Director of Art Toronto 2025 Shares What To Expect in Its 26th Year

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

The beauty of an art fair is that it provides an opportunity to showcase the creative culture of the city or region in which it is held. the Seattle Art Galleryfor example, used this event as an opportunity to explore the long tradition of glass art in the Pacific Northwest. Art Toronto This is another fair use of the host city and the rich culture of the larger country to develop its own distinctive point of view. From October 23 to October 26, 2025, the event returns for its 26th year. Art Toronto, called the “Canadian Art Fair”, primarily showcases Canadian art galleries with a significant focus on the work of Indigenous artists and the places that represent them.

Art Toronto attracts about 20,000 visitors over three days. As an attendee, you will see more than 110 exhibits there. While this may seem large, the footprint is smaller than many other art galleries. It doesn’t feel overwhelming or overwhelming, and it’s possible to see everything the show has to offer, then come back and revisit your favorites. Scale also has the advantage of increasing interaction between you and the galleries and artists in the gallery.

In addition to gallery booths, Art Toronto offers supporting programs that highlight curators and create exhibitions within the larger gallery scope. One of these programs is called to focus The gallery, which each year invites a new curator to create a group show with works taken from the galleries present. This provides new ways of looking at the works, as the pieces are brought together in conversation with each other, rather than placed in separate booths.

My Modern Met spoke with Art Toronto Director Mia Nielsen about the art exhibition. She shared what she was excited about and what she hopes visitors take away from the event. During our conversation, she also revealed a secret collaboration happening at Art Toronto 2025. We won’t share it here, so you’ll have to attend the show to see it.

Scroll down for our exclusive interview, which has been edited for clarity and condensed for length.

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

For those who don’t know Toronto art, how would you describe it?

This is an international art fair from a Canadian perspective, so the majority of our galleries are from Canada. You will certainly see international exhibitions, but you will see a lot of galleries that do not hold other international exhibitions. One of the things I always find very interesting about this gallery is that the market for Indigenous art is very well established in Canada. That includes a lot of traditions, not traditional, but traditional – Inuit print is really important, for example.

Over the last five to 10 years, we’ve seen this new generation of indigenous artists using traditional techniques: beading, leather, all drawing from their heritage in really meaningful ways. They may have grown up on a reservation, but they are city dwellers. They’re like coming to work with a really strong contemporary perspective. So this year, more than half of our galleries include Indigenous artists in their programs. Through this development in the local art market, we are also witnessing a global authenticity which I am very excited about. So, for example, we have n. Smith Coming from Australia. Their program focuses exclusively on indigenous artists from the South Pacific, including Māori artists.

We also have a number of galleries coming from South and Central America, including representation by indigenous artists from the Amazon region. So I think there’s going to be a really interesting perspective emerging from Art Toronto and people who are interested in the work of Indigenous artists and see what brings them together, what makes them distinct in North America, but around the world as well.

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

Was the inclusion of Indigenous artists something you actively promoted in trying to attract galleries and artists?

In fact, it came about quite organically because Indigenous artists have been represented in Toronto galleries, at Art Toronto, since the first edition. It started out very simple, and then we also see Indigenous artists coming out of Canada and gaining international fame. For example, Kent Monkmanwho was the first artist invited to create site-specific works for Reception hall at The Met (in New York City).

So it becomes like a little hand, right? As a director, one of the things I see is what are the things that naturally come out of the show? How can we develop this type of unique art collectors, through mentoring, shaping, encouraging and attracting, because the international art fair market is naturally dense. There are a lot of art galleries.

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

What is your favorite part of attending Art Toronto?

I will say a few things. One is that I always love ours to focus exhibition. It’s a program we started. This will be the fourth edition. Each year, we invite a leading curator to create a group exhibition drawn from our catalog of exhibitions.

My goal is to elevate this fair experience. The gallery is adjacent to one of the entrances. You can choose to enter the gallery this way or exit the gallery this way. With art galleries, there can be so much it feels like oversaturation. You go from gallery to gallery and your head swims. Through this project, the curator creates a critical lens through which to view work that sets a new tone. This year, we’re working with Dr. Zoe Whiteley. It is based in the United Kingdom. Most recently, she was a director Chisenhall Gallery. She has had an impressive career having held senior organizational roles in every major organization in London. She has put together this beautiful and evocative exhibition.

So I would say that, number one.

We also have a program called Curators in conversationwhich I absolutely adore. Every year, we bring in an outstanding curator. This year, Kemi Ilesanmi, who was the executive director of the Laundromat Project in New York.

It’s always interesting to hear from an eminent curator. We run this program twice on the opening day of the show. In the morning, it is exclusively for the invited secretaries, i.e. the secretaries of the institutions. This is fun because it becomes sort of a closed session, kind of like a “great conversation over coffee with friends” kind of thing. And they do it again in the afternoon for the general public, which is also very informative and great, and it’s good to get the public involved in that.

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

What do you hope visitors take away from the exhibition this year?

Sure, I want them to take the work home. I want them to be inspired and inspired to live with art. This year, I want audiences to take the opportunity to think more deeply about the role Canadian artists play in the international art world. We have a new section this year called Aarti sur With 11 exhibitions from South and Central America curated by Karen Huber. That’s been part of what’s brought in more Indigenous artists, but that global thread is really interesting to me, even though there’s a lot more going on in Canada than art from Indigenous communities. I think the connection is really interesting and seeing artists exploring (similar) themes from different places.

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

Is there anything we haven’t talked about that you’d like readers to know?

Toronto is an amazing city of culture. It is a place that people, especially those visiting from outside Canada, will come to and enjoy a special and unique experience. Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, so it’s a constant embarrassment of riches in all the things you can do on any given day, at any time of the day.

Installation by Art Toronto 2024

Exhibition information:
Art Toronto
October 23-26, 2025
Metro Toronto Convention Center North Building
255 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2W6, Canada

Art Toronto: Website | Instagram | Facebook

My Modern Met has granted permission to display images from Art Toronto.

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