Are you new to Canada or interested in connecting with newcomers in your community?
Join us on Saturday, May 30 for a special edition of Art Hive, dedicated to supporting our community of newcomers in the GTA.
Led by newcomer artist and educator Alek Phan, you’ll create your own neurographic paintings and learn to visualize memories and non-linear experiences of time through art.
Drawing inspiration from Phan’s own Vietnamese heritage, this workshop invites you to reflect on how emotions and memories shape the way we perceive the world. Rather than viewing time as a straight line, the session approaches time as something woven and cyclical, a continuum where past, present, and future continually fold into one another. In many Vietnamese cultural perspectives, time is often understood as flowing like water: carrying stories, losses, healing, and renewal along its path. Memories are not fixed in the past; they move with us, resurfacing and reshaping how we see the present. What we feel internally becomes the lens through which we interpret the world around us.
This Art Hive session welcomes you to explore neurographic painting, a creative drawing method based on flowing lines that connect shapes, thoughts, and emotions. Transform spontaneous lines into organic forms and color fields, allowing the drawing to evolve through intuitive gestures.
Please note that while this special edition of Art Hive is open to all, it aims to support and celebrate newcomers in our Access to Art programme. Please arrive at 11 am, as the neurographic painting demonstration will begin at 11:15, followed by community artmaking. All materials are provided. Registration is required.
About Access to Art
Launched in 2025, Access to Art is a free mentorship program at MOCA Toronto for newcomer artists!
This 12-month mentorship programme is for artists new to Canada, offering an opportunity to connect with Toronto’s contemporary art scene.
As a participant, you’ll:
- Take part in workshops, events, and networking activities to grow your skills and meet fellow artists.
- Become a MOCA Artist Member, gaining benefits like free museum entry, invites to openings and artist talks, and local discounts.
- Receive a small fee to cover costs like travel, childcare, and other expenses for workshops and events.
Log in to your Canoo account and search “Access to Art” to apply.
About Art Hives
Art Hives provide free, community art-making spaces open to everyone, aiming to foster a welcoming environment for all—based on the research and practice of Dr. Janis Timm-Bottos, a professor at Concordia University. You don’t need to have any experience making art to join.
This session is specifically designed for newcomers to Canada and fosters a supportive and welcoming environment. This event is facilitated by artist Alek Phan, with assistance from practicum Art Therapy students from the Toronto Art Therapy Institute.
About the Artist
Alek Phan is a visual artist, and community-based art educator whose socially engaged practice bridges Southeast Asian heritage with contemporary Canadian contexts. Drawing from Southeast Asian traditions and regional narratives, Phan creates works that weave together past, present, and future through a contemplative, dreamlike visual language.
Phan has worked in journalism and digital media, leading creative initiatives across Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan. Since arriving in Canada, they’ve developed participatory art projects that transform public spaces into shared canvases, such as projection mapping at the Mississauga Central Library, installations for Flow (2025) and Pride Month (2025) with Arts Etobicoke and Evergreen Brick Works, and exhibiting at Toronto City Hall during Newcomers Day (2025).
Phan holds a BA in Cultures and Literature (Vietnam), a Certificate in Cultural Studies (Taiwan), and Postgraduate Certificates in Arts Education and Community Engagement, and Digital Performance (Canada). Their work has been exhibited accross Vietnam and Canada.
This work was made possible by ArtWorksTO (Newcomer Program), in partnership with Toronto Arts Foundation.
