For our summer programming, we are thankful to have the sound of crashing waves and family histories fill our gallery. These are some of the quintessential sounds of summer, no? Just add the ice cream truck's jingle and buzz of a lazy bumble bee and the soundscape is complete! 

Though, Michelle Wilson's exhibition obviously offers much more than the connotative background sounds of summer. It focuses on cutting critiques of colonial transplantation and family history! Come for the summer vibes, stay for the contemplation of social dynamics and inheritance.

Did you know that the pink lighting in the exhibition comes from grow lights? We have actual, living plants inside the gallery—very apropos of "Forest" City Gallery. We have milkweed, plantain, motherwort, strawberries and more. Can you identify them all?

In other exciting news, we are releasing an Artist Survey! Please take some time to tell us about your interests and how we can best serve you! The deadline for completing the survey is July 31, 2026. 

Read more about what we have been up to below!

Forest City Gallery is pleased to host Michelle Wilson for its current exhibition. In this exhibition, Michelle investigates an unexpected root of colonial rule: the green house. As a form of environmental control, the green house was a crucial tool for transporting plants and people around the globe. Collaborating with members of her family and sharing their history, Wilson merges personal anecdotes with critiques of the British empire, the trade of exotic flora, and the abduction of children—an incisive commentary on interconnectedness and power. 

All Skill Levels Welcome!

Are you an artist working with Live & Interactive Art Tools? Do you want to meet other creatives who are too? As part of the Media Collaboratory's Soft Skills Drop-in Sessions we are launching a new Drop-in for people working with software like TouchDesigner, Max/MSP, Resolume, Processing, and more.

Whether you’re into projection mapping, generative art, VJing, or immersive installations, this is your chance to experiment, share ideas, and jam alongside other creatives. Join us at Forest City Gallery for the Media Collaboratory's Live & Interactive Art Tools Drop-in session - a night of discussion, project sharing and networking. 

Bring your laptop, your art practice, or just your curiosity — all levels welcome.

If you have questions or a project you want to share contact us at: collaboratory@forestcitygallery.com

This workshop introduces participants to Direct Animation -a method of image making that involves scratching, painting, hole punching, collaging, and otherwise modifying either scrap, clear, or black 16mm celluloid film. This type of filmmaking yields flashy and vibrant results, and allows the artist to experience filmmaking in an analog medium without the use of expensive cameras or dangerous developing chemicals.

This workshop will begin with an introduction to the art form alongside a demonstration of a few techniques. Participants will create an experimental piece of animation where artists can choose whether to engage in precise drawing, swirl paint or scratch wildly, as examples of both kinds of techniques will be demonstrated. 

At the end of the workshop, the instructor will collect the finished films and splice them together to be scanned into a digital moving image and a collaborative film that can be screened at a separate event at Forest City Gallery. Finished animations will also be emailed to participants after the session to share with family and friends!

All materials will be provided. This workshop is open to all skill levels.

Facilitated by Mia Buono, an artist and filmmaker from Toronto, Ontario who focuses on the analog and alternative process medium. Her recent body of work includes direct animation on 16mm using both prerecorded and scrap film (Senses - 2023, Ghost - 2023) and works created without a camera, using the body in place of a lens (Exp. 20 Minutes - 2023). Her most ambitious work of this type to date is FTBP (2023), which she created by hole punching, dyeing, scratching, and collaging 16mm and was exhibited at Maximum Exposure 2024. Mia holds a BFA in Film Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University, and also enjoys photographing and assisting in the facilitation of arts workshops at the Neilson Park Creative Centre.

Stop motion is a form of frame-by-frame animation often associated with large, laborious studio productions, but it is also achievable on an independent scale with limited resources. This workshop will introduce participants to stop motion as an available means of creating experimental animations (and experimental film) with basic resources like a digital camera, computer, household lighting, and inexpensive materials.

The workshop will give an overview of foundational concepts for frame-by-frame animation. Participants will be shown a range of stop-motion animation examples, highlighting independent practices made with DIY setups that can be achieved at home. Following this introduction, the workshop time will be used as a hands-on work period where participants will learn technical and creative skills for realising their own stop motion animations.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a basic understanding of frame-by-frame practices, and will have created short (5-10 second) animations during the work period. Additional external resources on animation will be shared if participants would like to explore animation further outside of the workshop.

Facilitated by Adrienne Scott (she/her), an artist, animator, and educator based in Toronto, Ontario. She holds a BFA from the University of Ottawa (2016) and an MVS from the University of Toronto (2024), where she was a recipient of a SSHRC Master’s scholarship during her studies. She has shown work at Karsh-Masson Gallery, Idea Exchange, Gallery 44, Art Museum at the University of Toronto, and Pleasure Dome. Her writing has appeared in online publications including "off centre," and in 2024 she curated a screening of Vera Frenkel’s work, "The Last Screening Room: A Valentine," at Trinity Square Video. Most recently, her animated film "Finding another entrance, trying the same door" was screened at the Fluxus Experimental Film Festival and the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Queer Cinema for Palestine (QCP), “No Pride in Genocide 2026,” is a groundbreaking global film event featuring a stellar collectively curated short film program that will be presented at 300 screenings in nearly 60 countries around the world during June 2026 (Pride Month). The Embassy Cultural House (ECH), based in London, ON, will host a QCP screening event on June 27, 2026, at London Public Library’s Central branch. ECH’s event will include brief talks by guest speakers:  Leila Almawy, Zeinah Kalati & August Klintberg and the screening of the 60-minute film program.

This year’s program focuses on the work of queer, Palestinian, and allied artists, in historic Palestine, across the diaspora, and beyond. The program features a diverse mix of identities, lengths, styles, and genres (doc-hybrid, experimental, fiction, and animation) to highlight the key role of art in resistance and the struggle for liberation.

Queer Cinema for Palestine began as a film festival in 2021, offering a hybrid ten-day program in thirteen cities around the world, celebrating Palestinian voices and queer solidarity with Palestinians and their liberation struggle. This is QCP’s fourth edition, and Embassy Cultural House has programmed with QCP since the inaugural program in 2021.

QCP is co-organized by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) together with hundreds of partner groups worldwide. For more information, please visit QCP's website.

The QCP 2026 program consists of:

This Embassy Cultural House event is coordinated by Ira Kazi. Special thanks to John Greyson, Incé Husain, Antler River Media Coop, People for Peace, and Independent Jewish Voices Canada 

Ben Benedict: Variations in Landscape

Homer Watson House & Gallery

May 29 – July 12, 2026

Natasha Beaudoin: Refracted Realities

McIntosh Gallery

June 4 – July 3, 2026

Opening Reception: June 4, 5:00 - 7:00pm

Eric Allan Cameron: Distant Sun 

McIntosh Gallery

June 4 – July 3, 2026

Opening Reception: June 4, 5:00 - 7:00pm

Abel Gingerich & Mike Sloane: dear able / love mike

TAP Centre for Creativity

June 9 – July 4, 2026

Jennifer Hamilton: Lamenting Through Objects

Western Visual Arts Center: Artlab Gallery

June 11 - 25, 2026

Opening Reception: June 11, 5:00 - 7:00pm

Good Sport Gallery & Studio has 1 Resident Artist Studio space available at 402.5 Richmond St.

Deadline: June 24

DARC Indigenous Residency Program

Digital Arts Resource Centre, Ottawa

Deadline: June 30