Say okay brings together early- and mid-career artists from the gallery’s roster, inviting viewers on a journey of introspection. Featuring paintings, works on paper, and tapestries by Virgil Baruchel, Christian Butterfield, Peter Campbell, Jeff Chiu, Hanah Elmasry, Miles Gertler, Rosi Di Meglio, Sondra Meszaros, Nigel Scott, Lisa Rose, David Stewart, and Danielle Vincent, the exhibition explores themes of transformation, memory, and identity. Through their diverse practices, the artists examine the evolving relationship between form and meaning.

David Stewart received the Greenshield Award for Painting in 2023, followed by Danielle Vincent in 2024. Sondra Meszaros has been teaching in the Drawing Department at the Alberta University of the Arts for the past 16 years. Miles Gertler teaches at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture at the University of Toronto and was the recipient of the Architectural League of New York’s League Prize in 2023. Jeff Chiu expanded his career into filmmaking with his award-winning 2022 film A Hundred Joys, and he produced On a Sunday at Eleven, which was featured at TIFF in 2024.

Hana Elmasry draws on her background in social work at CAMH and various shelters as a foundational element in her artistic practice. Virgil Baruchel continues to develop his fibre-based practice; he was awarded a residency in La Napoule, France, in 2022 and currently resides in Switzerland. Rosi Di Meglio recently secured an artist residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Lisa Rose uses her paintings as a vessel to explore stripes as a framework for structure, ratio, and balance. Nigel Scott delves deeper into his passion for surfing and the ocean by merging photography and painting. Christian Butterfield creates textural landscapes that are playful and otherworldly. Peter Campbell orchestrates meticulous patterns in his oil paintings.