Arts Unfold produces art and design projects in Canadian and European communities to foster greater understandings of social and environmental conditions. It works with communities to examine their concerns and aspirations, and works with artists to strengthen and deepen their practices. Throughout its projects, Arts Unfold works towards inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability.
Arts Unfold produces art residencies, workshops, mentorships, and multi-disciplinary exhibitions. Since 2012, it has coordinated art residencies at Artscape Gibraltar Point bringing in professional artists as Facilitators, and produced collaborative design-making events and environmental community events, such as co-creating the vision statement for a healthy Toronto waterfront with 80 citizens.
Arts Unfold maintains a wonderful partnership with Artscape Gibraltar Point (Toronto Island, Canada), with the production of two art residencies on premise: Luminous Bodies, on representing the body in heterogeneous ways; and Once Upon Water, on exploring the material and magical notions of water. Once Upon Water initially debuted in the Azores (Portugal) in 2017. A third residency, Naked State, took place at Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park (just north of Toronto, Canada) from 2016-2018, whereby the artists and Facilitator lived as naturists to explore the nude human body in context of nature, culture and art.
Members
Art Director of Arts Unfold, Teresa Ascencao, is an award-winning Multimedia Artist, with an active national and international exhibition record. She has over a decade of administration experience, including at the executive level. For several years, she delivered media art workshops at Ontario schools, and to economically and geographically disadvantaged youth in Toronto and northern communities. Ascencao is driven by her love for community, social and ecological issues, and working with creative minds in the fields of art and design. Ascencao graduated with distinction from the University of Toronto’s Honours Fine Art Studio program, and received her MFA from OCAD University specializing in Media Art. She lives and works in Toronto and teaches at OCADU and U Toronto.
Board Member, Sidi Chen, is a traveling queer artist from China. He has studied and visited various cultures around the globe. His multidisciplinary practice is influenced by his extensive intercultural studies and experiences, while archiving the body in context of its contrasting roles within wilderness and domestic environments. Apart from his art practice, Chen is also an art collector and a researcher for arts and cultural organizations. Chen recently completed his BFA at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, and lives and works in BC, Canada.
Affiliations
Arts Unfold is a member of Res Artis, worldwide network of artist residencies, and its Art Director Teresa Ascencao, is a decade-long member of CARFAC (Canadian Artists’ Representation), the national voice of Canada’s professional visual artists.
