Tom Thomson

The Tom Thomson Art Gallery is thrilled to announce the return of Convergence, its juried exhibition dedicated to contemporary artwork with a renewed focus on environmental themes. These may include ecology, climate change, sustainability, natural landscapes, and our evolving relationship with the planet. Running from October 18, 2025, to January 17, 2026, this dynamic exhibition will showcase the work of both emerging and established artists from across Ontario.

Presented every two years, Convergence offers artists the opportunity to exhibit in a professional gallery setting and connect with diverse audiences. Celebrating artistic innovation and excellence, the exhibition will embrace a wide range of mediums and practices that reflect the depth and vitality of environmentally engaged contemporary art in the province. All submitted artwork must relate to the environment in some capacity, underscoring the Gallery’s commitment to fostering creative dialogue around one of the most urgent issues of our time.

Submission deadline is August 27, 2025 at 5pm

Eligibility

• Open to all artists residing in Ontario (18 years of age and older)
• Artists may submit up to two works
• Submissions can include painting, drawing, mixed media, textile, sculpture, photography, new media, and video
• All submitted works must have been created within the past two years

Terms of Entry

• Application Deadline: August 27, 2025 
• Application Fee: $40.00 per artwork (non-refundable)
• All submissions will be juried by a panel of external professionals
• Artists are responsible for the transportation of accepted artworks to and from the Gallery
• The Gallery assumes insurance responsibility only while works are onsite
• All works must be delivered ready to install 
• Works selected for the exhibition must remain on view for the full duration of the show
• By submitting, artists agree to allow the Gallery to use images of selected works for promotional and archival purposes
• The Gallery reserves the right to decline any artwork that does not meet the exhibition standards or eligibility criteria
• The jury’s decision is final. Only work that has been accepted by the jurors will be included in the exhibition

Honorarium

Each artist selected for the exhibition will receive an honorarium of $100 per artwork.

Prize Categories

Three $1,000 cash awards:

• People’s Choice – Presented by Algonquin Outfitters
• Jury’s Choice – Presented by Algonquin Outfitters
• TOM Curator’s Choice – Presented by Algonquin Outfitters

Sales and Consignment

Artists will have the option to offer their exhibited work for sale. If the artwork is sold:

• The Gallery will retain a 40% commission on the sale price 
• Artists must indicate retail value and sale preference at the time of submission
• All sales will be handled by the Gallery
• Sold works must remain in the exhibition until its official closing date

The Jurors

Kristine Moran, Artist - Kristine Moran is a Canadian artist whose work explores emotional and psychological landscapes through abstraction, drawing, and large-scale painting. Her practice is rooted in a long-standing interest in spaces that carry utopian ideals—gardens, experimental communities, and wild places that suggest a better way of living, however imperfect. Her recent series, Drawing While Walking, begins with fast, intuitive sketches made while moving through these kinds of spaces. These drawings later evolve into paintings that are layered, ambiguous, and open-ended—part memory, part imagination.

Originally from Montreal, Kristine has lived and worked in New York, Toronto, France, and across the U.S., with each place bringing a different kind of influence. Now based in Owen Sound, she’s found new inspiration in the local landscape, particularly the terrain around Georgian Bay, which has quietly become central to her ongoing work. Her paintings often reflect a longing for connection, care, and transformation, blurring abstraction and representation in ways that remain open to emotional interpretation.

Kristine’s work has been exhibited widely across North America and Europe, including recent exhibitions at Daniel Faria Gallery (Not as it was but as it might be, 2025) and Art Windsor-Essex (Sports Sports Sports, 2025). Her work is held in the collections of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Glenbow Museum, University of Toronto Doris McCarthy Gallery, and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, among many other corporate and private collections.

Jennifer Norman, Executive Director at the Durham Art Gallery - Jennifer Norman is a cross-disciplinary artist, educator, and arts administrator from Northern Ontario. She is currently the Executive Director of the Durham Art Gallery in West Grey, ON and she is a member of the Faculty of Art at OCAD University, where she teaches a range of painting and drawing courses. She has also taught at Sheridan College and Centennial College in recent years.

Jennifer received her BFA from OCAD University, her MFA from the University of Ottawa and has been awarded multiple artist grants in support of her creative work. Her studio practice combines ecology and art theory through a site-responsive, experimental approach to traditional drawing methodologies. She has participated in a number of national and international artist residencies, including the Banff Centre for the Arts and MASS MoCA.

Norman has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally, from Seoul, Korea, to Dawson City, Yukon. Her work is included in several private and public collections, including the National Art Bank of Canada, the University of Ottawa, and the City of Ottawa.

Martin Pearce, Associate Professor, Studio Art at the University of Guelph - Martin Pearce has been making paintings and drawings for 35 years and has exhibited widely over that time. He teaches Painting and Drawing at the University of Guelph and has been a regular reviewer for Border Crossings magazine since 2008.

Important Dates

Submission deadline: August 27, 2025 at 5pm
Artists notified: the week of September 15, 2025
Artwork drop-off: October 6–10, 2025
Installation period: October 14–17, 2025
Exhibition dates: October 18, 2025 – January 17, 2026
Opening Reception: October 18, 2025 2 – 4pm 
Artwork pick-up: January 19–23, 2026

Submission and Payment Instructions

Once your application form has been reviewed, a Gallery representative will contact you within 5 business days via email with payment instructions. All applications must be submitted online via the link below.