Critical Distance Program Type Community Projects

This year, Critical Distance is turning 13, and while some might call it an “awkward phase,” we’re choosing this moment to celebrate how lucky we’ve been over the past 13 years.

It’s been our good fortune to collaborate with over 350 guest curators, artists, and co-presenting partners on 70+ exhibitions and curatorial projects, 30+ public art billboards, and well over 100+ art and educational events including screenings, performances, workshops, field trips, talks, and tours since opening our doors in 2013!

As we look ahead to our next 13 years, we’re asking for your support to keep the momentum going. If Critical Distance has ever supported, engaged, challenged, enriched, or inspired you, now is a great moment to give back. As a small arts organization facing real sustainability barriers, every dollar makes a huge difference in helping us continue to both provide, and thrive.

Click HERE to DONATE NOW!

Find out more

Critical Distance is pleased to welcome you to STUDY HALL, our newest initiative in support of critical curatorial inquiry, community, and practice. This Winter we’re opening up our space and our program to explore more nimble, flexible, responsive and mutually supportive frameworks for curatorial commoning and collaboration. 

All are welcome to drop in and visit, ask questions, peruse our featured publications, and join in the conversation on curating today. Outside public hours, visit our Instagram page @critical.distance for links to our survey, e-Shop, and newsletter subscription form, so you can be in the know on upcoming programs, events, and other ways to get involved.

Find out more

In 2023, we embarked upon a yearlong research and community consultation process under the banner of New Directions for Critical Distance. Still reeling from pandemic-related setbacks, we had identified strategic and financial planning as key to our recovery. Thanks to the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund, we were able to design an integrated, multi-phase process that began in consultation with key mentors, curatorial peers, and stakeholders from across the sector. Through an in-depth survey developed in collaboration with senior market analyst and consultant Marina Mandić, plus over 40 hours of face-to-face community consultations between CDCC Director Shani Khoo Parsons and emerging, midcareer, and established curators from across Canada, we engaged a representative sampling of ~150 curatorial colleagues in conversation and critical questions…Find out more

DIYing Free: Special Exhibition by Taboo Health for DesignTO at Critical Distance Opening Reception: January 17th, 6–9 pm Critical Distance is pleased to participate in the 2019 edition of DesignTO Festival as host to Taboo Health’s interactive exhibition, DIYing Free, by artist Justin Tyler Tate. This special exhibition is a part of the captivating DesignTO Festival event series, Dying. Find out more

Featuring Azaeb Adane, Clayton Batson, Eli Carmona, Tahoy James, and Ebti Nabag. Curated by Emma German. In partnership with Gallery 44, Exposing Liminalities brings together the work of five artists that expand, challenge, and question notions of the in-between. Employing elements of both analogue and digital photography practices, this exhibition considers the myriad intersections that can define oneself. Presented as a part of Critical Distance’s Summer Sessions, a program through which we support emerging curators and artists by providing free space, mentorship, and installation support for their thesis exhibitions.Find out more