Neilson Park Creative Centre

Indigenous History Month Artist Spotlight: Chelsie Fruson ☀️⛰️

Chelsie Fruson is a Saskatoon born, self taught artist that has been creating since childhood. Her art draws inspiration by her connection to nature and familial lineage. Fruson chases time, spaces, memories and dreams and tries to capture their magic in her art. Chelsie currently offers digital prints, and commissions unique paintings for clients. Fruson enjoys working with clients to catch their sentimental moments, with a myriad of vibrant colours and movement.

Swipe through to:
🧑‍🎨 Meet the artist
🖼️ Featured Artwork: The Sky has Eyes

Join us in honouring Indigenous voices and celebrating the many ways art can reflect identity, history, and cultural connection.

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
📅 On display throughout June

Indigenous History Month Artist Spotlight: Manny Wood Lynes-Ford 🌲🏞️

Manny Wood Lynes-Ford is an indigenous photographer from Gitxaala, British Columbia based in Toronto. Lynes-Ford's practice is focused in analog photography with a range of mediums from cyanotypes to chromogenic prints. He holds a BFA from OCAD University in photography. Following themes of decolonization and the Indigenous experience, he draws inspiration from artists such as Fred Herzog and Carl Beam.

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🧑‍🎨 Meet the artist
🖼️ Featured Artwork: Drowned Mine

Join us in honouring Indigenous voices and celebrating the many ways art can reflect identity, history, and cultural connection.

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
📅 On display throughout June

🎨🌳 Take your creativity outside!

NPCC's annual En Plein Air Competition returns on Saturday, July 11 during Creative Festival 2026.

Whether you paint, draw, sculpt, stitch, weave, or work in mixed media, all styles and materials are welcome. Set up anywhere in Neilson Park or Markland Woods, soak up the festival atmosphere, and create alongside live music, local vendors, and fellow artists.

This year's competition will be juried by Helen Mc Cusker - Artist an artist and art instructor whose landscape-based practice spans more than 40 years and explores atmosphere, movement, and our emotional connection to place.

🏆 Cash prizes available for Youth and Adult categories
📅 Saturday, July 11 | 11:30 AM–4 PM
🎤 Awards presented at 4:30 PM
📝 Register by July 10 at 4 PM

Bring your materials, find your spot, and let the day inspire you!

Register here: https://neilsonparkcreativecentre.com/call-for-entry-2026-en-plein-air-competition/

☀️🎨 CREATIVE FESTIVAL 2026 IS HERE! 🎶🌿

Join us on Saturday, July 11 from 11:30 AM-5 PM for Neilson Park Creative Centre's biggest event of the year!

A free afternoon filled with art, music, food, creativity, and community.

✨ Enjoy live performances by co-headliners Lydia Persaud, Shanty Shanty Sweets & The Top Ranking Band, and students from The Music Studio

🛍️ Shop handmade goods from local artists and makers
🎨 Watch our annual Plein-Air Painting Competition
🖼️ Explore IMPACT 2026, NPCC's largest annual juried exhibition
🧒 Create together with free family art activities
🍔 Enjoy food and refreshments throughout the day

Whether you're coming for the music, the art, the shopping, or simply to spend a summer afternoon in the park, there's something for everyone.

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
56 Neilson Drive, Toronto
📅 Saturday, July 11 | 11:30 AM-5 PM
🎟️ Free admission • Free parking • All are welcome!

Planning to join us? RSVP on the events page!

Tag a friend you'd bring along! ☀️👇

Reconnect through art! 🖌️

Philippine Artists Group of Canada returns with more glorious art by its members, bringing in the sense to connect with culture, emotions, and ourselves in this wonderful show! 🎨

Meet the artists and socialize in the opening reception this Saturday, June 20th, from 2 pm to 4 pm! 🖼️

📍 Located at our Art Space Connect and Parkview Galleries
🎉 Opening reception on Saturday June 20, 2026
📅 On display until July 3rd, 2026
🎟️ Admission is free!
ℹ️ Link in bio or call 416-622-5294 for more information

Image 1: "Sinukwan I" by Sabrina De Leon
Image 2: "Ugnayan I" by Teddy Asuncion
Image 3: "Batangas Delight" by Frank Tonido
Image 4: "Walks of Life II" by Calixto Quiachon
Image 5: "Peggy's Cove Lighthouse" by Gene Lopos

Indigenous History Month Artist Spotlight: Jennifer Plourde 🍃💧

Jennifer Plourde is a multidisciplinary artist based in London, Ontario. She origins from Matachewan First Nation (Ojibwe) and is a descendant of French settlers. Her practice navigates beadwork, combined with collage, installation, sculpture, and digital media to explore the relationships between the body, ancestry and the natural world. Plourde taught herself beading in 2019 after inheriting her grandmother’s beading materials. Drawing from her knowledge of her work as a registered massage therapist, her practice focuses on anatomy and embodied experience, using anatomy and organic forms to examine intergenerational connection and relational knowledge.

Swipe through to:
🧑‍🎨 Meet the artist
🖼️ Featured Artwork: Creator's Gift is Relationship

Join us in honouring Indigenous voices and celebrating the many ways art can reflect identity, history, and cultural connection.

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
📅 On display throughout June

Indigenous History Month Artist Spotlight: Tessa Shank 🐇⭐

Tessa Shank is a multidisciplinary Anishinaabe artist, from Nipissing First Nation. Her artwork draws inspiration from Anishinaabe culture, intending to share traditional knowledge and teachings. Her artistic approach takes inspiration from ethnobotany and people's relationships to the water, land and sky; the things that connect all people. Shank's practices explore processes and mediums, focusing on vector illustration and 3D rendering. Shank intends to build connections and share the culture through narratives that will create a bridge of empathy, understanding and compassion. This sentiment is the spirit held by her artwork.

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🧑‍🎨 Meet the artist
🖼️ Featured Artwork: Dagwaagin Giizhig (Autumn Sky)

Join us in honouring Indigenous voices and celebrating the many ways art can reflect identity, history, and cultural connection.

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
📅 On display throughout June

🎉 Creative Festival is back!

Neilson Park Creative Centre's biggest event of the year returns on Saturday, July 11, 2026 for a full day of art, music, creativity, food, family activities, and community celebration.

We're currently looking for artists, makers, craftspeople, and small businesses to join our outdoor Art & Craft Vendor Market.

Hundreds of visitors attend Creative Festival each year to experience live performances, explore exhibitions, participate in hands-on activities, and discover unique handmade work from local vendors.

Interested in becoming a vendor?

📅 Application Deadline: Friday, June 12, 2026

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
56 Neilson Drive, Toronto

🔗 Apply now: https://neilsonparkcreativecentre.com/call-for-vendors-2026-creative-festival/

Indigenous History Month Artist Spotlight: Cody James Houle Houlefineart 🦅🍃

Meet Cody James Houle, an Anishinaabe/French Artist from Northern Ontario, Canada. Houle being a self-taught painter, didn't realize his enjoyment of the art form until he achieved multiple art pieces at age 31. Although Houle is drawn to abstract visuals, woodland paintings resonate most with Houle and his sense of his culture. Growing up, Houle experienced feelings of shame and guilt surrounding his Native identity - but now art allows him to express pride and strength in his identity as an Indigenous man. Houle believes it is important to share art to inspire hope and encourage anyone to create.

Swipe through to:
🧑‍🎨 Meet the artist
🖼️ Featured Artwork: Protection for the Red Dress

Join us in honouring Indigenous voices and celebrating the many ways art can reflect identity, history, and cultural connection.

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
📅 On display throughout June

🌈✨ Congratulations to all of the artists featured in NPCC Celebrates Pride 2026: Be Creative! ✨🌈

A huge thank you to our juror, Steve Rose Art, for his thoughtful selections and insightful comments, and congratulations to this year's award recipients:

🏆 First Place: Carmen Mahave - The Mouth Knows Before the Mind
🥈 Second Place: Ben Benedict - Dandy
🥉 Third Place: Timothy Birchard - Selfie

🌟 Honourable Mentions:
• Jai Sallay-Carrington - Only Short Kings
• Philippe Croteau - Target 1 (Gray Kisses Series)
• Dennis Montford - Embrace Life's Uncertainty
• Mac Coates - Piece by Piece

Swipe through to see the award-winning works and excerpts from the juror's remarks.

Thank you to all 80+ artists who shared their creativity, stories, and perspectives in this year's exhibition. Together, these works celebrate identity, community, self-expression, and the many experiences that make Pride such an important time for reflection and celebration.

🖼️ Missed the Awards Ceremony? The exhibition remains on view until June 11, 2026.

📍 Neilson Park Creative Centre
56 Neilson Drive, Etobicoke
🎟️ Free admission