Call for Submissions – New Vistas: alder for the heart

Image: Ellena Sardo, Sam Gervais

Call for Submissions
New Vistas: alder for the heart

The City of Toronto, in partnership with Humber Polytechnic’s Arts Administration and Cultural Management 2025/2026 cohort, is seeking emerging artists from Etobicoke/Adobigok and the GTA for New Vistas: alder for the heart exhibition at the Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery.

Submission Deadline: November 9, 2025, 11:59pm ET

Public Exhibition: December 3, 2025 – January 14, 2026
Opening Reception: December 6, 2025, 2:00 – 4:00pm
Location: Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery, Toronto

This juried exhibition explores and examines how personal identity is woven from the ecological, ancestral, and urban landscape around us, exploring the deep interconnections between self, memory, and place in Etobicoke/Adobigok through the works of emerging artists. Accepted mediums include drawings, paintings, digital art prints, other print media, textiles, pottery, sculptures, and mixed media.

Submissions should reflect the following themes:

• What does Etobicoke/the GTA mean to you?
• What are your roots? What has helped you grow?
• How has your respective culture intertwined with your experience of Etobicoke?
• What materials does Etobicoke/the GTA inspire you to create with? Do they relate to nature?
• How does the work engage with eurocentric traditions and indigenous sovereignty?
• What does a pre-colonized Etobicoke look like to you? What does a post-colonized Etobicoke look like to you, and how can we be critical of it?

Eligibility:

• Early-career artists* who are at least 18 years of age, from equity-seeking communities, with a focus on IBPOC, Newcomers, Deaf, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+.
• Artists must have connections to Etobicoke and the Greater Toronto Area.

*Early-career artists are defined as artists in the early stages of their professional careers who have produced a small body of work and achieved some local recognition and/or have limited sales and public exhibition experience. This includes artists who have been practicing for two to five years and/or are post-secondary fine art students.

Compensation:

Three award winners, selected by the jury, will each receive a $100 prize.
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Selection Process:

Artists selected for the exhibition will be notified by email and provided with additional details regarding the exhibit.

How to Apply:

• Fill out the application form.
• Read the Terms of Entry in full.
• There is no fee to submit. The Gallery does not take commissions on sales.

Exhibition Information:

• Artwork Drop-off: November 30, 2025, 9:30 – 10:30am
• Exhibition Dates: December 3, 2025 – January 14, 2026
• Artwork Pick-up: January 16, 2026, 10:00 – 11:00am

Display Cases: All three-dimensional work must be in enclosed cases. Display cases may also be used to show additional 2-dimensional work. Our case sizes are as follows:

Two large glass cases with locks: 60″ L x 36″ W x 32″ H each

Four acrylic-topped display stands of varying sizes:
1. 24″ L x 12″ W x 18″ H
2. 28″ L x 14″ W x 22″ H
3. 32″ L x 16″ W x 28″ H
4. 30″ L x 30″ W x 35″ H

Contact:

For any inquiries related to this Call for Submissions, please contact:
submissions.newvistas@gmail.com

Instagram: @newvistasprojects
Website: alderfortheheart.wixsite.com/newvistas

Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery
399 The West Mall
Toronto, ON M9C 2Y2
416-394-8628
eccartgallery@toronto.ca
toronto.ca/eccartgallery

Gallery Hours:
Monday – Friday: 8:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday & Statutory holidays: Closed
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Accessibility:
Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery is partially accessible. For more information, please contact the facility or 311 prior to your visit to determine if the facility can meet your needs.​

Image Description:
1. Stylized alder leaf with a brown heart on a textured multicoloured background.