Photo: Robin Yang

Art Gallery of Burlington
Sustainable Futures: Art Education Summit

October 16 – 18, 2025

On the Art Gallery of Burlington’s 50th anniversary, we invite artists, arts educators, studio technicians and our wider community to join us for a three-day gathering taking place October 16 – 18, 2025, to envision the future of art education in the context of our ongoing global climate catastrophes.

Climate change is the leading existential challenge of our time, and one that requires urgent collective action from all sectors. While art production and presentation have been historically intertwined with the harms of overconsumption and waste, art also empowers new thinking and making that can transform practices and create wider cultural impacts for a more sustainable tomorrow. We acknowledge that responsible consumption and sustainable art practices are rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems which view the land as a living system to be respected, not exploited, fostering circular economies where materials are reused and ecological balance is prioritized.

Registration is free for both our virtual and in-person events on Thursday, October 16 and Friday, October 17. Programs on Saturday, October 18 require paid registration on a cost-recovery basis for our Crawford Lake Visit and Tour @ $12 and all AGB Studio Workshops @ $40.

Schedule

Thursday, October 16
Lauren Markham: Immemorial
Online
6:00 – 7:00pm, Register here

Writer Lauren Markham provides the opening presentation in conversation with Artistic Director & Curator Suzanne Carte with a virtual session to build a collective language for the following two days of learning. Markham’s speculative essay, Immemorial, exemplifies the importance of language in naming the collective grief we are experiencing in the face of our climate catastrophe. She asks how we might memorialize what has been lost and what soon will be, pushing public imagination into generative realms and transforming grief into a force for care and action.

Friday, October 17
Summit Presentations, Tours & Networking
Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB)
10:00am – 4:30pm, Register here

A full day of thought-provoking conversations and collaborative learning will begin with a presentation by Victoria Ho, OCAD University’s Advisor of Strategic Sustainability, who will share insights on embedding sustainability across institutional practices. Krysta Longboat will follow with a powerful case study on the role of the Woodland Cultural Centre in preserving cultural memory. Participants are invited to join guided tours of our fall exhibitions Russna Kaur: Been there twice, haven’t got there yet (the space behind a thin screen, and prying eyes) and Jean Marshall & Nicole Richmond: Gikinoo’amaatowin – This Is All Learning. The afternoon continues with a Knowledge-Sharing Circle led by artist and firekeeper Sheldon Traviss, exploring the intersections of tradition and innovation through nature-gathered materials and collective reflection. Participants will engage in moderated breakout groups on topics including phasing out unsustainable materials, engaging responsibly with the land, and empowering youth.

Saturday, October 18
Crawford Lake: Lake to Longhouse Guided Tour
Crawford Lake
9:30 – 11:00am | $12 registration fee

Hands-on Workshops and Demonstrations
AGB Studios
1:00 – 4:00pm | $40 registration fee

The day begins with a guided tour of Crawford Lake, starting at the Longhouse Village and concluding with a visit to the rare meromictic Crawford Lake, whose uniquely preserved layers reveal the early history of Iroquois settlements and mark a pivotal turning point in the Anthropocene.

Following lunch and travel to the AGB, hands-on workshops and demonstrations led by artists and educators will explore sustainable artmaking practices. Heather Kuzyk will guide Reclaiming Clay, sharing how the AGB uses clay more responsibly by emphasizing process over product. In Solvent-free Oil Painting, Judy Major-Girardin will present best practices for environmentally responsible painting and disposal. Gabriel Baribeau’s Making Materials: A Picnic Laboratory invites participants toc reate pigments and textures from everyday materials through social practice. Reclaimed Organic Sculpture with Cesar Cordoba offers an introduction to transforming recycled organic materials—such as dried fruits and vegetables—into intricate nature-inspired sculptures.

About Sustainable Futures: Art Education Summit

AGB’s Art Education Summit builds upon the AGB’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of cultural production. AGB works with artists, educators, and architects whose practices emphasize re-re-re-recycling. Our Artist Material Fund (AMF) diverts usable waste from the arts sector, providing it free to the public, revolutionizing how galleries handle waste while supporting artmaking accessibility. Our sustainability efforts include eliminating single-use plastics, implementing scrap collection bins, and maintaining ceramic dump glazes. Our ongoing changes in educational programs aim to create a healthy ecosystem that respects cultural labor and environmental responsibility.

Through public presentations, studio demonstrations and workshops, and land-based pedagogy, participants engaging both in-person and virtually will be invited to redefine what art education can contribute to a sustainable future. By convening, sharing, and building last relationships with artists, relation-makers, and knowledge-keepers, we aim to advocate for transformation in practices towards a sustainable future in art education while cultivating the ongoing sharing of ideas and resources among our peers.

For further information, please contact Stephanie Vegh, Head of Learning, stephanie@agb.life.

The Sustainable Futures Art Education Summit is generously sponsored by TERRA/Kind Matter.

The Art Gallery of Burlington is supported by the City of Burlington, Ontario Arts Council, and Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Been there twice, haven’t got there yet (the space behind a thin screen, and prying eyes) has been generously sponsored by the SAGA Foundation. The 50th Anniversary Exhibitions have been sponsored by the J.P. Bickell Foundation. The AGB’s learning programming has been sponsored by The Burlington Foundation, The Joyce Family Foundation, and the incite Foundation for the Arts.

The Art Gallery of Burlington is located on the ancestral territory of many Indigenous Nations including the Anishinaabeg, Hodinohsho:ni, and Métis peoples. The territory is mutually covered by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy, the Ojibway, and other allied Nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We acknowledge that the land upon which we gather, to create and learn, is part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Art Gallery of Burlington
1333 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, ON L7S 1A9
www.agb.life
info@agb.life

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