmental waste.

Over more than a decade, the AMF has diverted tonnes of reusable materials while giving artists free access to production resources. This expansion marks the program’s first dedicated public space providing an active depot for material reuse, ecological thinking, and collaborative making.

Beyond materials, the AMF is a place to learn, connect, and experiment. Throughout the season, artists will lead workshops and community conversations on ecological art practices, sustainable production, and creative reuse. By bringing together artists, cultural institutions, municipalities, and industry around shared resources, the AMF shows what a more circular arts community can look like by lowering barriers to artistic production, keeping valuable materials in use, and opening new possibilities for collaboration.

Regular Public Access

The Artist Material Fund is free and open to everyone to take, with new materials every week!

Second and Last Fridays of the Month
10am – 4pm

Visitors are invited to browse, collect, and redistribute materials during our twice-monthly Open Access Days:

September 11 & 25
October 9 & 30
November 13 & 27
December 4 (Final Open Access Day)

Whether you’re an artist, educator, student, community organization, home renovator, or maker, you’ll find an ever-changing selection of exhibition materials, lumber, hardware, display components, textiles, plastics, packaging, and unexpected creative resources waiting for a second life.

Special Events: Artist-Led Workshop Saturdays

On select Saturdays, the Artist Material Fund combines free public material pick-up with artist-led workshops. The depot is open from 10am to 3pm for visitors to browse and collect reclaimed materials, while featured artists lead hands-on sessions from 1 to 3pm (space is limited, registration required), demonstrating creative techniques using the very materials available in the space. Participants are invited to learn new skills, connect with local artists, gather free materials, and leave inspired to transform reclaimed resources into their own creative projects.

Anthony Gebrehiwot, Tailor Made, 2026

AMF Community Open House & Artist-Led Workshop
Saturday, October 31, 2026
AMF Open House: 10am – 3pm
Portrait Photography Workshop with Anthony Gebrehiwot: 1–3pm | Registration Required

Join celebrated photographer Anthony Gebrehiwot for a hands-on portrait photography workshop exploring how reclaimed materials and everyday resources can be transformed into compelling photographic sets and visual stories. Participants will experiment with creative lighting, staging, composition, and resourceful approaches to portrait-making, while gaining insight into Anthony’s creative process.

With a model and stylist on hand, the workshop will explore creative direction and the collaborative relationships between photographers, stylists, and models in developing a cohesive visual concept. Participants will have the opportunity to put these ideas into practice during a live portrait session. Bring your camera and come ready to experiment, collaborate, and rethink the creative possibilities of materials already around us.

Norwin Anne, Talking Textiles Weaving Workshop, AGB, 2023.

AMF Community Open House & Artist-Led Workshop
Saturday, November 28, 2026
AMF Open House: 10am – 3pm
Weaving Workshop with Norwin Anne: 1–3pm | Registration Required

Artist, designer, re-maker, and eco-culture communicator Norwin Anne leads a hands-on workshop exploring weaving with reclaimed and discarded materials. Drawing from their slow fashion practice and community initiative From Here to Wear, participants will transform surplus textiles and unconventional materials into woven forms while learning about textile waste, circular design, and creative reuse. This workshop celebrates the possibilities of making while challenging our relationship to consumption and waste.

AMF Community Open House: Everything Must Go!
Saturday, December 5, 2026
AMF Open House: 10am – 3pm

The AMF wraps up its inaugural season with its biggest public redistribution event yet. Everything remaining in the depot is free. Artists, schools, community groups, makers, educators, and visitors are encouraged to bring a vehicle, gather materials, and help us achieve our goal of an empty room, the ultimate measure of success and a symbol of a truly circular system.

Throughout the afternoon, enjoy demonstrations, giveaways, and one final opportunity to discover unexpected materials ready for their next creative life.

Admission is free to all Open Access Days and public events.