The annual juried show celebrating artists with lived experience of mental health and addiction, opened May 7.
For 25 years, Workman Arts has been making space for artists whose voices are too often left out of Toronto’s mainstream art scene. This year, that commitment is on full display at Being Scene, a landmark exhibition marking a quarter century of artistic excellence and community impact.
The show runs through June 14 at 32 Lisgar St. and is open to the public Wednesday to Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. Admission is free.
Fatima Hindawi, visual arts manager at Workman Arts and the lead curator behind the exhibition, said the purpose of Being Scene has always been about equal access and representation.
“Being Scene started 25 years ago. Workman Arts is an arts organization that supports artists who are struggling with mental health and addiction lived experience. So, our role is to help these artists get more exposure,” said Hindawi.
This year’s exhibition features more than 20 artists working across painting, photography, digital media, installation, sculpture and video. The works were selected by a jury of three professional curators.
The competition was steep. Out of roughly 115 applications received, 25 artists were selected for the juried exhibition, with two additional artists honoured through the Ica Pas scholarship, awarded this year to Leeay Aikawa and Michael Alemayehu.
The scholarship honours the legacy of Ica Pas, a Romanian Canadian artist who lived with schizophrenia and spent decades in Toronto Community Housing. This year, the scholarship recipient’s work are displayed alongside pieces from Pas’s own collection.
A major milestone for this year’s edition is the launch of a new partnership with Gallery 44. The Being Scene x G44 Mad Focus award recognizes excellence and artistic rigour in photography and digital media. The inaugural recipient is Alino Giraldi, a Workman Arts member presenting his first photography work in a group exhibition.
“The idea was to give one of these artists the opportunity to become a member at Gallery 44, and Gallery 44 has very different resources from what we have now that the printing costs in photography and in the arts in general is becoming really expensive. So, we wanted to, both organizations wanted to support artists more,” said Hindawi.
Curating all these works into a single cohesive exhibition is no small task. Hindawi said her approach centres on balance, making sure no single piece overshadows another and that every artist is given the space to shine.
“I’m quite careful about how to show each artist within a group show, but still give them the opportunity to shine and their work to be outstanding and seen carefully,” said Hindawi. “I want everyone to be represented in a professional way.”
The response from visitors reflected that care. Hindawi said the feedback she heard most during opening night was about how naturally the works spoke to one another.
“All of the artworks are either conceptually or visually related, and they bring such harmony. And that was some kind of a reminder that we are as a community, we are in harmony with each other.”
Beyond the exhibition itself, Being Scene is accompanied by a free public program running throughout the season, including open studios, workshops and community discussions. Hindawi said these programs are central to what Workman Arts stands for, creating pathways for artists who face real barriers in the broader art world.
“Usually with the stigma around mental health and addiction, our member artists are not having equal opportunities like other artists in the larger art scene.:
For Hindawi, the work has long stopped feeling like a job.
“It’s not a job for me anymore. It’s being part of a community that I have a sense of responsibility towards now.”
For more information, visit workmanarts.com/being-scene.
