About Open Studio

  • Barbara Hall in front of Open Studio on Queen Street in 1971.
  • Open Studio's current location at 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104.
  • Joy Wong (she/they) giving an artist talk about their Feature Wall 'Skimming, skirmishing' installation, 2020.
  • Fundraising Event: 'Members' Ink', 2019.
  • Students taking part in a screenprinting demo.
  • The Open Studio Shop promotes work by members, visiting artists and printmakers from across Canada and abroad.
  • Artist Members Louise Flint (L) and Andrea deBruijn working on a large-scale woodcut print.
  • Main Gallery Exhibition: Visiting Artists' Residency exhibit featuring Jaime Angelopoulos and Panya Clark Espinal, 2018.
  • Students learning stone lithography.
  • Offsite Installation: Artist Member Arwen Giel next to 'The Printmaker' installation at the Stantec Window Gallery, 2018.
  • 2020 Inuit Artist Creative Residency: Inuk Artist Quvianaqtuk Pudlat preparing drawings to screenprint.
  • Artists working in the intaglio studio area.

HISTORY

Open Studio was established in August 1970 at 310 Queen Street West, Toronto, by artists Richard Sewell and Barbara Hall. Chicago artist, Don Holman, joined in 1971 to help set-up a lithography area for the space. An honorary Board of Directors made up of artist members and associates from the broader arts community helped incorporate Open Studio as a non-profit charity in December 1971, subsequently allowing the organization to gain charitable status in January 1972. From 1971 to 1996, Open Studio was located at 520 King Street West, Toronto, moving to a larger space at 468 King Street West in September 1996, with an increased area for production facilities, exhibition spaces, and improved administrative capabilities. In January 2004, Open Studio relocated to our current home in 401 Richmond Street West, where we gained significant additional production space and established a much larger gallery area where we could promote and exhibit our artists’ work.

The Studio was founded as an ‘open’ space governed and supported by artists who wanted to continue their printmaking practice in an inclusive, communal setting. Printmaking requires specialized equipment, space, and expertise to manage complex chemical processes that demand specific health and safety measures. Open Studio was founded as an ARC to fulfill these needs, providing a studio space where artists can work using various print media techniques including intaglio, lithography, relief, screenprinting, and more, with expert help as required.

Today, Open Studio is the only artist-run printmaking centre in Toronto providing affordable, comprehensive access to printmaking facilities and related programs to local, national and international artists. Outside of full-time post-secondary programs, Open Studio is the leading organization offering this range of facilities in Toronto for use by printmaking artists. We continue to serve artists through facility rental, residencies, scholarships/fellowships, printing services and art sales. We provide the public with opportunities to appreciate printmaking and its substance in the contemporary art world through our artistic programming and education services.

Open Studio is a non-profit, charitable organization.
— Charitable Registration # 11906 8823 RR0001 —

VISION & MANDATE

VISION/MISSION
To shape the exploration of print as essential, dynamic, and relevant to contemporary culture and creative thought.

MANDATE
Open Studio is an Artist-Run Centre dedicated to contemporary print. We offer accessible, inclusive and affordable printmaking facilities, programs and services for artists and the public from across Canada and abroad. Our priority is to support artists in the creation and exhibition of contemporary print in an open-minded, safe and collaborative environment.

Our facility supports various printmaking techniques, including screenprinting, lithography and intaglio/relief printing. We open the door to printmaking through our studio facilities, education programming, residencies, scholarships, exhibitions and public art installations.

Our goals and objectives are to:

  • Contribute to innovation in printmaking and excellence in contemporary visual arts;
  • Provide a safe, shared space that is accessible to people from all communities;
  • Support artists working in print through access to comprehensive printmaking facilities and technical support;
  • Promote artists through exhibitions, public installations and print sales;
  • Provide professional development opportunities through residencies, scholarships, exhibitions and education;
  • Provide educational opportunities through hands-on courses, workshops and collaborative projects;
  • Work on behalf of artists, ensuring the payment of artist fees and acting as an advocate for artists’ rights;
  • And facilitate partnerships and alliances between artists, arts organizations, educational institutions.

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

Open Studio is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The Board is made up of artists—both Open Studio artist members and artists from the wider community—and associates, whom we rely on for expertise such as event planning, marketing and fundraising. The Board is elected by our membership at annual general meetings. Board terms are two years, and members can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. Interested in more details? Please email.

MILESTONES

  • 1970 – Open Studio Facility Rental & Archives founded.
  • 1971 – Incorporation as a Non-Profit Charity.
  • 1971 – Publishing & Collaborative Printing programs introduced.
  • 1972 – Print Sales and Education programs initiated.
  • 1981 – Nick Novak Scholarship for artist members launched.
  • 1983 – Open Studio Gallery & Visiting Artist Residency program implemented.
  • 1985 – 100 Prints & Artist Proof Sale and Open House annual fundraisers established.
  • 1988 – Don Phillips Scholarship for recent graduates introduced.
  • 1996 – Open Studio Print Sales Gallery launched & expanded the education program.
  • 1999 – George Gilmour Members’ Gallery introduced.
  • 2004 – Guest Renter Residency program created.
  • 2008 – Annual Open Studio National Printmaking Awards established.
  • 2010 – Printopolis International Symposium staged to celebrate the 40th Anniversary.
  • 2012 – Hexagon Special Projects Fellowship for mid-career/senior artist members introduced.
  • 2016 – Jeannie Thib Mentorship Residency for emerging artists created.
  • 2016 – Inuit Artist Creative Residency program with DFA & Kinngait WBEC Studios launched.
  • 2018 – Renovated the galleries, and introduced the Feature Wall exhibition area.
  • 2018 – Redesigned the archive storage area and introduced the Open Studio Shop.
  • 2018 – Upgraded health and safety equipment and became a barrier-free space.
  • 2019 – Members’ Project Space (formerly the George Gilmour Gallery) established.
  • 2020 – Relaunched the Publishing & Collaborative Printing programs.
  • 2020 – Open Studio celebrates its 50th Anniversary.

OUR ARCHIVE

A little-known aspect of Open Studio is its vast print archive, made up of one edition of every print pulled at the studio between 1970 and 2018. This is the first ledger used to record the works taken into the archive, items 1-1108. More details about our January exhibition here. We are extremely excited to have received a Canadian Heritage Museums Assistance Program (MAP) grant to formally access and digitize our archive.

Funded by the Government of Canada.

Open Studio acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Anishinaabe, the Huron-Wendat, and the Haudenosaunee who are the original owners of the land on which we continue to create and exist.