Call for Submissions: The Reset, 2024 New Media Artist Mentorship Program, City of Toronto

Studio Portrait by Yung Yemi, 2023. Photograph by Yung Yemi.

Open Call for Submissions:
City of Toronto’s 2024 New Media Artist Mentorship Program – The Reset

The City of Toronto is actively seeking enthusiastic and dedicated creatives who specialize in new media arts. The City is specifically interested in visionaries who possess bold and inclusive perspectives, who can contribute significantly to our vibrant and diverse community.

Mentorship Theme

This new media mentorship program offers a compelling opportunity to explore innovative possibilities for living and interacting with various aspects of life: from our environment and natural resources to values, currency and the entire planet. In a world beyond 2020, where endless possibilities abound, humanity stands at a pivotal moment to reset its course and imagine a truly transformed world.

Over six months, 10 selected artists will create site-specific digital media artworks to be showcased in May 2024, during Museum Month. The artists will receive mentorship from esteemed artist Yung Yemi.

Mentor Bio

Adeyemi Adegbesan is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary artist whose practice aims to examine the cultural intersectionalities within Black identity. Reflecting on Black cultural ideologies from pre-colonial, colonial, present-day and future timelines; across regions, religions, varying levels of income and political lines, Adegbesan examines the dichotomy of the richness of Black experiences with the imposed societal homogeneity of ‘Blackness’. Through his work Adegbesan pulls from these varying elements to create Afro-futuristic portraits that embody themes of history, fantasy, speculative futures and spirituality.

Adeyemi is a self-taught artist whose practice incorporates photography, illustration, mixed media collage, murals and assemblage. He has worked out of his studio in Toronto’s Kensington Market neighbourhood for the past decade. His work has been shown across Canada and internationally. He uses a mix of cultural inspirations to create Afro-futurist/Afro-surrealist portraits that embody themes of history, fantasy, speculative futures and spirituality.

Eligibility

• Artists must reside in the GTA
• 21 years of age or older
• Be available for meetings during business hours
• Be available in the month of May 2024 to present final project

How to Apply

Before starting your online application process, please have the following files ready:

• Short biography (100 words or less)
• CV / Resume
• Up to 10 supporting images and renderings of the project
• Links to video/images of past work
  Note: The applicant is responsible for receiving permission from individuals depicted in videos or images.

The application deadline is August 31, 2023, at 11:45 p.m. Apply here.

Learn more at toronto.ca/artistmentorship.

Hear and discover artist Adeyemi Adegbesan’s passion as he reflects on the impact of erasure, the layered symbolism and the process of making the Luminary: Mary Ann Shadd portrait. Watch here.

Check out the current Artist Mentorship Showcase: Pride with Ashley McKenzie-Barnes at Toronto History Museums.

Artist Mentorship Showcase: Pride with Ashley McKenzie-Barnes, courtesy of the City of Toronto

Currently on view, museum visitors are invited to consider self-identity and reclaiming ownership with a showcase of visual artworks at Toronto History Museums that disrupts, discovers and displays narratives of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The showcase is led by acclaimed curator and creative director Ashley McKenzie-Barnes, who mentored a group of 10 local emerging and mid-career artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of colour in a ground-breaking 12-month mentorship program.

The participating artists were given the freedom to create self-directed works, resulting in a collection of unique and diverse pieces. These artists specialize in contemporary art, design and interdisciplinary practices and respond to anti-colonialism, anti-oppression, and anti-racism. Each project highlights the varied perspectives and experiences of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. More information is available on the City’s Artist Mentorship Showcase webpage.

The City is grateful for the support of sponsor TD Bank Group, partner Pride Toronto and media partner 106.5 ELMNT FM Toronto.

Toronto History Museums are a group of 10 museums owned and operated by the City of Toronto with the mission to collect, preserve, research, interpret, exhibit and enhance the understanding of Toronto’s diverse stories through engaging and exciting experiences and different perspectives.

Toronto History Museums include Colborne Lodge, Fort York National Historic Site, Gibson House Museum, Mackenzie House, Market Gallery, Montgomery’s Inn, Scarborough Museum, Spadina Museum, Todmorden Mills and Zion Schoolhouse. Learn more at the Toronto History Museums webpage.

General admission to all 10 Toronto History Museums is free.

Email contact: tohistorymuseums@toronto.ca

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