Artspeak

09/05/2026

Artspeak warmly welcomes artist Michele Pearson Clarke!
In Conversation: September 12 2026 @ 2pm with Director/curator Nya Lewis in celebration of the opening of "Red and White and Black and Gold"

Please note space is limited, reception to follow artist talk.

Michèle Pearson Clarke is a visual artist, writer and educator. Working primarily in photography and video, her work situates grief as a site of possibility for social engagement and political connection. Born in Trinidad and based in Toronto, her work has been exhibited and screened nationally and internationally including at La 3ra Gran Bienal Tropical, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, (Austria), MOMENTA Biennale de l’image (Montreal), Plug In ICA (Winnipeg), the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Royal Ontario Museum, Lagos Photo Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Maryland Institute College of Art, ltd los angeles, The Image Centre, and Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography. Clarke is the recipient of the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts 2019 Finalist Artist Prize, she was shortlisted for the 2023 Sobey Art Award, and most recently she was awarded the Marshall Frankel Fellowship by the Vermont Studio Center in 2024. From 2019-2022, Clarke served as the second Photo Laureate for the City of Toronto, and her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Wedge Collection. Clarke holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto, and she received her Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media from Toronto Metropolitan University where she is an Assistant Professor of Photography in the School of Image Arts.

09/02/2026

Our fall programs have launched!

Please join us for the opening of Michele Pearson Clarke's solo presentation "Red and White and Black and Gold" September 12 @ 2pm

On view: Red and White and Black and Gold locates the archive within the emotional and political conditions of displacement. Fifty years after Hasely Crawford won Trinidad and Tobago’s first Olympic gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Games, Michèle Pearson Clarke centres familial archival footage of Crawford’s victory in the men’s 100-metre race as a site of diasporic grief. Drawing upon archival documentation of multiple moments of national achievement and shared experience, the work positions such footage not only as historical document but as an affective site through which collective memory, national belonging, and geographic distance are continually negotiated. Red and White and Black and Gold approaches this tension through an autoethnographic lens, attending to the paradox through which the archival image becomes both a means of participation and a reminder of absence, a vessel through which collective history and personal grief converge. Through repetition, transcribed sound, and sonic performance, the immersive media installation reassembles communal experience through fragments: a race replayed, a national figure recognized, a gesture repeated, a sound remembered, fellowship recorded through public imagery. Crawford’s victory becomes a point of departure for thinking about the ways diasporic feeling is intensified when the histories through which we understand ourselves are geographically, temporally, or culturally out of reach. Returning to these fragments across time, the work asks how recorded moments of national feeling continue to act upon those who encounter them from elsewhere, and how joy, longing, grief, and belonging can come to occupy the same image.

*Artist in attendance

08/26/2026

We’re deeply grateful for the overwhelming support, care, and energy that has surrounded Who We Are and its accompanying programming. From everyone who has visited the exhibition, attended a program, shared the work, brought a friend, or simply helped spread the word, thank you for being part of it. There are just 3 days left to experience Who We Are. 

Looking Ahead: Please mark your calendars for the opening reception and conversation with artist Michele Pearson Clarke. Red White Black and Gold opens on September 12 2026 at 2pm.

08/17/2026

08/13/2026

Join us at Artspeak on August 22, 1–4 PM for a special pop-up portrait studio with artist Thelonius Dule Mthombeni, whose exhibition Who We Are is currently on view.

Thelonius will be taking free portraits in the gallery. Come as you are, bring a friend, and have your portrait made.

August 22 | 1–4 PM
Free | Walk-ins welcome
First come, first served

07/19/2026

This evening!

Artspeak welcomes artist Thelonius Dule Mthombeni, a Vancouver based artist and DJ whose work is rooted in a love of illustration and photography. Translated through the camera, portrait photography becomes a tool to explore identity, emotion, and human connection through each subject. Mthombeni is inspired by album covers and their ability to visually capture sound, mood, and identity.

07/09/2026

Opening reception July 18 6pm
233 Carrall St

Please join us celebrating Thelonius Dule Mthombeni in their first solo presentation "Who We Are"

A selection of studio portraits by the South African photographer, whose decades-long practice has been dedicated to documenting life through the lens. Working within the intimate space of the studio, the artist creates images that move beyond representation, offering moments of self-fashioning, presence, and recognition. Mthombeni considers the camera as a site of encounter, the enduring power of the photographic portrait to preserve personal histories while contributing to a broader cultural memory, and reflecting the richness and complexity of Black communities across generations. A living record of who we are.

07/03/2026

Tomorrow is the last day of Monologue: Whispers Against the Current.

Many thanks to artist Chris Outten , Alexis Tsegba , Charles Campbell , and all who engaged the exhibition.

A look ahead: Join us for the opening of "Who We Are" a solo exhibition by Theolonius Mthombeni

07/02/2026

We're hiring!

Artspeak is seeking an Associate Director to join our team.

Working closely with the Director/Curator, the Associate Director will play a key leadership role in the organization's administration, communications, fundraising, project coordination, and day-to-day operations. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the future of a dynamic artist-centred gallery committed to supporting contemporary art, critical dialogue, and underrepresented voices.

We're looking for someone who is collaborative, organized, and passionate about the arts and nonprofit leadership. If you're excited by building meaningful relationships, supporting artists, and helping shape the next chapter of our organization, we'd love to hear from you.

📍 Part-time, permanent (24 hours/week)
📅 Start date: September 2026
🗓️ Application deadline: CVs will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

View the full job description and application details through the link in our bio.

Please help us spread the word by sharing this opportunity with your networks.

06/10/2026

On view until July 4, 2026

Monologue: Whispers against the Current
Christopher Outten