Joshua Farm Gallery Juried Exhibition
October 10 – January 3
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 17 | 1pm – 4pm

Joshua Farm Gallery celebrates the creativity and diversity of artists working across all mediums in the annual Joshua Farm Gallery Juried Exhibition. This much anticipated showcase offers a platform for emerging and established artists from surrounding areas  to share their work with a broad audience. Set against the scenic backdrop of our historic gallery grounds, the exhibition runs from October 10 – January 3 and promises an inspiring season of contemporary art.

There will be three (3) Jurors’ choice awards in the amounts of $500, $300, $200.

There is a $40 submission fee, artists may submit two (2) pieces for consideration. Fees may be paid in person or by e-transfer to info@joshuafarmgallery.ca

Jurors: (bios to come)

Sheila Thompson:

Sheila Thompson is a woman in science with a PhD in Biogeography whose fibre art practice has been evolving for 25 years. Her artwork brings together her geographic knowledge and her advocacy for the environment and social justice. Through wet-felted sculptural vessels, futuristic leaves, and aerial topographies, she imagines how short-sighted political decisions may shape the health and wellbeing of future ecosystems.

Sheila is a member of Connections Fibre Artists, the Society of Canadian Artists, and several environmental organizations. She has also held volunteer roles with Artists’ Network, the International Feltmakers Association, local studio tours, and the Surface Design Association’s international exhibition group.  She runs her studio as a welcoming research lab, encouraging collaboration, experimentation with felting, and exploration across multiple surface design techniques. Her work has been published in international felting magazines, and she has received awards for her Erlenmeyer Imposter vessels and political topographies.

Sheila has curated several group shows that promote environmental awareness through fibre art, and she has participated in exhibitions spanning fibre and other art forms such as World of Threads and Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. She also co-curated a national touring fibre art show sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council. Her work is in many private collections and is available through Partial Gallery and in the Art Gallery of Guelph shop.

IG:@ Sheilathompson.art

Partial Gallery picks https://sheilathompsonfibreart.partial.gallery/

Gillian McIntyre:

Gillian McIntyre a B.A. Honors in Art and Art History (1994) from U of T and an M.A. in Museum Studies (1996) also from U of T. Her Master’s thesis explored the relationship between The Art Gallery of Ontario and so-called minority communities. In response to her findings, she initiated a youth volunteer program at the AGO in 1998 which continued until 2021.

In the past Mcintyre served as the Chair of Oakville Galleries Board, President of Community Arts Ontario and was the Executive Director of Oakville Arts Council from 1998-2001.

From 2001 to 2015 McIntyre was the Adult Program Coordinator at the AGO and from 2015 continued as an Interpretive Planner. She Worked on numerous exhibitions and installations including the rehang of the European galleries in 2009 and the initial iteration of the Frum Gallery of African Art in 2008.

The exhibitions she worked on include Picasso: Painting the Blue Period 2021, Andy Warhol, 2021, Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows, 2022, Faith and Fortune: Art Across the Global Spanish Empire 2022, and Cassatt McNicoll: Impressionists Between Worlds, 2023. McIntyre’s experiments with interpretive strategies included ways of engaging audiences using digital strategies such as augmented reality and virtual reality.

Other projects McIntyre worked on at the AGO include:

•  Serving as the Provincial Coordinator for Arts Access – a program designed to help provincial galleries in Thunder Bay, Kitchener and the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford to diversify and increase their audiences. (2004 – 2007)
• Initiating and coordinating In Your Face: the people’s portrait project (2006) – an exhibition of 17,000 portraits from members of the public reflecting the individuality and diversity of Canada.
• Designing and coordinating a three-year program funded by the Weston Family Foundation for people living with schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness. (2008-20011)
• Created The Juno Tour of Canadian Art with Alpha Yaya Diallo, Buck 65, Dan Hill, Gord Downie, Hawksley Workman and Tanya Tagak. (2011)
• Project-managing a virtual reality project on the ship model Bristol 1775: From Warship to Prison Hulk (2020-2023)

McIntyre retired from the AGO in January 2024 and became the Artistic Director of Joshua Farm Gallery later that year where she enjoys continuing to support the arts.

Ixchel Suarez:

Ixchel Suarez has been a textile and fibre artist for almost 40 years. Her practice explores material and concept, particularly in Tapestry, in non-conventional ways. Her integration of Abstract Expressionism with Tapestry has been Internationally recognized on numerous occasions. Her most recent recognition was the 2021 Award of Excellence, From Lausanne to Beijing, Fibre Art Biennale, and being the Selected Artist to open the DIVERSEartPB–Art Palm Beach 2026.​

Ixchel holds a Master’s Degree in Museum Studies (Iberoamericana University, Mexico City), a BA in Graphic Design & Art History (Anahuac University, MC), and Post-Graduate Studies in Contemporary Textiles in Łódź, Poland.  She is the Founder and Director of Textil Creativo, Oakville Arts Studio and the not-for-profit Canadian Tapestry and Texture Centre, whose mission is to practice the integration of tradition, culture, and self-expression, through textile and interdisciplinary creative arts in order to empower individuals and promote a stronger, healthier, creative community.

​She has collaborated and written in specialized publications for international Textile and Design magazines as well as online resources, and has been featured in many related publications. She is a Member of the Canadian Tapestry Network, American Tapestry Alliance, World Textile Art, Handweavers Guild of America, British Tapestry Group, as well as the former  President of the Oakville Handweavers and Spinners Guild.  Ixchel has been a recipient of Visual Arts Grants from the Canada Council for the Arts,  Ontario Arts Council, Oakville Arts Council, Trillium Foundation, among others.  She has presented many solo and group shows, and her work is shown in private and public collections in Europe, Central, and North America.

IG: @ixchelsuarez
website: https://www.ixchelsuarez.com/

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!
APPLY HERE