Call for Applications: Thirdspace 2026 Emerging Artist Summer Residency, OCAD University

Thirdspace Emerging Artist Residency 2025, OCAD University

Last Call for Applications: Three more weeks to apply to OCAD University’s summer residency for emerging artists!

Application Deadline: April 2, 2026
Residency Dates: June 1 – 26, 2026
OCAD University, Toronto, Canada

About the Residency:

Thirdspace: Emerging Artist Summer Intensive Program is a month-long residency program at OCAD University, led by the Summer Artist and Mentor-in-Residence. Each year, the program brings together a dynamic group of interdisciplinary emerging artists, including those in the early stages of their careers and those embarking on new directions in their creative practices.

“One of the biggest takeaways from the residency was the sense of belonging that came from working alongside such talented and diverse peers. Sharing the studio space, ideas, and feedback created an environment that was both supportive and inspiring. Seeing how each artist approached their practice differently opened my eyes to new perspectives and possibilities within my own work.” – 2025 Thirdspace Participant

The Residency Includes:

• Mentorship from our Summer Artist & Mentor-in-Residence
• Four weeks of studio access to develop and refine your work
• Specialized facilities access depending on level of experience and technical skills
• ️Reading discussions, guest talks & field trips
• Conceptual and technical skill-building workshops
• ️Final exhibition at OCAD U’s Graduate Gallery showcasing the works developed during the residency

Images (left to right): Erdem Taşdelen, Apparitions: Plunge / Apparitions: Rush, inkjet-printed photographs, 45 x 60 cm each, 2025; photo by Kayhan Kaygusuz. Headshot of Erdem Taşdelen; photo by Sarah Bodri. Images courtesy of the artist.

Residency Theme:

This year’s residency theme “Staging the Unseen” invites artists to explore storytelling beyond convention. Under the guidance of Erdem Taşdelen, Summer Artist and Mentor-in-Residence, participants will be invited to use text, image, sound, and video, participants to engage in narrative as world-building—challenging dominant stories, revealing hidden perspectives, and opening space for new possibilities.

About the Mentor-in-Residence:

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.

Jake Bowen, participant in the Thirdspace Emerging Artist Residency 2025, OCAD University

Learn More and Apply: apply.ocadu.ca/register/thirdspace

Application Deadline: April 2, 2026

For additional information or questions, please contact:
Meichen Waxer
Program Development Specialist
mwaxer@ocadu.ca

OCAD University
100 McCaul Street
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1

Accessibility Level: This venue is accessible.

Image Descriptions:
1. An art student sitting in front of a loom in a bright studio space, surrounded by materials, sketches and other artwork on the walls.
2. On the left, a documentation image of two framed photographs in an exhibition. On the right, a headshot of an artist.
3. An art student painting a large, abstract painting in a bright studio space.