Toronto, ON, October 28, 2026—The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) is thrilled to announce Claire Shea as curator of the third edition of Greater Toronto Art (GTA), opening in November of next year and running through April 2028. Launched in 2021, GTA is a triennial exhibition highlighting artists based in the city or who have strong ties to the Greater Toronto Area. The only recurring institutional exhibition dedicated to emphasizing and supporting artists from the region, GTA platforms the breadth of contemporary art emerging from the Greater Toronto Area to audiences locally and internationally.
Shea brings nearly two decades of Canadian and international curatorial experience, as well as a deep understanding of how artistic practices are informed by place, community knowledge, and cultural context. Based in Toronto, her experience working in Asia, Europe, and North America, including Hong Kong, the Azores, and Fogo Island, coupled with her relationship to our city, gives her an exciting and distinct curatorial perspective.
The inaugural GTA21 featured all new commissioned work by 21 artists and collectives, including Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Julia Dault, Azza El Siddique, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Tony Romano, Native Art Department International (Maria Hupfield and Jason Lujan), and Oluseye. Its second edition, GTA24, brought together 25 intergenerational artists, duos and collectives with a mix of newly commissioned and historical works, including Lotus L. Kang, June Clark, Jes Fan, Sin Wai Kin, Timothy Yannick Hunter, and Tim Whiten.
Both editions gave artists and other creatives the freedom to experiment, take risks, and push their practices in new directions. Many of these artistic explorations led to partnerships that strengthened the development and presentation of new works with the City of Toronto, the National Film Board of Canada, Toronto Metropolitan University, The Vega Foundation, and Varley Art Gallery of Markham, among others. Across both editions, these artist-led and collaborative projects offered audiences fresh perspectives on the world as it was unfolding and imaginative visions of what lay ahead.
Building on these first two editions, GTA27, led by Shea, will foreground the artists and ideas defining contemporary art in the Greater Toronto Area today, bringing their work into a broader local and international conversation. Shea’s edition of the triennial will also be complemented by a locally designed and printed publication that offers deeper insight into the participating artists’ practices and the sensibilities and concerns they share or hold in contrast.
We look forward to announcing the triennial’s curatorial concept, participating artists, and collaborators in the new year.
About Claire Shea
Claire Shea is a curator based in Toronto. She is the Director of Ravines, a new itinerant organization emerging from Toronto’s ecological and cultural landscapes, as well as Artistic Director of Fjellstad, a residency programme in northern Norway. She was part of the curatorial team for the inaugural Walk&Talk Biennial in the Azores (2025). Previously, she was Director of Fogo Island Arts (2022–24), Deputy Director of Para Site, Hong Kong (2017–21), Curatorial Director of Cass Sculpture Foundation, England (2008–16) and Associate Curator of the 8th Shenzhen Sculpture Biennial (2014).
Her curatorial projects include CosmicWander: Expedition, a solo exhibition by Choy Ka Fai (Ravines, Toronto, 2026); Gestures of Abundance (cocurated with with Fatima Bintou Rassoul Sy, Liliana Coutinho, and Jesse James, Walk&Talk Biennial, São Miguel, 2025); Meltwater (Fogo Island Arts, Fogo Island, 2023); An Opera for Animals (cocurated with Cosmin Costinas, Para Site, Hong Kong, toured to Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, 2019); A Beautiful Disorder (cocurated with Wenny Teo and Liao Wei, Cass Sculpture Foundation, Goodwood, 2016); and We have never participated (cocurated with Marko Daniel, Wenny Teo and Lu Peiyi, OCAT, Shenzhen, 2014). She has edited and contributed writing to numerous exhibition catalogues and publications, most recently about the work of Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka for In Minor Keys: 61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Koyo Kouoh (2026), and as managing editor of What to Let Go? (edited by Cosmin Costinas and Inti Guerrero, Para Site/Sternberg Press, 2024). She is the recipient of the 2025 Joan Yvonne Lowndes Award from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Photo: Sarah Bodri.
About MOCA Toronto
The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) is a non-profit, independent museum dedicated to fostering access to the arts in an inclusive cultural hub. The museum presents rotating exhibitions that prioritize twenty-first-century artistic production, primarily through commissioning of new work. Artists, partnerships, experimentation, and reciprocal initiatives are at the centre of MOCA’s mission as a locally rooted and internationally connected organization. Focused on core values promoting equity, inclusion and access, MOCA fosters active participation and engagement to serve as a welcoming gathering place in the hyper-diverse city of Toronto. MOCA offers unparalleled access to contemporary art, making it the ultimate art destination in the GTA. For more information on MOCA Toronto visit moca.ca.
Visionary Support for MOCA in 2026 is generously provided by Gilles and Julia Ouellette, The Price Family, and The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation, with Visionary Corporate Support contributed by Castlepoint Numa.
MOCA is grateful for ongoing operating and project support from the City of Toronto, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Arts Council, The Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as generous contributions from public-sector funders, private donors, MOCA Members, sponsors and a network of cross-sectoral partners.
Media Contact
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