One studio has helped four artists take flight.
Presented by the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, the 2025 Tett Artist Residency Showcase brings together more than 40 works by four emerging Kingston artists, each developed during a three-month residency in the centre’s second-floor studios. Running from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 in the Tett’s main gallery, the exhibition features work by Jabra Mitwasi, Erin Kennedy, Ro Grant, and Callia Silverton.
For Jung-Ah Kim, program curator and coordinator, the residency’s designed to remove barriers while embedding artists within a wider creative ecosystem. “They’re awarded the space for free for three months at a time,” Kim said in an interview with The Journal. “That’s basically the big benefit of the program, they’ve the space and the time to develop their work.”
The studios sit on the second floor of the building, where seven spaces are rented year-round and one is reserved specifically for the emerging artists. But Kim emphasized the residency extends beyond just accessing the physical space. “Not only do they need to develop their work, but they’re also required to engage with the community in a meaningful way,” she said. “They propose those ideas in the application, and that’s been a big part of the whole program.”
As soon as visitors enter the gallery, Callia Silverton’s acrylic paintings command attention. Her vibrant works line the opening wall, drawing viewers inward. Following the wall to its end, Ro Grant’s naturalistic paintings on cardboard emerge, offering textured, organic compositions that echo landscapes while resisting fixed form.
Grant’s practice combines mixed media, bright colours, and playful patterning, an approach Grant described as “like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope,” in a written statement to The Journal. Their work in the exhibition centres largely on circular canvases, a deliberate constraint used to create cohesion across the series.
“The circle’s a very interesting canvas; with no beginning and no end, it is easy to envision the world continuing beyond the canvas,” Grant said. “Circles are also an age-old human symbol of the divine across history and cultures, as well as being a shape seen everywhere in nature.”
Moving further through the gallery, Erin Kennedy’s “Robot Butterfly” installation unfolds as a sequence rather than a single static display. Softly moving robotic butterflies flutter their wings as they greet visitors, followed by photographs and video documentation showing the works interacting with outdoor environments across Kingston.
“Alongside my nature-inspired robots, my artwork’s new media art, encompassing robotics and electronics, which I use to address environmental challenges in creative ways,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy credits the residency with expanding her practice into new materials, including ceramics, which now form part of her robotic sculptures. Community engagement was also central to her residency, with Robot Butterfly pop-ups, workshops with the Boys and Girls Club South East, and an outdoor performance at Lake Ontario Park.
The exhibition concludes with Jabra Mitwasi’s acrylic and mixed media paintings, which bring together expressive brushwork and layered textures that bridge the gap between artist expression and Arabic calligraphy, reflective of Mitwasi’s Palestinian heritage.
Ultimately, the residency, and the exhibition that grows out of it, positions the Tett Centre as a crucial site of experimentation and community. By providing time, space, and public visibility, the program supports emerging artists at a critical stage. “We just want people to feel welcome here, and to see what’s possible when artists are given the space to really work,” Kim said.
Tags
Art, emerging artists, Tett Centre, Visual art
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