Call for Submissions: Juried Show of Visual Arts 2026 at the Art Gallery of Mississauga

2025 Winners (clockwise from upper left): Ryan MacPherson, The Blues, 2025; Fei Ji, Three Bodies, 2022; Mya Wynter Hewston Gates, Redeem Your Reputation, 2025; Chris Myhr, Ab-Solutes: Lake Ontario (Abdominus 14), 2025.

Call for Submissions: Sixth Annual Juried Show of Visual Arts

Application Deadline: Sunday, September 13, 2026, at 5:59pm, or when the 300-submission capacity is met, whichever comes first.

Exhibition Dates: November 7, 2026 – January 10, 2027

The Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM) invites emerging and established artists living and working in Ontario to apply to its Sixth Annual Juried Show of Visual Arts.

Submissions must include a complete application form.

Jurors (left to right): Cathie Jamieson, Shaheer Zazai and Valentyna Onisko

Cathie Jamieson is an Anishinaabe artist from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation with Haudenosaunee family ties to Six Nation. She is a graduate of the Art and Art History program at University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan, and her multidisciplinary practice is based on storytelling from her Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee identity. In 2026, Jamieson’s work was featured in the Art Gallery of Mississauga exhibition I’ve Been Here Before, alongside the work of Jill Price. She has also participated in exhibitions at the Woodland Cultural Centre and Museum in Brantford, and her work is regularly featured in solo exhibitions at the Mississaugas of the Credit Annual Powwow. She currently lives on Manitoulin Island in Wikwemikong Unceded Territory where her work is informed by her land-based living practice.

Shaheer Zazai is an Afghan-Canadian multidisciplinary artist working across painting, digital media, textiles, installation, and video. His practice explores cultural identity, diaspora, and the intersection of traditional visual languages with contemporary digital systems. In 2026, his immersive installation A Petal for a Petal, A Deed for a Deed—The Garden We Could Have Been was exhibited at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, and his work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Aga Khan Museum, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, and Leila Heller Gallery. Zazai’s work is held in major public, private and corporate collections, with most recent acquisitions by the National Gallery of Canada and the Aga Khan Museum. He is also the recipient of the 2024 Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts Visual Artist Award.

Valentyna Onisko is a Toronto-based Ukrainian-Canadian curator whose practice explores the intersections of memory, identities, and shared histories. In her current role at Sheridan College, she leads the Creative Campus Galleries in Mississauga, developing exhibitions and educational initiatives across the institution’s galleries and public exhibition spaces while overseeing Sheridan’s art collections. Prior to joining Sheridan, she held positions at the Indigenous Visual Culture Research Centre at OCAD University and the Ontario Association of Art Galleries. She has also served on the boards of Eyelevel Gallery and Visual Arts Nova Scotia. Onisko holds a Master of Fine Arts in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from OCAD University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Art from NSCAD University.

Virtual Juried Show Preparation Seminar
Sunday, August 16, 2026, 10:30am – 12:30pm on Zoom

Join Mississauga-based artist Fausta Facciponte in an online seminar to help you prepare your submission for the upcoming AGM Juried Show of Visual Arts.

Prior registration is required. Please register on Eventbrite.

Important Information & Dates

Selected artists will be notified during the week of October 12, 2026.

Selected artists are responsible for all shipping. Artworks must be delivered to the AGM at 300 City Centre Drive inside the Mississauga Civic Centre on either Friday, October 23, 1 – 5pm, Saturday, October 24, 12 – 4pm, or Sunday, October 25, 12pm – 4pm.

The Opening Reception and Awards will take place at the AGM on Thursday, November 12, 2026, 6pm – 8pm.

Art must be collected January 15, 2027 or January 16, 2027, between noon and 3pm.

$3,500 in Prizes:
1st prize – $1,500
2nd prize – $1,000
3rd prize – $500
Honourable Mention – $250
Community Choice – $250

All successful artists will receive an exhibition fee of $100

Entry Fee: $45

Payment: Non-refundable entry fees and memberships are payable through the online application.

Overview of Terms of Entry

Applications are only accepted electronically and should be sent through our online form.

Artists may submit 1 recent piece (completed between 2023–2026). Open to all emerging and established artists 18 years of age and older, living and working in Ontario.

Submissions may include paintings in any medium, drawings, mixed media, fibre art, sculpture, photography, new media, and video. All work must be original.

All work must be exhibition-ready. For 2-dimensional work, this includes being professionally framed or mounted on a rigid surface with appropriate mounting hardware.

Selected artworks must be suitably packaged for delivery using materials that can be saved and reused at the close of the exhibition.

2-Dimensional Artwork:

• Submit one digital image of your artwork. You may include one detail image if needed.
• Images should be high quality JPEG or PNG files, 3–15 MB, and at least 3000 pixels on the longest side.
• Name files using the artwork title (e.g. Mona Lisa). Detail images should be labelled ArtworkName_detail (e.g. Mona Lisa_detail).
• All dimensions must be in centimeters

3-Dimensional/Sculptural Artwork:

• Submit two different views or a video of work in-situ demonstrating audio, visual, and kinetics as applicable.
• Name files using the artwork title and image number (i.e. MonaLisa , MonaLisa2).

Film, Video and New Media:

• Submissions must be accompanied by clear exhibition specifications and a signed model release form, if applicable.
• Name files using the artwork title (i.e. MyMovie).

Additional Guidelines for New Media:

The AGM can provide four 65-inch HD monitors, and a limited number of media players, headphones, and speakers. If your work requires technical equipment, include these details in the Installation Notes section of your application.

No Substitutions – Only work that has been submitted and accepted by the jurors will be included in the exhibition. Entry fee is non-refundable.

Sales Inquiries – The AGM does not directly engage in sales of artwork from its exhibitions. We will direct any purchase inquiries to the artist.

The AGM reserves the right to decline a submission deemed unsuitable for the show—this includes work that is not dry, not properly framed, reproductions, or copies of another’s artwork. Giclée prints are considered reproductions and are not acceptable.

Shipping and Insurance

All shipping arrangements and insurance to and from the AGM are the responsibility of the artist. Artwork selected for the Juried Showwill be insured by the AGM for the duration of the exhibition.

Applicants are reminded to read the full terms and conditions carefully before submitting their application. Submissions that do not comply with the requirements may be disqualified.

About the Art Gallery of Mississauga

The Art Gallery of Mississauga is a public Gallery supported by the City of Mississauga, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, TD Bank Group, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, corporations, private citizens, and Gallery members. AGM is located at 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, ON.

For more information
Call us at 905-276-3200
Visit us at www.artgalleryofmississauga.com
Email us contact@artgalleryofmississauga.com

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