TORONTO – Six artists from across Canada have been selected for the eighth year of the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program.

Run by the Ontario Heritage Trust and supported by the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artists Project, the program provides professional artists, working across a variety of media, a tranquil space to retreat, revitalize and create at the former home and studio of Canadian artist Doris McCarthy.

The six artists selected to participate in the 2022 program are:

• Tong (Raine) Shen, painter and illustrator (Vancouver, B.C.)
• Rebecca Roher, cartoonist (Toronto, Ont.)
• Luce Dumont, visual artist (Saint-Fabien, Que.)
• Lamis Haggag, multimedia and visual artist (Toronto, Ont.)
• Ryan McKenna, filmmaker (Montréal, Que.)
• Em Dial, poet (Toronto, Ont.)

Doris McCarthy (1910-2010) was one of Canada’s most recognized landscape painters of the second half of the 20th century. In 1998, McCarthy donated her Scarborough Bluffs property – known as Fool’s Paradise – to the Ontario Heritage Trust. Her vision was for other artists to have the opportunity to live and work at the site that inspired her own artistic expression.

Today, McCarthy’s home is a living and working incubator for artists. Surrounded by two hectares (five acres) of magnificent natural space with a view overlooking Lake Ontario, the site is perfect for creators looking for privacy and time away to concentrate on their work. As part of the program, participating artists also provide a mentorship opportunity to support the development of an emerging artist or artists.

“The Trust is proud to continue the historic creative legacy of Doris McCarthy at Fool’s Paradise. Through the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program, this unique heritage site continues to inspire new generations of artists each year,” said John Ecker, Chair of the Ontario Heritage Trust. “We are thrilled to welcome this year’s talented group, who will have the opportunity to experience the setting McCarthy loved so dearly and to honour her legacy.”

The Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence program is generously supported by the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artists Project. Through the RBC Emerging Artist Project, RBC supports artists transition from "emerging" to "established" across genres, including visual arts, film and music. The RBC Emerging Artist Program reflects RBC’s long-standing investment in the arts and recognition of the role they play in creating vibrant communities and strong economies.

Since the program began in 2014, 47 artists have completed residencies. Applications for 2023 residencies will open this spring, with an application deadline of September 30, 2022.

Learn more:

• Read the biographies of the six artists in residence for 2022
• Learn more about Fool’s Paradise and Doris McCarthy
• Find out how to apply to the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program

Contact:

Patricia Njovu, Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist, Ontario Heritage Trust. Patricia.Njovu@heritagetrust.on.ca, 437-248-1439.

About the Ontario Heritage Trust

The Ontario Heritage Trust (the Trust) is an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. The Trust conserves, interprets and shares Ontario’s heritage. The Trust conserves provincially significant cultural and natural, tangible and intangible heritage, interprets Ontario’s history, celebrate its diversity and educates Ontarians of its importance in our society. The Trust envisions an Ontario where we conserve, value and share the places and landscapes, histories, traditions and stories that embody our heritage, now and for future generations.

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