Toronto Arts is proud to launch its 2026 awards season with the announcement of this year’s finalists for the Toronto Arts Awards, alongside the recipients of the Newcomer Artist Award.

Together, these awards celebrate the artists and organizations whose work shapes Toronto’s cultural landscape.

Supporting New Voices

The Newcomer Artist Award recognizes immigrant and refugee artists who are building their creative careers in Canada. Each recipient is awarded $2,500 to support their artistic practice and help foster meaningful connections within Toronto’s arts sector.

This year’s recipients are:

Jingshu Yao is a writer and community artist born and raised in Nanjing, China, and now based in Toronto. Jingshu’s writings focus on intersectional identities, and common themes include food, immigration, language, and queerness. Her ongoing research creation series “Leftover Ingredients” investigates the role of recipes in passing down community heritage.

Jim Libiran is an internationally awarded filmmaker and writer whose practice fuses cinema and social realism. His debut feature Tribu (Tribe) cast real gang members from Manila’s urban slums; Happyland follows football-playing youth rising from poverty. He was longlisted for the 2025 CBC Nonfiction Prize.

Sepideh Behrouzian (b. 1985, Iran) is an artist and researcher based in Canada. Her work examines extractivist culture, petro-modernity, and linear progress through moving image and installation. She is currently a fellow of the Mensch–Maschine Programme at E-WERK Luckenwalde.

Cécé Haba is a Guinean percussionist specializing in djembe and dundun. A member of Lua Shayenne Dance Company, he tours with Yassama and the Beaded Calabash and performs widely across Canada. His credits include major festivals, theatre productions, television appearances, and collaborations with leading Toronto artists.

Trâm Anh Nguyễn (he/him) is a Vietnamese interdisciplinary artist working in film and photography. Against a backdrop of quiet poetry and sensitivity, his practice moves between documentation and storytelling, exploring memory, identity, and connection. His work examines intersections of queerness, politics, and Vietnamese heritage, considering how landscapes and bodies carry history across generations and geographies.

Hong Yu Casey Chan is a Deaf photographer and visual artist from Hong Kong, based in Canada. He travels to photograph traditions and share them with audiences, advocating for accessible Deaf arts spaces. His works have been exhibited in Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada, including exhibitions at CONTACT Photography Festival.

Thanks to our Sponsor Bell, the award is part of Toronto Arts Foundation’s broader effort to ensure newcomer artists can thrive and contribute to the cultural fabric of the Greater Toronto Area.

Newcomers often face barriers including limited access to professional networks, challenges with credential recognition, and experiences of isolation. The Newcomer Artist Award helps bridge these gaps by amplifying artists’ work and supporting their continued success.

Meet the 2026 Finalists

Each Toronto Arts Award highlights a unique aspect of artistic excellence and community impact. Winners will be announced at the Mayor’s Arts Lunch on April 28.

Celebration of Cultural Life Award, Finalists
Recognizes individuals whose work has significantly enriched Toronto’s cultural life through leadership, innovation, and community engagement. Supported by Victor and Maureen Dodig.

Christine Moynihan has spent the past 50 years working in the live performing arts as actor, producer, technician, administrator and executive director. From 1976-1988, she performed as an actor in theatres across Canada. She was the Artistic Producer of Equity Showcase Theatre from 1988-2002 and the Executive Director of the Dance Umbrella of Ontario from 2002-2012. She has received both the Brenda Donoghue Award (1994, presented as part of the Dora Awards that year) and The Harold Award (2000) this one presented by the “Indie” theatre and dance community – both awards honoured her for her Outstanding Service to the theatre and dance communities. In 2019 she returned to performing with her one-woman clown show, Outside Ethel: Inside, then presented the sequel Inside Ethel: Outside at the 2022 Toronto Fringe. Both shows toured to Montreal.

Dr. d’bi.young anitafrika is an internationally celebrated dub poet, biomythicist, theatre-maker, and decolonial pedagogue whose work spans performance, scholarship, and arts leadership across four continents. Laureate of the 2025 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, they have shaped contemporary theatre and performance training globally through their pioneering methodology, the Anitafrika Dub Praxis.

Mi-Young Kim is the Founder and Director of the KDSSC, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to promoting Traditional Korean Dance. For over 45 years, she has choreographed acclaimed performances, established international collaborations, led the SooRyu Dance Festival and earned recognition as a leading figure in Korean performing arts in Canada.

Arts for Youth Award, Finalists
Honours organizations and collectives that empower young people through meaningful arts programming and mentorship. Sponsored by Martha Burns and National Bank Financial.

House of Sole is a group of artists based in Toronto, Canada, that explore the vernacular forms of House dance and culture, while honouring the historical roots and bodies that created it. They are dedicated to keeping House alive by creating vibrant creative platforms and inclusive spaces that foster connection and inspire curiosity in House music, dance, and culture.

Multicultural Pride in Scarborough (MPIS) is a grassroots organization offering accessible, low-barrier resources, supports, programs, and services to 2SQTBIPOC youth 15-29 with disabilities and/or mental health conditions who live low-income. Their mission is to amplify these voices and build stronger community connections through the arts.

TIFF Next Wave is a year-round initiative dedicated to engaging and empowering youth under 25 through film and creative exploration. Established in 2010, it provides young people with free and affordable access to screenings, workshops, mentorship, and hands-on industry experiences. Next Wave removes financial and social barriers to participation in the arts, amplifies youth voices, and supports the next generation of filmmakers and cultural leaders. By centering youth curation and leadership, it ensures young people are not only audiences, but active creators and decision-makers within Canada’s screen industry.

Che Kothari Artist & Instigator Award, Finalists
Supports and encourages a young BIPOC artist who is recognized for their artistic contributions and is making positive change through cultural leadership.
Supported by Che Kothari.

Chason Yeboah-Brown is a Ghanaian-Trinidadian, Toronto based self-taught textile sculptor, full circle doula, community worker and workshop facilitator. Working primarily with crochet, her work challenges conventional distinctions between craft and fine art, using fiber as both material and metaphor to explore themes of ancestry, diaspora, human connection, hybridity, and more.

Pixel Heller is a multidisciplinary artist and international performer. Her work explores Afro-Caribbean identity through performance and visual art. As the founder of Northern Jumbies, she brings the spirit of Moko Jumbie to life through stilt-dancing workshops, performances, and community engagement rooted in Caribbean tradition.

Quentin VerCetty is an artivist, self-described interstellar tree, and founder of AstroSankofa Arts Initiatives. Working at the intersection of art education, Afrofuturism, and public art, he creates community-centred works that imagine liberated futures—using art as a catalyst to challenge systems, spark dialogue, and mobilize collective action while expanding opportunity for emerging artists.

Breakthrough Artist Award, Finalists
Recognizes emerging artists making a significant impact with bold, innovative work early in their careers. Supported by Toronto Arts Foundation’s general donations.

Elham Fatapour is a Tehran-born, Toronto-based visual artist. She holds an MFA from York University, and her research-driven practice investigates memory, communication, and displacement. Her series Homemade Satellite Dishes, exploring censorship and surveillance within public and private space, received the 2022 Surveillance Studies Network Biennial Art Prize.

Johnathan Morin is a Nehiyaw tap dancer from Treaty 6 Edmonton, now based in Toronto. A Dora Award nominee, he co-directs Rhythm and Sound Dance Company alongside Cori Giannotta. Recognized internationally as a performer and educator, he has appeared at major festivals across North America and Europe. His documentary Restorative Culture by Tap Love Tour has screened internationally, reflecting his commitment to cultural reclamation, artistic excellence, and using tap dance as a powerful tool for connection and storytelling.

Vladimir Kanic is a transmedia artist creating living algae sculptures that transform spectators’ breath and carbon emissions into oxygen, confronting climate crisis impacts. Informed by maritime heritage and ocean freediving experience, he treats breath as method and material, envisioning symbiotic futures through interspecies collaboration, ecological care, and embodied environmental awareness.

Community Arts Award, Finalists
Honours artists and organizers who use art to engage communities, foster inclusion, and drive social change. Sponsored by MOD Developments.

Chloe Sanchez (Shiloh Justice) is a Toronto-based artist, writer, and community leader whose work transforms lived experience into creative empowerment. As a former crown ward, Chloe intimately understands the systemic challenges faced by marginalized youth—and she has dedicated her life to ensuring that those voices are seen, heard, and celebrated.

Jennifer D. Fabico-Smith is the Founder of Next Generation Arts, a youth-focused arts gallery and hub in Scarborough. For nearly two decades, she has developed accessible arts programming, employment pathways, and public art initiatives that support emerging artists and strengthen community connection.

Beny Esguerra is a two-time JUNO-nominated artist, composer, and educator known for blending Afro-Indigenous Colombian traditions with contemporary urban music. As leader of New Tradition Music and director of Wheel it Studios, he champions community-engaged arts in Toronto, mentoring emerging artists while creating nationally recognized, socially conscious work.

Muriel Sherrin Award, Finalists
Celebrates artists who have made an outstanding contribution to the city’s performing arts landscape. The Muriel Sherrin Award is funded through an endowment created with surplus funds from the 1984 Toronto International Festival of Music and Dance. In 1996, the management of the fund was turned over to Toronto Arts Foundation and the award was renamed in memory of Muriel Sherrin, the producer of the festival. 

Alexis Baró is a Cuban-born trumpet virtuoso, composer, and arranger whose work bridges tradition and innovation with deep emotional resonance. Based in Toronto since 2001, he has built a prolific career that includes 8 Solo Albums thus far and over 200 Recordings and collaborations with jazz and Afro-Cuban music legends. He has performed and recorded with luminaries such as Paquito D’Rivera, Michael Bublé, and Andrea Bocelli, among others. As a cultural ambassador Baro gives masterclasses, workshops, and performances that celebrate Cuban musical heritage while building new bridges across jazz communities in North America, the Caribbean, and beyond.

Alice Ping Yee Ho (何水頤) is a Chinese Canadian composer whose work spans opera, orchestral, chamber, choral, and electroacoustic music. Blending Chinese heritage with contemporary Western techniques, she received a Dora Award for Outstanding New Opera and the Jules Léger Prize, and is a three-time JUNO Award nominee. She lives and works in Toronto.

Densil McFarlane Jr. is a Toronto-based vocalist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of The OBGMs. A JUNO nominee and two-time Polaris Prize shortlist artist, he also leads Burn Industry, providing mentorship and practical resources that help BIPOC artists navigate the music industry.

Breakthrough Jazz Artist Award, Finalists
Recognizes emerging jazz artists who demonstrate exceptional talent and innovation in their field. Supported by Michael Bourgeois & Marilyn Legge.

Agneya is an Indo-Canadian percussionist & composer exploring rhythm as a meeting place between cultures. Based in Toronto and raised in India, he blends South Asian rhythmic cycles, West African grooves, and jazz improvisation. His eponymous debut album AGNEYA (2026) introduces an immersive, rhythm-driven sound shaped by his global journey.

Jon Catanus is a drummer whose musical philosophy is rooted in “diskarte,” which loosely translates to having “hustle,” and a unique style of overcoming obstacles. Outside his own band “Diskarte,” Jon carries his “diskarte” with him, collaborating with creative forces in Toronto such as Jennarie, Orbital Ensemble, & Next Perfect Day.

Julian Anderson-Bowes is an acoustic and electric bassist, improviser and composer hailing from Toronto. He performs with a wide range of artists from the jazz, folk, and pop world, and regularly composes and presents his original music with a shifting cast of Toronto’s finest musicians.

Looking Ahead

The Toronto Arts Awards season continues with two key events:

• The Awards Season Kick-Off Party on April 14, 2026, where the Newcomer Artist Award recipients will be celebrated.
• The Mayor’s Arts Lunch on April 28, 2026, hosted by Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, bringing together artists, cultural leaders, and city builders to honour Toronto Arts Award recipients and finalists.

Full details about the awards program are available here.