OPENING RECEPTION

January 23 | 7:00pm - 9:00pm

IN-PERSON EXHIBITION

Hallway Gallery | January 12  - February 8
White Studio | January 23 - January 25

WHY DO YOU CREATE?

  • See Past Shows

    • Why Do You Create? 2026 Juried Exhibition provides artists with an opportunity to reflect on the motivations and significance behind their creative practices. This exhibition also served as a platform for Ontario artists to present their work alongside their peers, while offering art enthusiasts the chance to discover the exceptional talent within the visual arts community.

    This year’s show features a carefully curated collection of 38 artworks, selected by jurors: Jieun (June) Kim, Kulwant Singh, and Stephanie Schirm. Each piece offers a unique perspective on the exhibition theme, revealing the personal stories that inspire the artists’ expression.

    We invite you to explore this inspiring exhibition, connect with the artists’ visions, and celebrate the diverse and dynamic creativity within Ontario’s visual arts landscape.

    VAM JURORS 2026

    Jieun Kim (Aka. June)

    Jieun Kim (a.k.a. June) is a Toronto-based, Korean-born multidisciplinary artist. She has exhibited her paintings around the world since 2010 in notable galleries and events. Drawing inspiration from Korean folk arts and the natural world, she creates imagined landscapes that reflect her deep connection to the environments around her, both the natural and urban, as well as the folk traditions of Korea, the homeland where she was born and raised. 

    Expanding beyond her studio practice, Jieun is also dedicated to creating safe and inclusive spaces through street art. She has produced numerous murals in collaboration with arts organizations and corporate partners, including the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto, the City of Dallas, the Toronto International Film Festival, Pride Toronto, Samsung, Stella Artois, and more. 

    She is the co-founder and director of KJ Bit Collective, which has produced murals and street art events and has worked with hundreds of local artists since 2018. 

    Kulwant Singh

    Kulwant Singh is a Brampton-based artist whose work centers on realistic portraiture, capturing the expressive power of the human face and the depth of everyday life, with a particular focus on South Asian representation. While he is best known for his oil paintings, he also works skillfully in charcoal, conté, and pastel on paper.

    He holds a BFA in Drawing and Painting, as well as two MAs: one in the History of Art from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and another in Fine Arts (Drawing and Painting) from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

    Singh’s work has received significant recognition, including being named a Finalist in the Almenara Art Prize 2025 in Córdoba, Spain, and winning the Best of Painting Award (2023) at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. His artwork has been exhibited widely across
    North America and Europe and is included in various international collections

    Stephanie Schirm

    Mixed Media / Figurative / Conceptual Artist & Art Instructor
    • Member of Society of Canadian Artist, and Portrait Society of Canada, and Ontario Society of Artists
    • European trained, began her career as a Fashion designer, and fashion illustrator in the 80’s
    • In the 90’s became Graduate of Communication and Design at OCAD in Toronto. Only then to enter the Liturgical world of Design, where she established Labyrinth Studios Inc. in Guelph, designing and manufacturing sanctuary décor for Churches across Canada and the US.
    • Her passion for designing and painting lead to sharing her knowledge in the arts through workshops, with the Continuing Education Board in Wellington County, Mohawk College, Haliburton School of the Arts and in various establishments throughout the GTA area.
    • Experience working on Juror panels or individually, mainly for the Public Art Sector in Halton, Wellington and Peel regions.
    • Stephanie’s creations can be found in private collections throughout Canada, US and Europe.
    • Most recently Stephanie is the recipient of the MARTY 2023 Award for Visual Arts in the traditional form, and the Civic Award of Recognition for the Visual Arts from Bonnie Crombie’s Mississauga Mayor’s office.
    • You can find her in her studio in the Williams Mill Art Studios in Glen Williams

    Gallery

    Amalgam

    T.J. Brown
    2025
    31 x 47 IN
    Acrylic on canvas

    Breakthrough From Within

    VIRAJ PONKSHE
    2024
    30 x 40 IN
    Mix Media & Acrylic on Canvas

    Last Swim of the Summer

    Erin Maich
    2025
    24 x 36 IN
    Acrylic on Canvas

    When I Grow Up (I want to be)

    Ali Brown
    2025
    24 x 36 IN
    Acrylic and Neocolor Pastel on Canvas

    Trapped Dream

    Hannah Sum
    2024
    30 x 20 IN
    Acrylic and oil on paper

    Landscape in Dance

    Irma Dijak
    2025
    20 x 20 IN
    Acrylic on wrapped canvas

    Eighteen

    Alara Bulur
    2025
    8 x 10 IN
    Reduction linocut print on paper

    Balloon Modeling

    Natasha Lee
    2025
    30 x 24 IN
    Acrylic and oil on canvas

    He-Men and The Hulk

    Bernardo Cioppa
    2024
    18 x 21 IN
    Photography, stock paper

    Amalgam

    T.J. Brown
    2025
    31 x 47 IN
    Acrylic on canvas

    “Amalgam” is representative of a total shift in my practice. And as such, represents the main reason why I create: experimentation. This work continues the mantle that was taken up by ‘The Quiet Part, Out Loud’ – a shift in focus to figure work and portraiture, rather than the landscape-heavy pieces which dominated my earlier work. Pre-2023, I only dipped my toe into the human form on occasion. And even then, the figures were obscured in some way. They were certainly not front-and-centre. But I felt that as my practice moved to include more personal narratives, it was necessary to finally start adding people to my work. And this has been eye-opening. Take “Amalgam”. I wasn’t even sure how to sketch out the figures on the canvas, let alone paint them. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to translate the figures in a way to make them recognizable across the panels. The entire process was trial and error. Since creating this, I’ve also been trying my hand at combining media (acrylic and charcoal), long-form video, and found object installation. This piece represents the loss of my inhibitions when it comes to exploring what’s possible with my work.

    Breakthrough From Within

    VIRAJ PONKSHE
    2024
    30 x 40 IN
    Mix Media & Acrylic on Canvas

    Because art helps me release what is held inside; it is an act of inner liberation. It allows me to transform hidden emotions into symbols of strength, hope, and positive change. Through my art practice, I aim to help both myself and the viewer move toward self-evolution. This artwork, created in my ‘ZapinFusion’ style, reflects that purpose. The old, damaged wall represents the parts of life that feel broken – our fears, past hurts, and heavy memories. The partially broken window symbolizes the narrow, restricted viewpoints we adopt when we are trapped by our inner conflict. Pushing through the window bars is a strong red circle. It represents the universal force of life, courage, energy, and the will to rise. As it breaks through the window, it reminds us that no matter how damaged our inner world may seem, we still have the power to push beyond bitterness, stagnation, and self-doubt. It is the moment when courage rises above fear. My inspiration comes from positivity and from the belief that self-evolution begins within. Through my art style of ‘ZapinFusion,’ I blend symbolism, spirituality, and contemporary abstraction to show that even in the most shattered spaces, a bright core of energy and possibility can still break through – and lead us forward.

    Last Swim of the Summer

    Erin Maich
    2025
    24 x 36 IN
    Acrylic on Canvas

    I create to capture the detail of a fleeting moment and freeze it for further contemplation. I want to enlarge a glimpse of beauty and preserve it in paint. I offer the viewer a moment to really see the beautiful colour, line and movement in a piece of our natural environment. In this painting, I took reference photos while I was swimming so I could pause the waves and dive into their forms, shadows and highlights.

    When I Grow Up (I want to be)

    Ali Brown
    2025
    24 x 36 IN
    Acrylic and Neocolor Pastel on Canvas

    Inspired by a family of storytellers, artists, and collectors, I draw on autobiographical mental and material histories, all situated within the context of childhood, to explore the emotional landscapes of memory. In these reconstructed narratives, some details fade and fragment while others return unexpectedly, guiding my work as it navigates the tension between preservation and loss. “When I Grow Up (I want to be)” reimagines a photograph from my preschool graduation; gazing out toward my parents in the audience, a direct trace of my childhood drawing and writing reads: “When I grow up, I would like to be a teacher.” This layered approach strikes a delicate balance of ambiguity; my peers sit beside me, a fragment of the story remaining untold, inviting the viewer to reflect on their own childhood dreams and to consider how those early narratives informed their present lives. Through archival interaction I ask: How can we find comfort in the ambivalence of nostalgia? My studio processes creating space for therapeutic dialogue among my past, present, and future selves. As subject and maker, I feel the ongoing presence of this document in my current identity–my enduring desire to become an arts educator, nearly 20 years later.

    Trapped Dream

    Hannah Sum
    2024
    30 x 20 IN
    Acrylic and oil on paper

    This artwork from my Hidden Meows series shows that I create to stay close to what is often dismissed as “just everyday life.” Many people see my two cats as interchangeable, simply “cats” or “animals.” For me, their personalities, moods and ways of caring for me are completely different. Painting them as almost-hidden figures under the same conditions is my way of insisting that these subtle differences, and these quiet relationships, matter. My life has moved through big changes – from unmarried to married, from Hong Kong to Toronto – and my cats have walked through all of them beside me. Line after line, I am not only building an image; I am counting the time we have shared and giving weight to small routines that might otherwise vanish. This work makes clear that my motivation to create comes from a need to honour these fragile, wordless connections and to turn ordinary companionship into something that can be seen, felt and remembered.

    Landscape in Dance

    Irma Dijak
    2025
    20 x 20 IN
    Acrylic on wrapped canvas

    My motivation to create stems from the memories I have of the alpine regions of my birthplace and the glorious majestic mountains. The landscapes offer a diverse array of textures, palette, and lighting that changes every hour as the sun crosses the skies. Shadows and rays of sun are an interplay of colours, shapes, and forms that ignite a desire to paint the scenes on canvas. The same feelings exist while spending time in nature here at home, whether I am hiking along the river’s edge or tending to my garden. It’s the wonder of the natural world—the plants, the water, the moving skies, the changing seasons—that evokes the need to bring that feeling to the canvas in front of me.

    Eighteen

    Alara Bulur
    2025
    8 x 10 IN
    Reduction linocut print on paper

    This artwork speaks directly to my motivation to create by revisiting a moment in my life when creativity felt out of reach. The print—based on a photograph I took of myself at eighteen—captures a version of me who was fully immersed in a STEM degree, with no time or space to make art. For years, my desire to create was present but unfulfilled, overshadowed by a demanding schedule that left no room for creative expression. After being introduced to printmaking through a fine arts elective, that changed. My motivation to create now comes from honouring the artistic side of myself that once felt silenced.

    Balloon Modeling

    Natasha Lee
    2025
    30 x 24 IN
    Acrylic and oil on canvas

    With this painting, I hope to make people stop, think, and reflect on their opinions, and how dismantling patriarchy isn’t a linear formula. I was looking for a way to demonstrate injustice with a deeper meaning than just another “girl boss” painting or a woman being brutalized. I am a female, biracial, multimedia artist specializing in painting, drawing, and sculpture. My art centres on nature, feminism, race, and other social issues, primarily exploring identity. Being born female and identifying as a woman –especially a black woman– intersectional feminism is a part of my life. This work highlights my love for unique and nuanced perspectives and my passion for activism.

    He-Men and The Hulk

    Bernardo Cioppa
    2024
    18 x 21 IN
    Photography, stock paper

    I’m struck by the contrast of these two gentlemen sharing a moment of friendship, as a late afternoon sun streamed in from the side to reveal an oddly placed superhero figurine sitting next to them. The figurine seems oddly out of place but at the same time familiar to the scene. For me, the image is in line with a one frame movie. What is happening? What are the two men philosophizing about? Perhaps a child placed their toy on the bench and forgot it. As the two men share a discussion, “the hulk” figurine appears to be part of their conversation.