About

The INTERGENERATIONAL LGBT ARTIST RESIDENCY is the first intergenerational artist-in-residency program for LGBTQ2+ visual artists in Canada.

The residency offers studio space, travel support and free room and board to juried applicants for the duration of the two-week residency. Residents also receive mentoring and studio visits from critically acclaimed artists and curators.

Please pass along this information to LGBTQ2+ artists of any age, whether established or emerging, residing in the diverse and contested territory commonly referred to as Canada, whom you think might be exceptional candidates and who would benefit greatly from this programme.

Home page image: Rafaële Frigon 2013

The INTERGENERATIONAL LGBT ARTIST RESIDENCY takes place on Toronto Island at the artist retreat centre Artscape Gibraltar Point.

The land on which the residency is held is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, and most recently, the territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.This territory is also covered by the Upper Canada Treaties. Today, the meeting place of Toronto (from the Haudenosaunee word Tkaronto) is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.
 

Mission Statement:

The aim of THE INTERGENERATIONAL LGBT ARTIST RESIDENCY is a vision and experience of sustainability through resource sharing, shared practice, art career management training, and community building via Canadian LGBTQ2+ visual art and political histories. By exploring Canadian LGBTQ2+ art history and artistic practice, while supporting artists and art production, we could foster communication across generational lines. With this community building initiative, artists highlight the trajectory and longevity of LGBTQ2+, both historically and reaching into the future.

History and Funding:

The 2013 THE INTERGENERATIONAL LGBT ARTIST RESIDENCY took place with the support of the Ontario Arts Council and private donors, and the collaboration of Artscape Gibraltar Point, on the Toronto Island August 12 to 26, 2013. The 2014 THE INTERGENERATIONAL LGBT ARTIST RESIDENCY was July 1 - 15, with the support of the Ontario Arts Council. In 2015, the residency was again made possible by the Ontario Arts Council, and took place July 24 to August 7. After a year hiatus, the 2017 THE INTERGENERATIONAL LGBT ARTIST RESIDENCY was again made possible by the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council and was to take place July 31 to August 16. In 2017 however, due to storms and flooding, Toronto Islands were closed for the summer. The 2017 residency was postponed to 2018, and the juried cohort all agreed to return the following summer, July 30 - August 13, 2018. Additionally, THE INTERGENERATIONAL LGBT ARTIST RESIDENCY accepted applications for the 2018 residency, which took place August 21 to September 4. In 2019, the residency continued, from August 12 - 26, funded by Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. In 2020 the residency with support of Ontario Arts Council and private donors is August 4 - 17.

Your donations are dearly appreciated and can be made via Paypal.

Residency Experience

While in residence artists are welcome to keep their own schedule, however it is presumed that they will take an active role and are encouraged to participate in specific group activities outlined below. 

Other activities are often planned as we go, depending on the needs of the cohort. In the past, these have included lectures from guest artists, performances and public screenings by residents, culinary performance, foraging/edible local plants workshop and a dance party.

CARFAC workshop

CARFAC Ontario is the association of professional visual and media artists. Founded in 1968, CARFAC (Canadian Artists' Representation/le Front des artistes canadiens) has worked for 50 years on the legal and economic issues facing visual artists. We believe that artists, like professionals in other fields, should be paid for their work and share equitably in profits from their art practice. The work of CARFAC Ontario is to develop policies, publications and services that assist artists, galleries, curators, art patrons, and other stakeholders in creating an economic climate that benefits all visual artists. All previous applicants to The Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency are invited to attend this workshop. Specific questions will be addressed at the end of the presentation. Please send your specific questions, regarding artists rights, including tenancy, contracts, resale, health care, etc., in advance via our contact page.

Guest visits

The residents collaboratively prepare a meal for the guests. After enjoying a meal together, each guest gives a 20 min studio visit to each resident, for which the resident is encouraged to prepare in advance. The resident can request feedback on their work, or discuss a project, or present work for the guest's consideration, etc. Previous guests have included curators Andrew Hunter (Art Gallery of Ontario), Stefan St-Laurent (Axenéo7), Christine Shaw (Blackwood Gallery), Jon Davies (Power Plant), Kelly McCray (Art Barrage, independent curator), David McIntosh (OCADU), Jordan Tanahill (Videofag), Tobias Sirtl (Arndt, Berlin), Suzanne Carte (Art Gallery York University), and artists Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, Deanna Bowen, John Greyson, Nina Arsenault, and Elisha Lim. In 2017, our guests include Hrag Vartanian (Hyperallergic), Syrus Marcus Ware (independent curator), Jason St-Laurent (SAW Gallery), Kathleen Pirrie Adams (Ryerson Image Centre), Wanda Nanibush (Art Gallery of Ontario) and others to be confirmed. 

Open studios

The studios are open to the public, which includes passers by, island residents, and invited public. Residents help each other to set up, prepare and serve snacks, and make what they need to out of the opportunity. The event is advertised through social networks, and has become a much anticipated gathering. Previous open studios have included a range from elaborate interdisciplinary performances, to low key meet and greet, sharing works in progress.

Studios & Visiting Artists

The residency hosts guests who enjoy a meal prepared by the residents, followed by studio visits. Each guest spends a day in the community the residency generates.

Applicants are asked to seriously consider what their needs are in a studio visit, and with whom, living or dead, they would like to meet. We will try our best to make this happen, through personal contacts of the residency, and research the residency is committed to doing on the residents behalf.

Confirmed guests for the 2017 Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency include:
Hrag Vartanian (Hyperallergic)
Wanda Nanibush (Art Gallery of Ontario)
Jason St-Laurent (Galerie SAW Gallery)
Kathleen Pirrie Adams (Ryerson Image Centre)
Syrus Marcus Ware (artist, independent curator)
and others to be confirmed.

See our list of previous guests and alumni here.

Guests are invited to studio visits with residents, who can present them with works in progress, questions, feedback requests or shared research interests. Studio visits have taken the form of walking to a site, presenting sketches or methods in development, slides, or a draft of a new performance work. 

Food & Facilities

Residents are provided a food stipend, private bedroom with linens, and shared studio space.  

Artscape Gibraltar Point facilities include a small wood shop, a darkroom, large common kitchen, and three large studios which will be shared amongst the five residents.

Accessibility information

Artscape Gibraltar Point is physically accessible, including several ramps into the building, as well as washrooms (some, not all). Van rides are offered especially to those who might not be able to handle the 20 minute walking distance from the Hanlan's Point dock to Artscape Gibraltar Point. Please message us if you have any additional needs, questions or concerns about access.

Food

Residents are provided a food stipend, there are also organic gardens onsite, managed by artist Pat Jeffries. The residents pay a small group fee to harvest from the gardens, in exchange for our help with gardening.
 

Beach & Historic Grounds

Artscape Gibraltar Point has its own semi-private beach, and we are a short distance from Centre Island, Centerville amusement park and Farm Enough Farm petting zoo, and very close to the clothing optional beach and historic queer cruising grounds.
The Toronto Islands also include residential neighbourhoods with their own proud history, and we ask that residents are both welcoming to and respectful of our neighbours. The island is car free, excepting access, emergency and delivery vehicles.

Bike Travel & Ferry

Bicycle rental from islander Manuel Cappell is available onsite, additionally we have our own cargo bike. The island is a short ferry ride from downtown Toronto, and is also accessible via water taxi. 

Occupancy and Participation agreement

For any work or research developed during the residency, participants are asked to acknowledge The Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency for assisting the development of your work. Except in the case of a personal attendant, overnight guests are not permitted, due to liability and limited funds. Artscape Gibraltar Point also requires residents to sign a guest occupancy agreement before arrival. Participants agree to commitment to participate in collaborative possibilities. Participants consent to documentation of the residency (within reason) and to share mutually agreed upon images with Artscape Gibraltar Point and or The Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency for future funding applications and professional (not for resale or profit making) use.