Workshops

Renato Foti
FEATURED MEMBER

Artist mainly in Fused & Bent glass for large scale installations.I also work on some new mixed media sculpture using glass & other materials.

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WORKSHOPS

Craft Ontario workshops are for members who want to strengthen their practice as creative entrepreneurs. Ranging from business skills to branding and marketing, Craft Ontario works to partner with experts in the field in order to connect members with information and guidance that helps get them to the next step.

Stay tuned for our Call for 2025 Virtual Workshop Proposals!

Upcoming Events

 Visible Mending Banner

Visible Mending with Juliana Scherzer
Thursday, March 28, 6-8 pm
Registration: 
$45 for Craft Ontario Members, and $60 for non-members

This is an online presentation via Zoom.

REGISTER

 

Join us virtually with your damaged and aged textiles, and learn visible repair techniques to mend your clothing! We will cover Japanese Sashiko repair techniques to explore pattern and colour. You'll leave the course with new knowledge of sustainability in clothing and a unique, repaired textile piece!

Participants will need to provide the following: 

  • An aged textile piece (or something that can have a hole cut in it)
  • Fabric to use for mending
  • Scissors
  • A sewing needle
  • Sewing thread
  • Embroidery thread
  • Pins
  • A pencil
  • A ruler.

Juliana Scherzer is a Mississauga based textile artist working with preserved leaves and ecoprinting. Her work explores the role of humanity in the natural world through the subtle repetition of structures and patterns in deciduous trees, craft, the human body, and city environments.

After graduating from Sheridan College with a Bachelor of Craft and Design in 2018, Juliana spent three years as an artist-in-residence at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design where she continued to build her practice while branching out into production work and teaching textile and art courses in the community. In 2021 Juliana relocated to Toronto, Ontario to join Harbourfront Centre's Artist-in-Residence Program. Juliana continues to teach hand-on textile courses within the GTA, aiming to bring fresh ideas and energy to her students' creativity through the introduction of new techniques.

Past Events

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This is an online presentation via Zoom. Admission: $18 for non-members, FREE for Workshop members and Craft Ontario members

REGISTER

Join Workshop and Craft Ontario as we welcome ceramicists Naomi Clement and Heidi McKenzie to share their expertise on applying for — and receiving! — grant money.

Have you always wanted to get a grant to help fund your craft or artistic practice? Maybe you've applied in the past without success, or you've never even known where to start? Grants are a huge opportunity for Canadian artists and makers, but many creators are missing out on this valuable source of income. In this live Zoom session with Ontario-based ceramicists Naomi Clement and Heidi McKenzie — both of whom have earned many grants in their careers — you'll hear helpful tips on how to tap into this kind of funding.

In this online event co-presented by Workshop Magazine and Craft Ontario, you'll learn:

  • How to find grants you're eligible for
  • What's involved in applying for grants
  • What funders are looking for
  • How to find help with your applications
  • What to do when you receive a grant

At the end of the session, you'll have the chance to ask questions of our panelists.

Not sure if you can make this time? Registered attendees will get access to a video recording after the event.

About the Speakers

Naomi Clement is a Canadian artist and educator who explores ideas of home and belonging through the powerful lens of functional ceramics. She received her MFA from Louisiana State University in 2017, and her B.F.A from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University in 2003. Naomi has participated in residencies, given lectures and workshops, and exhibited her work across Canada and the United States. She served as a board member for the National Council on the Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), was named a 2017 Emerging Artist by Ceramics Monthly magazine, and is a member of the Canadian ceramics collective Make and Do. In 2019, Naomi was a Summer Artist-in-Residence at the renowned Archie Bray Foundation for theCeramic Arts in Helena, Montana. After spending many years as a pottery nomad, working and travelling across North America, Naomi has recently established a home studio in Stratford, Ont.

Heidi McKenzie is a Toronto-based ceramic artist who completed her MFA at Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2014. In 2022, she was a Shantz Award finalist for Canada's emerging ceramicists. The recipient of numerous grants, she has created in Denmark, Hungary, Australia, China, Ireland and Indonesia and exhibited internationally in Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. Heidi uses photography, digital media and archive to forefront themes of ancestry, race, migration and colonization. She curated "Decolonizing Clay" at the Australian Ceramics Triennale in 2019 and participated in the World Indian Diaspora Congress in Trinidad in 2020. Heidi was inducted into the International Academy of Ceramics in 2022.

 

2023 OAC Home Page

Craft Ontario, DesignTO and Harbourfront Centre, with the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), present a FREE webinar to learn how to apply to the OAC and bring your project from concept to reality!

Watch the recording here

  • Looking for support to develop a new prototype?
  • Want to take time to pursue a new idea, process, or project?
  • Wondering how to fund a master class, residency, exhibition, or conference?

Find out about the OAC's Craft Project grant program, which supports craft-based practices through grants to Ontario-based artists, curators, ad hoc groups/collectives and organizations: https://www.arts.on.ca/grants/craft-projects
The upcoming deadline for applications is October 25, 2023, 1:00 PM, EST.

Craft Ontario
Craft Ontario is a not-for-profit service organization that works to have craft recognized as a valuable part of life. We promote and celebrate professional craft through providing member opportunities, and advocate for craft practice by educating and empowering diverse audiences.

DesignTO
DesignTO is a non-profit arts organization that is best known for its annual DesignTO Festival, Canada's leading and largest annual design festival that celebrates design as a multidisciplinary form of creative thinking and making, with over 100 exhibitions and events forming Toronto's design week, Jan 19-28, 2024.
https://designto.org/

Harbourfront Centre Craft & Design
Craft & Design at Harbourfront Centre is a career-oriented artist-in-residency, incubator and training centre that uses a self-directed and transformative learning ethos, which is open to post-graduates and those with equivalent training, demonstrating a thorough and comprehensive understanding, conceptually as well as technically, in one of five areas: Textiles, Glass, Ceramics, Design, or Jewellery. We make long-term commitments to artists by offering a broad range resources and opportunities.
https://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/craft/

Ontario Arts Council
OAC is an arts funding agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport, established in 1963 to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. We provide grants to Ontario-based artists and arts professionals, ad hoc groups/collectives and organizations in a range of arts activities and disciplines.
https://www.arts.on.ca/home

 

Insurance 101 1

Insurance 101 with Jenny Rushforth
Sunday, February 26, 2-3:30 PM
Registration: $25

This is an online presentation via Zoom, co-presented by Craft Ontario and FUSION.

Do you have questions about insurance for your business or studio?

Jenny Rushforth is a great supporter of the craft community. A ceramic artist with a home studio, Jenny has been providing life insurance, auto insurance, home insurance, fire insurance and commercial insurance as a Desjardins agent for over 20 years.

While not always required, insurance is useful for any artist who wants to protect their livelihood from loss due to an insured loss or loss of income due to illness. Jenny is happy to answer all your insurance questions to make sure you consider the right insurance to protect you, your studio and your income. You are welcome to submit questions in advance of the workshop.

Questions? Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Taxes for Artists 101 Banner 1

Taxes for Artists 101 with Zoe Klein
Wednesday, January 25, 7-8:30 PM
Registration: $25

This is an online presentation via Zoom, co-presented by Craft Ontario and FUSION.

Join Zoe Klein to find out more about how to file your taxes as a craft artist. Topics that will be covered include HST, grants, and how to deal with taxes when selling your work outside of the province or country. Registrants are required to submit their own tax-related questions to ensure that the presentation and discussion works to help meet your individual needs. Registrants will also have the opportunity to book a time to connect with Zoe one-on-one after the session - don't miss this chance to meet with a professional and take care of all of your tax concerns!

Zoe opened her practice in 1984, in the heart of Queen West. Many of her first clients were the artists and musicians who lived in the area. From Queen Street to Bay Street, (moved in 2010) Zoe has been involved in the tax lives of her clients. Zoe is an Affirmed member of the Association of Tax and Accounting Professionals.

Beyond the office Zoe has delivered seminars geared to the specific interests of the members several different groups and associations including the Ontario Association of Art Galleries, The Canadian Senior Artists' Resource Network, Harbourfront Artists, The Professional Association for Computer Training as well as the Toronto Romance Writers.

Watch the recording here

 Questions? Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

OAC Home Page Banner

Learn How to Fund your Craft and Design Projects
Wednesday, September 14, 2022 5:00-6:15 PM
Online presentation

 

Craft Ontario, DesignTO and Harbourfront Centre, with the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), present a free webinar to learn how to apply to the OAC and bring your project from concept to reality!

  • Looking for support to develop a new prototype?
  • Want to take time to pursue a new idea, process, or project? 
  • Wondering how to fund a master class, residency, exhibition, or conference?

Find out about the OAC's Craft Project grant program, which supports craft-based practices through grants to Ontario-based artists, curators, ad hoc groups/collectives and organizations: https://www.arts.on.ca/grants/craft-projects 
The upcoming deadline for applications is October 26, 2022, 1:00 PM, EST.

Three past grant recipients will share insights into their own experience of applying and the projects they were able to develop, and one previous juror will share their experience of being on the OAC Craft Project jury. Learn from your peers: Candice Dixon, Akash Inbakumar, and Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona!

Please note: This session will be presented in English, with live captioning and ASL interpretation. 

Questions? Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Craft Ontario 
Craft Ontario is a not-for-profit service organization that works to have craft recognized as a valuable part of life. We promote and celebrate professional craft through providing member opportunities, and advocate for craft practice by educating and empowering diverse audiences.

DesignTO
DesignTO is a non-profit arts organization that is best known for its annual DesignTO Festival, Canada's leading and largest annual design festival that celebrates design as a multidisciplinary form of creative thinking and making, with over 100 exhibitions and events forming Toronto's design week, January 20-29, 2023.
https://designto.org/

Harbourfront Centre Craft & Design
Craft & Design at Harbourfront Centre is a career-oriented artist-in-residency, incubator and training centre that uses a self-directed and transformative learning ethos, which is open to post-graduates and those with equivalent training, demonstrating a thorough and comprehensive understanding, conceptually as well as technically, in one of five areas: Textiles, Glass, Ceramics, Design, or Jewellery. We make long-term commitments to artists by offering a broad range resources and opportunities. 
https://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/craft/

Ontario Arts Council
OAC is an arts funding agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport, established in 1963 to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. We provide grants to Ontario-based artists and arts professionals, ad hoc groups/collectives and organizations in a range of arts activities and disciplines. 
https://www.arts.on.ca/home

Candice Dixon
With a background in fashion design and merchandising, Candice founded SugaCayne as a part-time creative outlet focusing mainly on dress making and accessories. In 2010 she was presented with the opportunity to design costumes for the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, where her fashion background and colour/trend knowledge proved useful. These skills have helped Candice to develop designs that resonate with masqueraders, and her costumes have been top sellers since inception. In 2017, now engulfed in the carnival culture, SugaCayne's mandate was to bring the Carnival Arts to the masses. As Creative Director, Candice has been the design lead of the SugaCayne "Innovation in Mas" projects, produced in collaboration with the Design Fabrication Zone at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her knowledge of carnival culture and arts has propelled these projects into the public eye and helped to bring students and creatives from a variety of disciplines together to create awareness of this niche artform.

The groundbreaking work of these projects has exceeded all expectations and has garnered much interest from popular media outlets such as CBC, Breakfast Television, CTV, and NOW Magazine; and has been exhibited at major institutions like; the Royal Ontario Museum, The Design Exchange, Toronto City Hall, and most recently Yorkdale Shopping Centre as part of the ArtworxTO Carnival Portal Exhibit.

Akash Inbakumar
Inbakumar's practice, based in Tkaronto / Toronto, explores the queering of the human body in relation to material and craft practices. Entering partnerships with multiple mediums, tools and processes, they conceive material-kin. These kin become symbols of the symbiotic-cyborg relationships that were built during their conception but also gateways to Inbakumar's futuristic worlding. A future where craft objects play the role of carrying family lineage, storyteller and genetics, compared to the colonial west's nuclear family. Often taking the form of wearables, these objects hope to give the wearer the opportunity to transform into material-human hybrids that can peek into Inbakumar's dream world.

Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona
Following her family lineage of Utkuhikhalingmiut Inuit artists and printmakers, Ottawa based multidisciplinary artist Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona is known for her intimate artwork with striking graphics exploring imagery inspired by Inuit community, stories, and culture.

 

 OAC Page Banner copy

Learn How to Fund your Craft and Design Projects
Monday, September 13, 2021 5:00-6:15 PM

Online presentation - REGISTER HERE

Craft Ontario, DesignTO and Harbourfront Centre, with the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), present a webinar to learn how to apply to the OAC and bring your project from concept to reality!

  • Looking for support to develop a new prototype?
  • Want to take time to pursue a new idea, process, or project? 
  • Wondering how to fund a master class, residency, exhibition, or conference?

Find out about the OAC's Craft Project grant program, which supports craft-based practices through grants to Ontario-based artists, curators, ad hoc groups/collectives and organizations: https://www.arts.on.ca/grants/craft-projects 
The upcoming deadline for applications is October 13, 2021, 1:00 PM, EST.

Three past grant recipients will share insights into their own experience of applying and the projects they were able to develop, and one previous juror will share their experience of being on the OAC Craft Project jury. Learn from your peers: April Martin, Habiba El-Sayed, Miranda Bouchard, and Natalie Sarianni

Please note: This session will be presented in English, with live captioning and ASL interpretation. 

Questions? Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Craft Ontario 
Craft Ontario is a not-for-profit service organization that works to have craft recognized as a valuable part of life. We promote and celebrate professional craft through providing member opportunities, and advocate for craft practice by educating and empowering diverse audiences.

DesignTO
DesignTO is a non-profit arts organization that is best known for its annual DesignTO Festival, Canada's leading and largest annual design festival that celebrates design as a multidisciplinary form of creative thinking and making, with over 100 exhibitions and events forming Toronto's design week, January 21-30, 2022.
https://designto.org/

Harbourfront Centre Craft & Design
Craft & Design at Harbourfront Centre is a career-oriented artist-in-residency, incubator and training centre that uses a self-directed and transformative learning ethos, which is open to post-graduates and those with equivalent training, demonstrating a thorough and comprehensive understanding, conceptually as well as technically, in one of five areas: Textiles, Glass, Ceramics, Design, or Jewellery. We make long-term commitments to artists by offering a broad range resources and opportunities. 
https://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/craft/

Ontario Arts Council
OAC is an arts funding agency of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, established in 1963 to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. We provide grants to Ontario-based artists and arts professionals, ad hoc groups/collectives and organizations in a range of arts activities and disciplines. 
https://www.arts.on.ca/home

April Martin
April Martin is a process-based sculptor from Manitoulin Island, Ontario. She creates ceramics, textiles, sculpture and poetry that investigate the materiality, magic, and energy of weather and landscape. She creates curious objects and installations infused with the alchemical nature of materials and process. She holds a BA from McGill University (2009) and a BFA from Concordia in Montreal (2014). In 2016, she completed her MFA in Sculpture at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a recipient of numerous awards and has participated in residencies and exhibited work throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.

Habiba El-Sayed
Inspired by Islamic architecture and human vulnerability, Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist Habiba El-Sayed uses a variety of materials, performance, and temporal techniques to illustrate her concepts. Her work focuses on connecting to, exploring, and interpreting aspects of her identity. Habiba holds an Advanced Diploma from Sheridan College is Ceramics (2014) and a BFA in Ceramics from the Nova Scotia College of Arts and Design (2016). She recently completed a three-year residency at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto (2019). El-Sayed's work has been shown in galleries and museums across North America and she has been featured in publications such as FUSION Magazine and Studio Potter. She is currently a Creativity Everything Fellow and creates out of Clay Space Studio in Toronto's East-end. 

Miranda Bouchard on behalf of Thinking Rock Community Arts
Miranda Bouchard (she/her) brings 13+ years of experience in the nonprofit arts, culture and heritage sector. Her roots, work and residence in the Algoma District of Northern Ontario inform her direction and focus her attention on intergenerational knowledge, story and skill sharing; process and craft-based practises; and projects based or unfolding in rural settings - places familiar to her, where such practices remain prevalent. 
https://www.thinkingrock.ca/

Natalie Sirianni
Natalie Sirianni is a graduate of Sheridan College's Honours Bachelor of Craft and Design Program (Furniture), and recently completed a three-year residency at Harbourfront Centre in the Design Studio. Her pracice is focused on thoughfully indulgent and finely crafted functional and sculptural objects, to ornamentation and traditional wood craft with a curious hand and eye. 

 

 

CM - Workshops

A six part series of 90 minute, themed workshops designed to support creatives to develop their practice or arts-based business ​during this challenging time of social distancing and beyond. ​Professional life and career coach for artists and creatives, Chris Mitchell ​guides participants through interactive and self-reflective exercises and introduces customizable tools and tips related to each topic. Supplementary take home worksheets for each session support further individual exploration, strategy/action planning and personal/professional growth. Format is suitable for any number of participants to register for individual or multiple sessions.

Dates: March 18 - Apr 22, Thursdays 7:00 - 8:30 pm

Registration: 

Full Series
$100 (Members)
$200 (Non-members)
       Or pick and choose per session
$20 (Members)
$40 (Non-members)


For anyone who would like to attend the workshop series but finds the registration cost prohibitive, please contact Elycia SFA at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Session 1:​ ​Build Your Creative Practice or Arts-Based Business from the Inside Out
March 18, 7:00-8:30 PM
This workshop ​will help you identify what really excites you and is most important to you as a creative individual or professional. Learn how to leverage this self-awareness to better evaluate your opportunities and help you determine how and where you drive your creative practice or arts- based business moving forward.
You will learn how to:
● Identify and articulate your core values and what is most fulfilling to you as a creative.
● Clarify how this awareness can enhance your approach to goal setting & decision making.
● Hone in on your opportunities to be more strategic moving forward.

Session 2:​ ​Get Out of Your Head and into Action
March 25, 7:00-8:30 PM
This workshop will help you to clarify your vision for taking your creative practice or arts-based business to the next level - whatever that means to you! Transcribe your dreams and ambitions into an action plan that will set you up for success.
You will learn how to:
● Focus in on what you'd really like to accomplish and solidify your motivation.
● Identify goals and priorities that are meaningful and realistic
● Create a three month action plan to move forward.

Session 3:​ ​Build Habits to Nurture Your Creativity and Professional Growth
April 1, 7:00-8:30 PM
This workshop ​will help you identify and establish daily and weekly routines, rituals and habits to develop your capacity and prioritize your self-care as a creative professional.
You will learn how to:
● Identify habits you personally need to survive and thrive as a creative.
● Close your Habit Loop to set yourself up for success!
● Create tools and routines to help you track, reflect and adjust moving forward.

Session 4​:​ B​ecome More Focused and Productive
April 8, 7:00-8:30 PM
This workshop will help you tap into your motivation, nurture your ability to focus and be more aware of ​what it takes for you to show up in the best way for yourself as a creative.
You will learn how to:
● Energize your commitment to goals and projects that matter to you.
● Identify likely obstacles and distractions and ​build a practice of setting yourself up to facilitate your focus
● Build time management strategies to stay on top of key priorities day-to-day and week-to-week.

Session 5​:​ ​Inoculate Yourself from Your Inner Critic
April 15, 7:00-8:30 PM
Your inner critic can prevent you from growing, taking risks and moving forward. In fact, it can stop you right in your tracks - perhaps even leave you feeling unworthy of calling yourself a "real" artist. This workshop ​will help you better recognize when this is happening and to be able to tap into your inner resources when you want to inject yourself with courage and confidence.
You will learn how to:
● Recognize how your personal inner critic operates and when it is likely to speak up.
● Build strategies to let go of fear and perfectionism
● Create tools to help you consciously access your unique inner resources to better support your growth and development.

Session 6​:​ ​Put Yourself "Out There" in a Way that is Authentic and Empowering
April 22, 7:00-8:30 PM
This workshop will help you to tackle promoting yourself with increased confidence and a clearer sense of purpose. You will begin to tap into strategies that are true to you and in service of your specific goals and ambitions.
You will learn how to:
● Articulate what is authentic and core to your creative practice.
● Identify where, why, what you ​could​ put "out there" to whom?
● Focus in on your key messaging and set yourself up to get "out there" with increased confidence.

 

 

ShopHERE graphic

Calling all Craft Artists! Sell Your Art Online

Wednesday, September 16, 5:00 pm

Small businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy, yet they’ve also been some of those hardest hit by COVID-19 shutdowns. To help independent businesses and artists, Digital Main Street and Google have teamed up to provide free ecommerce website builds for registered small businesses so they can reach new customers across the web. This webinar focuses on how craft artists can learn about and participate in the ShopHERE program in order to build a new online store, or redevelop and improve existing online sales strategies. Take advantage of one-on-one support to be more effective in selling your artwork in a digital environment!

Co-hosted by ShopHERE, the City of Toronto, Google, and Craft Ontario. To learn more about ShopHERE powered by Google, see www.digitalmainstreet.ca/shophere

Emileah Baumen leads the ShopHERE Powered by Google program at Digital Main Street, with a mission to help as many small businesses and artists get setting online as possible. She has years of marketing and sales experience while her work has always centred on empowering leaders and their teams to differentiate themselves and drive measurable results. Her work with small businesses spans a wide range of industries and is passionate about inspiring, teaching and developing their digital strategy toolkits.

As Google Canada's SMB Marketing Lead, Tristan Lee is focused on helping small and medium sized businesses embrace the power of digital and succeed within Canada and abroad. Prior to joining Google, Tristan spent six years in brand management at Procter & Gamble, working on some of P&G's most loved health care and beauty brands. With over eight years of brand building under his belt, Tristan prides himself on his capacity for empathy, entrepreneurial spirit, and track-record of innovating to drive breakthrough results.


 

Owen Colborne30

Learn How to Fund your Craft and Design Projects

Tuesday, September 29, 5-6 pm via Zoom

Register Today: https://bit.ly/3c2EGV6

Craft Ontario, DesignTO and Harbourfront Centre, with the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), present a webinar to learn how to apply to the OAC and bring your project from concept to reality!

Looking for support to develop a new prototype?
Want to take time to pursue a new idea?
Wondering how to fund a master class, residency, exhibition or conference?
Making changes to your practice to respond to the challenges of COVID-19?

Find out about the OAC’s Craft Projects grant program and learn about the new Arts Response Initiative, which addresses challenges faced by the arts community because of COVID-19.

Note: This session will be presented in English. Information will also be provided about programs for Francophone craft and design artists.

Upcoming Deadlines

  • Craft Projects: October 14, 2020
  • Arts Response Initiative: Project Grants for Individuals: October 20, 2020
  • Arts Response Initiative: Project Grants for Ad Hoc Groups, Collectives and Organizations: November 3, 2020


Accessibility: If you have any accessibility needs, please let us know no later than September 22nd by contacting:

Caroline Caire
Program Administrator
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
1-800-387-0058 ext. 7440 (toll-free in Ontario)
416l-969-7440

The OAC was established in 1963 to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians.

Who We Are

Formerly the Ontario Crafts Council, Craft Ontario is a not-for-profit service organization that works to have craft recognized as a valuable part of life. We promote and celebrate professional craft through providing member opportunities, and advocate for craft practice by educating and empowering diverse audiences.