Artist Talk and Open Studio with Travis Shilling

Outdoor artmaking session focused on water presented in partnership with Ontario Heritage Trust Artist Travis Shilling leads an outdoor open studio program at Fool’s Paradise, Doris McCarthy’s former home & studio on the Scarborough Bluffs. Shilling will reflect on his relationship to water, and its place within his practice and approach to painting. Following the talk, participants will be invited to head outside for an open-ended artmaking session that focuses on the lake and the pond at Fool’s Paradise. This program is presented in partnership with Ontario Heritage Trust. Free, open to the public. Registration required. Light refreshments will be served. Parts of this program will be held outdoors, rain or shine; please dress for the weather. This is primarily a seated program, with some walking outdoors. Fool’s Paradise is not wheelchair accessible. If you have accommodation needs, please let us know through the registration form or contact [email protected]. ABOUT THE ARTIST Travis Shilling is the youngest of two sons to the acclaimed Indigenous artist Arthur Shilling (1941-1986). Travis began his own professional career as a teenager, leading to success as a painter, film director, and playwright. His expressive brushstrokes and unique colour palette transport the viewer to a cinematic landscape that explores the impact of climate change on the environment with thoughtful, clever insight. Shilling reflects on the responsibilities of being an Indigenous artist by commenting on the struggles of a hidden history. Using his paintbrush as a flashlight, he gives his viewers a glimpse into uncharted territory, shining this light onto otherwise forgotten places. Shilling's work can be found in public & private collections worldwide, including the permanent collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Multiple Canadian Embassies, the Citadelle Art Foundation, and a portrait commission for Hart House at the University of Toronto. Travis is represented by Ingram Gallery in Toronto and Canada House Gallery in Banff. ----- ABOUT THE EXHIBITION This program is presented in conjunction with Cartographies of Longing (September 15 – December 5, 2026). This exhibition brings together artists whose practices draw upon family histories, oral traditions, and archival fragments to map intergenerational relationships to land. Throughout the exhibition, past and present unfold simultaneously, shaped by migration, colonialism, environmental transformation, and the enduring legacies of displacement. Rather than presenting land as a fixed geography, the exhibition approaches it as a living archive, continually formed through memory, storytelling, movement, and lived experience. Cartographies of Longing is presented by the Doris McCarthy Gallery and supported by the Toronto Arts Council; Canada Council for the Arts; Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto; and the Year of Poetry at University of Toronto Scarborough. ----- Image: Travis Shilling, Indian Maiden, 2026. Oil on canvas, 121 x 152.4 cm. Courtesy of the artist.