Patrick (Pat) Macaulay, originally from Vancouver, has been the Executive Director of Open Studio since December 2017. He holds an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from NSCAD University. With experience across museums, galleries, and art centres in Canada and the U.S., Pat brings deep expertise in contemporary art, craft, design, and architecture.

Previously, he served as Director of Visual Arts at Harbourfront Centre for 26 years, where he curated hundreds of exhibitions, led major public projects, and built national and international partnerships. A dedicated supporter of Toronto’s arts community, Pat is committed to raising Open Studio’s profile and fostering meaningful opportunities for its artists.

Laura Bydlowska holds a Master’s in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto and a BA Honours from the University of Guelph. At Open Studio, Laura oversees curatorial and collections initiatives, alongside programs, communications, and community outreach.

As an artist, she works in etching and pyrography (wood burning), creating abstract, geology-inspired compositions.

Pudy Tong’s memories of his immigrant Canadian childhood are punctuated by the images of large stacks of Chinese newspapers landing on his family’s doorstep every two weeks, air-freighted in from Hong Kong to a small rural town in British Columbia.

His print-based art practice draws on elements from journalism as the subject through which our experience of contemporary, media-saturated society is refracted, reinterpreted and reimagined. He received his BFA from the University of British Columbia Okanagan and an MFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and exploring the city’s various enclaves of regional cuisine.

Shabnam Afrand is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and educator, born and educated in Tehran, Iran.  She taught in the faculty of Fine Arts at Azad University from 2003 to 2010. Shabnam moved to Canada in 2013 and since then has been based in Toronto. Shabnam’s themes relate to power, the intersection of personal and collective memory, relocation, and fragility through various bodies of work. In 2017 and 2018, Shabnam was a recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s RBC Arts Access Fund.  She recently received the Toronto Arts Foundation RBC Space Award and was the grant recipient of the Toronto Arts Council Newcomer Refugee Artist Mentorship Program.

Joe Borowiec is a retired civil servant with a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and an MBA. He has had a life-long interest in visual art and admires the technique of printmaking and the tactile product produced by the interplay of a medium and ink. Joe wants to contribute his experience in city planning, budgeting, board recruitment and corporate governance to the arts community in Toronto.

Alysa-Beth Engel is an artist, writer, and yoga instructor. Her visual art is informed by Jewish identity, motherhood, and her thirty-year meditation and yoga practice. Alysa serves as an Executive Board Member of Open Studio in Toronto, where she was previously the archivist and sales manager. She has curated several exhibitions, was an art consultant at a commercial gallery, and was a contributing writer for D.A. published by the Porcupine’s Quill. While living in London (UK), Alysa worked at Sotheby’s and had a painting studio in Battersea. Alysa studied printmaking at Queen’s University, where she was the Studio Technician. She learned intaglio at the Santa Reparata Studio in Florence (Emily Carr). Alysa is a member of the Authors Guild (USA) and Print London (ON). Her art has been exhibited nationally and abroad and is included in corporate, public and private collections.

Daniel Etigson is a freelance editor and artist member of Open Studio, where he specializes in screen printing. He’s currently working on a long-form illustrated, narrative book, entitled The Blazing Universe, which explores contemporary issues surrounding disability and invisible illness through the visual culture of the scientific revolution. He holds a Master’s in English Literature from the University of Toronto.

Emma Fried was the Show Manager for Artist Project and Art Toronto, acting as a key member of its curatorial committee. She collaborated with artists, gallerists, and art world professionals alike, while engaging with members of the public to bring memorable exhibitions to life. Emma also built and curated several notable commercial collections, including those for Toronto’s Bisha and Park Hyatt Hotels, and The William Vale in Brooklyn. Her contemporary art expertise was rooted in a deep understanding of historical art practices, informed by a Master’s degree in Art History and years spent working and volunteering in museum and gallery settings. She is now pursuing a law degree at Queen’s University.

Defne Inceoglu is a Toronto-based researcher, fundraiser & arts & culture professional. They have a variety of interdisciplinary experience across the arts and disability/healthcare sector. Inceoglu is currently the Development & Partnerships Officer at Surrey Place, overseeing the organization’s diversified fundraising priorities, which includes grant and proposal development and writing. Previously, they have worked in and for various cultural institutions in Toronto, including the Textile Museum of Canada, the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, Myseum of Toronto, and the Royal Ontario Museum. They have a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto in Museum Studies, during which they were the recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council – Canadian Graduate Scholarship. Inceoglu has worked as a freelance graphic designer for over ten years, and carries out a small but consistent practice as a textiles artist.

Kathleen Lew is an arts and culture professional based in Toronto interested in bringing relevant, meaningful, and accessible arts experiences to the public. She has worked in public programming and visitor engagement at The Image Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Museum of Toronto (previously Myseum of Toronto). Kathleen holds a Master’s of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto and has volunteered at numerous museums, galleries, and arts organizations, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto’s Feminist Art Collective, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.

Emma Juliette Sherland is a bi-racial artist who uses printmaking and photography to explore profound experiences. In addition to her active involvement in the visual arts, she serves as secretary on the board of Open Studio and runs The Take Action Gallery, a global online platform for curation. Emma Juliette’s artistic expertise also enriches her real estate career, where her keen eye for aesthetics helps transform property listings into compelling visual narratives, identify design potential, and spot market trends.

Alexandra Terrell is an associate in the Tax Group of Osler’s Toronto office. She maintains a broad practice in all aspects of Canadian and international tax law, addressing both tax controversy and litigation as well as tax planning and advisory matters. She has advised clients with respect to business structuring, corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, and succession planning.

Sana Waheed is a financial industry professional who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from York University and an MBA from Rotman School of Management. She has extensive experience in audit, compliance and risk management; however, she has always been passionate about visual arts. She enjoys creating art through various medias but is especially drawn to cross-hatching and printmaking due to their conventionally monochromatic results and attempts to create traditionally busy artifacts from her native Pakistan in a minimalist fashion. She also daydreams about starting her own textile printing business, again, with an emphasis on minimalism. Sana will contribute to Open Studio’s success through leveraging her experience in audit, corporate governance and financial management.

Sally Ayre is a lens-based artist working in print and historical photographic processes. Walking is one of her passions, an activity she enjoys, where her thoughts can flow at liberty in many directions and from where many of her art projects have been sparked and fostered. A graduate of OCAD (1990), Ayre has exhibited nationally and internationally. She is an educator specializing in Historical Photo Processes and has received several grants and awards, including the 2012/13 Open Studio’s Nick Novak Fellowship. You can find out more about her practice here.

Sunny Elsom is a printmaker and illustrator with a BFA in print media from Concordia University. Sunny’s work explores the frailty of the human condition, often focusing on themes of illness, loneliness and grief. Her work is expressed through the combination of the familiar world with the surreal, often utilizing depictions of narratives centred around bizarre characters in unusual natural environments.

Helen Tran is a multidisciplinary artist based in Mississauga. She earned a Diploma in Visual and Creative Arts from Sheridan College in Oakville, ON and a BFA in Printmaking & Publications from OCAD University. Tran’s body of work incorporates printmaking methodology with an array of mixed media. Ranging from analogue image-making, cyanotypes, lithography, and relief. She explores the notions of ephemerality within the elements of mourning, healing and ancestral rituals from her culture. Her current work is a series of linoleum carvings of botanicals inspired by nature, gardening, and childhood memories that embody personal narratives through her prints.