5 Ways to Show Your Work at the DesignTO Festival 2027
Multiple opportunities to participate: apply as a guest designer with exhibition/installation, apply as an artist for a residency program, submit a talk proposal about design and civic belonging, submit work exploring climate change for a curated exhibition, or produce an independent project.
Does this fit your work? 5 questions score every call to your medium, location and budget. Free.
Get matched →- Deadline
- 25 days left
- Entry fee
- Free
- Award
- $1,250
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario
- Exhibition window
- Jan 22, 2027 → Jan 31, 2027
About
Overview
The 17th annual DesignTO Festival celebrates design's role in creating a sustainable, just, and joyful world across Toronto. Since 2011, the festival has welcomed over 1 million visitors, showcased work from over 7,500 artists and designers, and reached 2.7 billion people through print and digital media. Five distinct participation paths are available for the 2027 Festival (January 22–31, 2027).
5 Ways to Participate
- Apply to the Call for Guest Designers (Deadline: Sept 14, 2026) – Present an exhibition, event, or window installation and receive a free Toronto venue from a curated selection if matched. Matchmaking on rolling basis.
- Apply to the Artist Sojourn Program (Deadline: Sept 25, 2026) – Canadian artists develop site-specific work during a complimentary weekend stay at Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer. Two artists selected. Materials allowance up to $1,250. Exhibition runs Jan 22 – Mar 1, 2027.
- Submit to DesignTO Talks 'Be Our Guest' (Deadline: Sept 25, 2026) – Share ideas about belonging, placemaking, and how we experience our homes, neighbourhoods, and cities. Organized with Allies and Morrison.
- Submit to the Thematic Exhibition 'Between Flood and Forgetting' (Deadline: Sept 25, 2026) – Explore lived experience of climate change through adaptation, response, or ecological grief. All mediums welcome. Exhibition runs Jan 22 – Apr 18, 2027 (dates TBC). Co-presented with Textile Museum of Canada.
- Produce Your Own Independent Project (Deadline: Oct 9, 2026) – Develop and execute your own exhibition, event, or installation at a venue of your choice, in person in Toronto or online. You arrange your own venue. Receive festival listing, mobile app inclusion, signage, and e-newsletter features.
Thematic Exhibition Details
'Between Flood and Forgetting' unfolds through two perspectives: 'The Flood' examines how people and communities respond to a changing world, and 'Slow Burn' explores ecological grief. Submissions of existing work or realized projects are preferred, although new and speculative work will also be considered.
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +1 (647) 577-7899
- Address: PO Box 31027 College Square, Toronto, Ontario M6G 4A7
- Website: designto.org
- Follow: Newsletter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
- Award
- Artist Sojourn Program: complimentary weekend stay with meals, artist and installation fees, materials allowance up to $1,250, and exhibition at Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer (Jan 22 – Mar 1, 2027)
- Entry fee
- Free to enter
- Theme
- The Thematic Exhibition 'Between Flood and Forgetting' explores the lived experience of climate change through adaptation, response, ecological grief, transformation, disappearance, and loss. DesignTO Talks 'Be Our Guest' centers on radical welcoming and how we experience homes, neighbourhoods, and cities.
- Eligibility
- Open to artists and designers; Artist Sojourn Program requires Canadian residency; DesignTO Talks and Thematic Exhibition open to designers, architects, artists, researchers, planners, educators, and creative thinkers.
- Audience
- Artists, designers, architects, researchers, planners, educators, creative thinkers, students, design firms, local businesses, academic and cultural institutions
- Contact
- [email protected]
Every listing links to the organizer's official page. Always confirm deadlines, fees, and entry rules there before you apply.