Current Exhibition | Art Committee

Call for Submission

Cycles appear everywhere in life, including life itself.

Inspired by Jon Sasaki’s work ‘Homage’ which can be found in the Hart House debates room - on the wall behind where the artwork will be displayed - this exhibition encourages finding beauty in the darker parts of cycles… Here is where we can find an appreciation for earth and all that exists within it. Sasaki’s work, photographs of mould cultured from the Group of Sevens’ old painting palettes and brushes, asks viewers to reflect on history and how it can be commemorated in new forms. For him, mould becomes a message of persistence, of growth.

From birth to menstruation to death. From gestation to rotting. The scars, cuts, bruises that appear during a healing process. The harsh winters that make room for a bountiful spring. The riots and protesting that must occur in order for the arrival of change. The blood, tears and morning sickness that emerge when growing new life. The failures of trying and trying again until one succeeds. The act of confronting generational trauma in order to break the cycle.

This exhibition invites you to respond to cycles however that may speak to you. What intrigues you about cycles? How do cycles show up in your own life?

Ivy Thomas and Chey Lim

Hart House Art Committee

Student Projects Co-Chairs

Deadline: November 1st, 2026 11:59PM

Submit

Consider:

Birth, aging, and death
Growth, decay, and regeneration
Healing from illness, injury, or loss
Menstruation, fertility, and reproduction
Seasonal and environmental cycles
Migration and return
Learning through repetition, failure, and persistence
Social movements, protest, and collective change
Cycles of memory, forgetting, and remembrance
Family histories and intergenerational experiences
Breaking harmful cycles and creating new futures
Rituals, traditions, and recurring practices

Sasaki, Jon. Homage. Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, 2025, owensartgallery.com/exhibition/jon-sasaki-homage/.

From harsh winters that give way to spring to confronting inherited trauma in order to transform the future, cycles shape both individual and collective experiences. We invite you to interpret this theme broadly and creatively.

What intrigues you about cycles?

How do cycles appear in your own life, community, or artistic practice?

We look forward to seeing the many ways University of Toronto students engage with the theme of Cycles and contribute to a thoughtful conversation about transformation, persistence, renewal, and change through art.