OCAD University Alumni Relations

10/16/2026

From recycled sweaters to an extraordinary insect costume, GradEx 111 medal winner Pearl Koblinsky shows what's possible when creativity is given room to grow.

Watch Pearl's interview and discover how OCAD U helped bring her vision to life.
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10/13/2026

Join Tonkin Liu, the award​-winning studio working across architecture, art, and landscape, for a special talk exploring the creative possibilities of learning from nature. Their global practice brings storytelling and technical invention together to create places that engage the senses and respond to their surroundings. Their new book, Asking, Looking, Playing, Making: A Nature-Focused Design Process, opens up this approach, revealing how curiosity and experimentation turn initial ideas into buildings rooted in place.​

OCAD U x Tonkin Liu - Design Talk
Tuesday, October 27
6:00pm - 8:00pm
115 McCaul Street, Level 3, Toronto

🔗 RSVP at link: https://tinyurl.com/4wwn8v94

Hosted by OCAD U's RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers

Tuesday, October 27  6:00pm - 8:00pm 115 McCaul Street, Level 3, Toronto Hosted by OCAD U's RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers Join Tonkin Liu, the award​-winning studio working across architecture, art, and landscape, for a special talk exploring the creative possibilit...

10/09/2026

The OCAD University community mourns the passing of former chancellor Dr. Salah Bachir, a generous supporter of OCAD U, champion of the arts and philanthropist.

His unwavering support for artists, students and cultural institutions enriched our community and Canada's cultural landscape. His legacy will live on.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.

Read more about Dr. Bachir: https://www.ocadu.ca/news/ocad-u-community-deeply-saddened-passing-dr-salah-bachir

10/08/2026

Congratulations to alum Harry Zhao (MFA, Digital Futures) who is the 2026 winner of the InterAccess Media Arts Prize. Plus, congratulations to the two finalists, who are also OCAD U grads: Thea Lu (MDes., Digital Futures) and Melanie Garcia (BFA, Experimental Animation).

“Winning the Media Arts Prize still feels a little unreal to me, and I’m incredibly grateful to InterAccess for this opportunity to develop and share my practice,” says Zhao, a Toronto-based artist and researcher who works across robotics, installation, and digital media. His practice explores the alternate relationship between the human and the artificial. He calls them Iterative Creatures, speculative beings embodied in machines, exploring the physical world and inevitably encountering humans along the way.

His project AWORM (pictured here, courtesy of the artist) explores artificial life and the role robots can play in shaping their own development. By concealing their inner workings, he invites us to interpret their behaviours and encounter them as beings with concerns of their own.

As the 2026 prize winner, InterAccess will present a solo exhibition of Zhao’s work, opening in January 2027.

For more information: https://www.interaccess.org/news/harry-zhao-2026-winner-of-the-interaccess-media-arts-prize

Photo Credit: Image of AWORM, courtesy of artist Harry Zhao. This project explores artificial life and the role robots can play in shaping their own development.

10/07/2026

OCAD U 150 Celebration
Drawing Out: Art Now
A three-day Art festival at OCAD University

🪩🕺DRAWING DISCO🪩🕺
A party-meets-performance drawing event.

📆Tuesday, October 27, 2026
⏰6:00–9:00 PM. 😃Doors open at 5:30 PM
📍The Great Hall�2nd Floor, 100 McCaul St.�Toronto, ON M5T 1W1
🎫$50 per ticket: https://shopocadu.ca/products/drawing-out-art-now

Come join Drawing Disco, 💰a special fundraiser supporting OCAD University Faculty of Art students. Your participation helps future artists move forward in their careers and creates opportunities for co-curricular activities and professional development.

Drawing Disco is part of Drawing Out: Art Now, an art festival curated by James Olley and Amy Swartz celebrating OCAD University’s 150-year legacy. Invited artist Erin Finley is leading an immersive, playful night on October 27, featuring participatory live drawing with a disco-inspired spirit. It’s a creative experience you won’t want to miss as we celebrate one of Canada’s largest art institutions.

Art lovers of all levels are welcome. 💗No drawing experience required! Drawing supplies have been generously sponsored by Above Ground Art Supplies and are all ready for you. Just let your inner child free and draw, play, dance, and have fun. 🪩Come glam it up! 🕺

💜Drawing supplies included + 2 raffle door prizes worth $250 each!
📣Additional donations can be made during the event to further support OCAD U art students.

💙Special thanks to Aiyana Alzamora and Celine Fu for design

10/05/2026

Wanted: 150 Medals
Information Session: October 6, 1 p.m., MCA 258
Deadline: October 16

Current OCAD U students and alumni are invited to create a unique medal design in response to the 150th anniversary of OCAD University. All materials and methods are accepted: from bas relief and cast bronze, to 3D printing, ceramics, carved wood or stone, laser and traditional engraving techniques and/or beadwork. Let’s showcase 150 years of changing technology and fabrication methods.

This project is being led by two OCAD U alumni, Janine Lindgren and George Farmer and will be judged by a jury of internal and external stakeholders of OCAD U. Ten winning medal proposals will be chosen to be exhibited at GradEx 112 in May 2027. Winners will also receive a $50 stipend to help offset production costs and a $100 gift certificate to Above Ground Art Supplies.

Questions: [email protected] or visit the application form: https://tinyurl.com/5dtxa99v

10/05/2026

Your decision to make art and design part of your life was just the beginning—and your legacy continues to grow.

Now, OCAD U is here to support you in protecting what matters most.

Through our partnership with Willfora, you have access to a free, simple way to create or update your legal will online. In just 20 minutes, you can take an important step toward caring for your loved ones and planning your future, all from the comfort of home.

🔗 Learn more and get started: https://give.willfora.com/charities/ocad-u

10/02/2026

On Oct. 3, during Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s waterfront becomes a massive canvas for immersive art and climate reflection when two large-scale projection artworks illuminate the Canada Malting Silos. Presented by Union in Canada and Global Centre for Climate Action at OCAD University, “The Light” by Irish artist Paul Murnaghan and “Melting Temporalities” by Canadian artists Claire Brunet and Johnny Ranger, will transform the silos into an immersive journey through water, ice, forests and living ecosystems. Artworks are also part of SILO NIGHTS at Public Pier, presented by The Bentway, Harbourfront Centre, OCAD University, Waterfront BIA with The Toronto Port Authority as lead sponsor. https://tinyurl.com/4jprcdub

10/01/2026

🎉 OCAD U Alumni Social in Seoul 🎉
As OCAD U celebrates its 150th Anniversary, we're excited to reconnect with alumni and friends in Seoul! Join us to network, chat, and celebrate the many creative paths our alumni have taken around the world.

📅 October 10, 2026
🕐 1:00-3:30 PM
📍 Venue details to be shared with registered participants

Interested in attending? Email [email protected].

10/01/2026

Nesting, an exhibition curated by Paige Bowen, featuring Artists Quinn Stevens, Niki Sutherland, Christine Fry & Katrina Starke Kuras.

Running from October 14th - October 25th, with an opening reception on Thursday October 15th at 6:30pm and an artist talk on Saturday 24th from 2- 4 pm.

Even in the branches of a naked tree, there is a nest, just as in the corners of a brutal world, we find home.

As we look around us and to the future, there is an ever-growing feeling of helplessness. That as much as we shout for things to change, or people to listen, there is nothing that any one of us can do but to cross our fingers and wait. As we do this - trying to continue on with normalcy in the face of this dystopian holding pattern - the one thing that we can control is our environments. So we make our nests. With each twig or stitch, brushstroke or line, we form places of quiet and comfort, sancturaries where the storms of the world seem less disastrous. And maybe, through the simplicity of making, - and then the completion of that task - the insurmountable can seem less so.

Photo used is Christine Fry's In Repose