East End Arts and The Danforth BIA invite artists to submit an application for the 2025 IN VIEW Series as part of Nuit Blanche East Danforth! Scroll down to learn more.
Deadline: Friday May 16th, 2025 by 11:59PM EST
Toronto’s free all-night contemporary art event, Nuit Blanche Toronto, returns from 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 4, 2025 until 7am on Sunday, October 5, 2025. For our fourth edition, East End Arts is partnering with the Danforth Mosaic BIA and Native Women in the Arts to welcome thousands of visitors to see Danforth Avenue transformed between Greenwood and Coxwell TTC Stations!
The overarching City wide theme of Translating the City speaks to our desire to centre the hidden voices and stories of east Danforth. Our 2025 hub will feature unique and impactful artworks that spotlight different cultures, religions, ideas, and stories, while also incorporating different languages and sensory experiences not yet explored or platformed. East Danforth is home to a plethora of exciting cultures like Italian, Greek, Irish, Moroccan, Chinese, Afghani, Caribbean, Pakistani and Ethiopian! We want to spotlight the multilingual nuances that make this part of the City so vibrant and exciting!
This fall, we invite you and your families to join us for Nuit Blanche East Danforth 2025 (#NBED25), which will feature an impressive storefront gallery series sharing unique stories of culture, language, identity, and place; a silent disco/powwow that centre’s Indigenous music and voices; a Geometric City activation that celebrates local muslim identities; live music performances, a late-night marketplace, and so much more!
Please scroll down to learn more about this IN VIEW Artist Call and how you can help us transform storefront locations within the Hub area into a series of temporary artistic experiences and gallery installations! We’re also looking for business partners and volunteers to join us too!
What is IN VIEW?
IN VIEW is a series of storefront gallery installations which pairs local business owners with artists from across the city to transform their storefront windows for one magical evening under our hub theme “Danforth Translated”. We invite artists to reflect on their unique stories of culture, language, identity, and place, and to present applications that help us centre the hidden voices and stories of East Danforth.
All artists who are interested in applying to IN VIEW are encouraged to keep sustainability at the forefront of their designs, and use and draw inspiration from recyclable materials, household items, and wares that are relevant to and/or unique to the respective local business to transform their storefronts. We have been thinking a lot about the time, materials, and investment that goes into temporary public art installations and what happens to them afterwards. We encourage artists to consider the lifecycle of your installation for IN VIEW.
When is Nuit Blanche?
Nuit Blanche takes place from 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 4, 2025 to 7 a.m. on Sunday, October 5, 2025. Artist load in time will be negotiated with the prospective host business owner upon selection and matching. Artists should aim not to disturb regular business hours; however, art installation and creation that is open to the community is a great way to build curiosity and excitement for the event. Should your idea include an interactive component for audiences, artists should plan to be onsite or have representatives there throughout the duration.
Other Ways to Engage
- BUSINESS PARTNERS!If you are a business owner and member of the Danforth Mosaic BIA, you can volunteer your shop window to be a part of IN VIEW Storefront Installations! We’re looking for approximately 15 businesses who will be paired with an artist to explore the themes around Danforth Translated. If your window isn’t appropriate for an installation and you would still like to participate, we invite you to consider extending your business hours to give festival goers the sustenance they need to keep going late into the night, or to join our Late Night Marketplace. We’ll help promote your business on our hub map!If you are interested in becoming involved as a business in the Nuit Blanche East Danforth Hub, email Mahmoud, our Program Manager at mahmoud@eastendarts.ca
- VOLUNTEERS!We’re so excited that Nuit Blanche Toronto will be coming to East Danforth for its fourth time! It will take a village of passionate community members to support the East Danforth Nuit Blanche Hub from sunset to sunrise on the weekend of October 4, 2025. Roles vary from Accessibility Assistants, Artist Assistants, Information Ambassadors, Behind-the-Scenes Assistants & more!Are you interested in volunteering at one of Canada’s leading contemporary art events in East Toronto? Learn more and sign-up HERE!X-insert link to volunteer-X
IN VIEW Artist Compensation
Each IN VIEW artist will be paid with a $1000 Artist Honorarium, inclusive of HST, per window installation. This fee must also cover any supplies or materials you need to purchase for your window installation.
IN VIEW Artist Support
- Access to site-specific storefront locations on Danforth between Greenwood and Coxwell TTC Stations.
- Professional documentation of your work.
- Limited volunteer support with load in and out. If you are proposing an interactive activation, you can request volunteer support to help you run the activation. Please include this in the application.
- Media relations support (Note: artists should feel comfortable with media interviews as they may be required to participate).
- Marketing and promotional outreach through East End Arts, the Danforth Mosaic BIA, Native Women in the Arts, and Nuit Blanche networks (social media, e-newsletters and web).
Selection Process
We are looking to activate 14 storefronts in our Nuit Blanche hub along Danforth Avenue. IN VIEW artists will be selected by a committee made up of East End Arts staff members, board members, Danforth BIA board members, Native Women in the Arts staff members, and possibly local artists as well. This year, two of the window front installations are being prioritized for local Indigenous artists.
Proposals will be evaluated based on:
- How well the proposed installation fills up the window front;
- How well the proposed installation engages viewers;
- How well the proposed installation is connected to our key themes.
Important Dates
- Deadline for submissions is Friday May 16th, 2025 by 11:59PM EST.
- Results notification will be the week of June 9th, 2025.
- Business matching will take place during the months of June & July, 2025.
- Artist installation will take place during the week of September 29th – October 4th, 2025.
- Nuit Blanche East Danforth 2025 will take place on October 4, 2025-October 5, 2025.
- Artist tear down will need to take place October 5-6, 2025 (unless an alternative date is confirmed between the artist and business owner).
How to Apply as an Artist to IN VIEW:
Thank you for your interest in joining East End Arts, the Danforth Mosaic BIA, and Native Women in the Arts in Nuit Blanche East Danforth IN VIEW 2025! To apply to our IN VIEW Artist Call, please email one single PDF document, which includes your answers and all support material, to submissions@eastendarts.ca, with the following information:
- Name of Artist or Collective
- Postal Code
- Website (if applicable)
- Social Media Accounts (active and up to date)
- Artist Bio (200 words)
** This bio will be used as promotional material for selected artists. - CV & Headshot
** This headshot will be used as promotional material for selected artists. - Describe the installation that you want to create for IN VIEW 2025.
- Please explain how your installation responds to the theme of “Danforth Translated”.
- Please provide a sketch or mockup of your installation.
- What materials are required for your installation? Please include a rough budget for us.
- Does your IN VIEW installation have any logistical or technical needs? Please note we cannot guarantee power to your site. If you require power for any of the components, you must plan for your own self-powered solution and include this in your materials budget.
- Does your IN VIEW installation have any volunteer needs? Will you require volunteers to help run your activation or help the public with art making? If so, please provide details.
- Provide 6 examples of your work as support materials. Please include any supplementary audio/visual materials to help us get a feel for the work.
- Please confirm if you are a member of any of East End Arts’ Equity Seeking Groups:
-Local East Toronto Resident
-Female/Non-Binary Identifying
-Indigenous
-Black
-Person of Colour
-Person living with Disabilities and/or Mental Illness
-2SLGBTQIA+
-Newcomer
-Senior
-Youth (under 29)
-Low Income Community Member
-Toronto Community Housing Member
-Crescent Town Community Member
-Bengali Community Member
-Francophone
Please send your proposals to submissions@eastendarts.ca, with the subject line “IN VIEW Artist Proposal” by Friday May 16th, 2025 by 11:59PM EST.
*Proposals should be in one single PDF or Word document. Supplementary audio/visual materials can be included as email attachments or external links.
If you have any questions, please contact Mahmoud Ismail, Program Manager, at mahmoud@eastendarts.ca.
We are eager to receive your proposal. If you have any barriers to participation with this Call for Proposals, please email us explaining your situation and we will do our best to accommodate you!
Deadline for submissions: Friday May 16th, 2025 by 11:59PM EST
Funders:
THE DANFORTH MOSAIC BIA
The Danforth Mosaic Business Improvement Area (BIA) was formed in 2008 with membership comprised of commercial property owners and business owners on Danforth Ave. between Jones and Westlake. The BIA works in partnership with the City to create thriving, competitive, and safe business areas that attract shoppers, diners, tourists, and new businesses. Their vision is to create a vibrant and well-maintained business area with diverse shopping and dining opportunities and services to attract the local community as well as visitors.
NATIVE WOMEN IN THE ARTS
NWIA (Native Women in the Arts) is a not-for-profit organization for First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and other Indigenous gender marginalized folks who share the common interest of art, culture, community and the advancement of Indigenous peoples.