Gallery 1265 to Host the Second Edition of the Acorn Tri-Campus Art Festival

The festival counts with several art exhibitions and events to celebrate and foster student art.

Photo Courtesy of ATAF

Gallery 1265 will be leading the second edition of the Acorn Tri-Campus Art Festival (ATAF) this upcoming week. The festival will take place from  March 25th to March 28th with student art exhibitions, film screenings, a theatre play, and various art workshops across all three University of Toronto campuses. 

“We want to bridge students from all three campuses through art exhibitions,” said this year’s Director of Gallery 1265, Arthur Hamdani, during a phone interview with The Underground.

Hamdani invites students, faculty, department, staff, and everyone in the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) community to attend the ATAF opening event happening on March 26th  between 5-8 pm in room HW305, Humanities Wing, at UTSC, all while celebrating student artists. Those who wish to attend the opening event need to register at the festival’s official page, and bring their student IDs on the day of the event. Registration is free. 

To the gallery’s director, the event has already gone beyond expectations with around 20 art submissions and various collaborations with different student groups taking part in the event.

“People might think that art is just something you hang on a wall and then that's it but, in the gallery, we have seen how whenever we have exhibitions, students would come in and just check it out. Being curious with their friends and that [art] becomes a talking point,” Hamdani said. 

For the duration of the festival, student-created artworks will be displayed across the three campuses. Exhibitions can be found mostly at UTSC in Gallery 1265, the Leigha Lee Brown Theatre, UTSC Library, Grad Studio, and Meeting Place. At the St. George campus’ exhibitions will be displayed on the main floor of Hart House, while Mississauga campus’ exhibitions will be found at the Communication, Culture, and Technology building. 

Hamdani believes that viewing student artworks and attending art workshops could enhance the student experience and strengthen the community.

“It could definitely give students that platform to tell their stories,” he said. “We are only here for four or five years at most, and it's such a transitional phase in our lives. And sometimes it can just go by really quickly and we feel that through showing artworks, having conversations, [and] attending creative events with people, it builds relationships. You have memories. You learn more about yourself.” 

The event also receives the support of the Hart House Student Art Committee and the University of Toronto Mississauga Department of Visual Studies Student Society, as well as the involvement of different student clubs and bodies.

Gallery 1265 

Gallery 1265 has been providing a space for student art exhibitions since 2004. The initiative aims to give voice and opportunity to young artists in the community, often fostering events and exhibitions throughout the course of the academic year. 

“Our mission is basically just to give students a chance or a platform to showcase their art outside of classes,” said Hamdani. 

The gallery also has a magazine named The Valley, which contains five original issues fostering art, journalism, theatre, creative writing, and more. 

Exhibitions and magazine issues are all available on the gallery’s official website for those who wish to check them out. 

This year’s ATAF will be the second edition of the tri-campus event that happened for the first time in 2023. 

Disclaimer: The Underground is one of this year’s ATAF collaborators.