Open Studio

CONTEMPORARY PRINTMAKING STUDIO

Open Studio was founded in 1970 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 established as an Artist-Run Centre (ARC) to meet these needs, providing a studio space where artists can work using various print media techniques, including intaglio, lithography, relief, screenprinting, and more, with expert assistance as required.

Founded by Richard Sewell and Barbara Hall at 310 Queen Street West, Open Studio quickly became a vital centre for contemporary printmaking. In 1971, Chicago artist Don Holman joined to develop the lithography facilities. That same year, an honorary Board of Directors incorporated Open Studio as a non-profit charity, achieving official status in 1972.

Open Studio operated at 520 King Street West from 1971 to 1996, before moving to a larger space at 468 King Street West, expanding its production, gallery, and administrative capacity. Since 2004, it has been located at 401 Richmond Street West, a vibrant creative hub where it continues to teach, produce, and promote printmaking.

Today, Open Studio is Toronto’s only artist-run printmaking centre offering affordable, comprehensive access to printmaking facilities and programs for local, national, and international artists. In addition to supporting full-time post-secondary art programs, Open Studio provides facility rentals, residencies, printing services, and art sales. The public can also engage with printmaking through exhibitions, educational programs, and events.

A significant part of its legacy is the Open Studio print archive, which holds one edition of every print produced here from 1970 to 2018. Read more about our archive here.

Governed by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of artists and community professionals, members serve two-year terms and are elected annually. Interested in joining or learning more? Please email us.

Alix (Barbara) Hall in front of Open Studio on Queen Street. Photo: Vincent Sharp.
Alix (Barbara) Hall in front of Open Studio on Queen Street. Photo: Vincent Sharp.
Alix Hall working on the archive collection.
Alix Hall working on the archive collection.
Examining etchings in the intaglio area.
Examining etchings in the intaglio area.

Vision & Mandate

Vision: Who We Are
Printmaking opens the door to accessible, innovative, and inspiring art.

Mandate: What We Do
Open Studio is a creative space that inspires, supports and celebrates printmaking. We are an open access printmaking studio, an art gallery, and an inclusive place to engage with new ideas.

Studio members examining a photo-lithograph.
Studio members examining a photo-lithograph.

Our Goals & Objectives

  • Contribute to innovation in printmaking and excellence in contemporary visual arts.
  • Provide a safe, shared space accessible to people from all communities.
  • Support artists in printmaking through access to comprehensive facilities and technical support.
  • Promote artists through exhibitions, public installations, and print sales.
  • Offer professional development opportunities including residencies, scholarships, exhibitions, and education.
  • Provide educational opportunities through hands-on courses, workshops, and collaborative projects.
  • Advocate for artists by ensuring payment of artist fees and defending artists’ rights.
  • Facilitate partnerships and alliances among artists, arts organizations, and educational institutions.

EDI Framework

Statement of Solidaritu & Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Examining etchings in the intaglio area.
Examining etchings in the intaglio area.

Open Studio is at a critical point in its history. We are working to become a more equitable, diverse and inclusive organization, which is accountable for the racist structures and practices that have shaped us. This change has not happened quickly enough. Open Studio cannot build a positive future without facing the barriers that restrict access to our space, historically and now.

Open Studio was founded on ideals of community and openness, but often our policies have created obstacles to participation. Our membership requirements, exhibition choices, outreach efforts, and approach to education have had the effect of excluding artists from marginalized groups. Meanwhile, members of our community have experienced discrimination and racism. We celebrated our 50-year history without acknowledging or addressing these failures. We apologize that our actions and inactions have reinforced systemic inequities within the arts.

We know an apology alone is insufficient. We will listen, continuously reflect, and act on structural changes to become a more equitable space. We will prioritize anti-racism, equity, accessibility, and diversity moving forward.

Open Studio is implementing new programming initiatives and increasing access to our organization and its resources. We are working to re-orient our programming towards diverse voices and socially conscious practices through residencies, subsidized education opportunities, and more. We are undergoing a thorough examination of our institutional structure at Membership, Staff and Board levels, including mandates for diversity in hiring and Board recruitment. Open Studio is undertaking these shifts thanks to the artists who have come forward to critique and advise us. We are grateful to our External Advisory Panel and to our artist members for their guidance.

Diversity is crucial for our organization to thrive. We have begun the necessary work of creating and implementing a viable, action-based framework as outlined below, but we have only started. These goals will require sustained work and resources over time. Open Studio is committed to this work. We will continue to update the framework on this page as we move forward.

  • Articulate a curatorial vision and exhibition mandate that orients programming decisions towards equity, diversity, and inclusion and develop a jurying rubric that reflects this vision and mandate.
  • Program all residencies, visiting artist programs, and exhibitions as follows:
    • 2023/2024: 100% representation by artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour (BIPOC)
    • *2024/2025: 100% representation by artists from equity-deserving communities.
    • 2025/2026: Minimum 2/3 majority representation by artists from equity-deserving communities
    • 2026/2027 and beyond: Minimum 50% representation by artists from equity-deserving communities
  • Build meaningful relationships with organizations that serve equity-deserving communities. Create inclusive outreach and organize programming that supports the work of our community partners.
  • Hire guest curators from equity-deserving communities to aid in developing exhibitions and programs. 
  • Increase the visibility of BIPOC curators, artists, and educators on Open Studio’s social media channels and website. Create paid opportunities to feature artist work that reflects print practice outside Euro-centric traditions.
  • * The Members Gallery (Project Space) call will be open to all members while emphasizing that priority will be given to equity-deserving/seeking groups.
  • Offer all 2021-22 BIPOC residency applicants one year free membership.
  • Update studio signage relating to physical studio access to reflect open access and solidarity with equity-deserving groups via visual cues – separate from written communications.
  • Prioritize equity and inclusion in hiring education instructors. Create a call for new instructors that reflects this priority, and outreach proactively to diverse communities when recruiting. Provide increased support for instructors’ art practices and professional opportunities. 
  • Create mentorship opportunities for individuals who are interested in training their print skills to become education instructors and collaborative printers at Open Studio. 
  • Introduce a drop-in Community Print Night to our education schedule that emphasizes skill-sharing, where no print experience is necessary to participate. Implement an affordable, flexible or by-donation fee structure.
  • Develop online education programming to increase access to printmaking, independently of Open Studio’s downtown Toronto location.
  • Launch a speaker series featuring diverse artists with socially conscious print practices.
  • Allocate finances to support ongoing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts, including but not limited to facilitation and training, education, programming and outreach.
  • Provide EDI training for all Board and Staff and examine ways to include membership training as well.
  • Include EDI discussions on the agenda at all Board, Committee and Staff meetings and create a Standing EDI Committee to advise on, coordinate and assist in implementing equity-deserving initiatives.
  • Review, identify and update all hiring and recruitment policies. Prioritize EDI in recruitment to Board, Committees and Staff, and increase Board representation to include at least 50% of its members who self-identify as members of equity-deserving communities.
  • Seek funding (grants, sponsorships etc.) specifically for initiatives that support programming and services for equity-deserving communities. Additionally, list external funding opportunities (grants and calls for collaborations) that further fund access for individuals from equity-deserving communities.
  • Promote opportunities for equity-deserving communities, and utilize accessible language and representational images wherever possible in all communications, including but not limited to: website, social media channels, printed material, in-person signage etc.
  • Prioritize responsiveness and transparency to requests for information and/or expressions of concern.

March 2023 Update
The Members Gallery (Project Space) call will be open to all members while emphasizing that priority will be given to equity-deserving/seeking groups.

February 2021 Update
In the winter of 2020-21, we inaugurated an Equity & Inclusion Committee involving an Advisory Panel of external arts practitioners from priority groups, to gain observations and insight towards making our organization more open and inclusive. We are also working with our membership to further guide us in enacting real change. We expect to release an action framework soon.

June 2020 Update
In June 2020, Open Studio paused much of its outreach and communication to give space to conversations surrounding injustices toward Canada’s Black and Indigenous communities. 

We took time to discuss and reflect on the ways Open Studio has inadvertently propped up systemic barriers that prevented Black artists, Indigenous artists and artists of colour (BIPOC) from accessing our studio and exhibition spaces.

Our initial solidarity statement expressed that “Open Studio was built on openness and as a safe creation space for all,” but we realize that this has not always been the case in practice.

We question why after 50 years of existence, the membership of Open Studio remains so homogenous yet exists in the centre of Canada’s most diverse city. In the past two years physical improvements have been made to ‘open up’ the studio, but we recognize that our institution has not done enough to actively make space for BIPOC artists.

We seek sustainable solutions and a long-term vision for how to manifest a more inclusive future. An advisory committee will be struck composed of artist members and members of the larger Toronto arts community, including Black and Indigenous artists, in order to explore ways Open Studio can lessen racial and financial impediments and provide broader access to our space and resources. We foresee new programming initiatives, new education scholarships, and potential changes at the staff and Board levels.

We look forward to building a more open and welcoming studio that will truly serve as a safe creation and exhibition space for the whole artistic community.

Main Gallery: Jill Ho-You, 'Obstruction', 2024.
Main Gallery: Jill Ho-You, 'Obstruction', 2024.