Call for Submissions: Collective City Gallery Project
OUR SPACE | ELIGIBILITY | HOW TO APPLY
Deadline for submission: July 31, 2026
Collective City Arts
Since 2011, Collective City Arts has produced documentary videos about the storied history of Toronto’s dynamic Artist Collectives and the fluid spaces in which they exhibit. Now, we’re excited to expand this mission to include a dedicated Gallery Project of our own.
Collective City Gallery Project
We invite individual artists, artist collectives, and curators to submit a proposal for a 2-week show as part of our exhibition season in 2027. Successful candidates will receive rent-free access to the contemporary exhibition space at a gallery space in midtown or downtown Toronto. The Gallery Project will also provide a part-time sitting attendant, and promotional support for the show.
Collective City’s aim is to showcase and celebrate the work of independent artists working in the Toronto region. We define “independent” as having a studio practice with output that is not represented by a commercial gallery or institution.
Our Theme: None
For this call, there is no restriction on genre or medium of artwork. We encourage applications from anyone, regardless of age, gender, colour, and creed, with a serious professional commitment to visual artmaking, and who has some exhibiting experience.
Our Spaces:
1) Awkamon Gallery
Awkamon is a space in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood for people to connect over art and craft.
All art is also craft; all craft is also art. This gallery is founded to support artist showings, craft fairs, workshop hosting and community events.
2) Dupont Rail Gallery
Dupont Rail Gallery is a bright and modern exhibition space is located at 1444 Dupont Avenue (West of Lansdowne). The 800 sq. ft venue features an open layout, gallery lighting, automatic garage-door, and full kitchen and washroom. Visit their website for more information. dupontrail.ca
3) X Space
Xpace Cultural Centre is Toronto’s only Artist Run Centre dedicated to supporting student and emerging artists. Located at 2-303 Lansdowne the gallery consists of three distinctive exhibition spaces; the window space which is street facing and publicly viewable 24/7, The Main space which is generally reserved for collectives or collaborative exhibitions, and The Project space which is best suited for solo shows. Xpace staff work alongside exhibiting artists to help them realize the full potential of their exhibitions from technical support to curatorial mentorship.
Eligibility
Proposals are invited from one of three categories of applicants:
1) Individuals – Artists may apply to present a solo exhibition.
2) Artist Collectives – Groups of people whose practice is combined are asked to choose one person as a representative of their proposal. To qualify as a Collective, the group must supply evidence of a previous collaboration in at least one other venue.
3) Curators – Proposals are invited from those seeking to assemble a show of selected works. Applications must include imagery and text that provides a meaningful overview of the show’s purpose and intent, as well as a list of artists whose work will be featured.
Sales
The Collective City Gallery Project takes no commission on sales of works in any show.
Contact
For more information, please contact us at collectivecitytoronto@gmail.com
How to Apply
Applicants are asked to complete an online Submission Form and to pay a $30 submission fee.
With your application, please also include:
- 10 images of representative work from each individual artist proposal, or 20 images of representative works from any artists’ collective or from two or more artists chosen by a curator.
- Images can be either jpg, jpeg, png, or gif and each file must be under 2MB.
- Files should be named in this format: “LastName_FirstName_Title.png”.
- A Curriculum Vitae for each proposed Artist, and, if applicable, the Curator’s as well. (pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)
- A brief outline of the proposed show (up 250 words)
- Contact information of the Applicant
Collective City will present eight exhibitions, each two weeks in length, to be scheduled during the year 2026. Please make clear in your application if there are any times during this period when you would be unable to show. Each application is limited to a single show.
Proposals will be evaluated by an independent jury comprised of established arts practitioners, including one member of Collective City. The jurors are Laura Carusi (curator), David Liss (curator), Tanya Read (artist/Collective City member) and Fiona Smyth (artist/curator).
Selected shows will be staffed by an on-site gallery attendant from Wednesday to Friday during the run of the exhibition. Exhibitors are welcome to attend the space from Saturday to Tuesday for additional viewing opportunities.
Application Process: Next Steps
Please submit your exhibition proposal and ensure you submit your $30 fee.
Collective City 