Call for Expressions of Interest: The Foodie Artist Residency
Introducing The Foodie Artist Residency, a place-based residency with Scarborough Arts and Eat More Scarborough that invites an artist to explore food, culture, and community.
Program Overview
The Foodie Artist Residency program is a short-term, place-based artist opportunity that invites one artist to explore food, culture, and community through participation in Eat More Scarborough Food Tours across the borough during the months of April to June.
Rooted in storytelling, exchange, and lived experience, the residency supports an artist in translating conversations, encounters, and sensory experiences from Scarborough’s food landscapes and foodways into a new creative work. The program centres food as a gathering of cultural memory, migration, and connection, while fostering meaningful engagement within local sites between artists, local vendors, and community members.
**Please note this is a short-term, community-based residency that does not include housing and is designed around participation in public food tours and facilitated engagement.
Residency Components
The selected artist will receive:
Complimentary participation in three (3) Eat More Scarborough Food Tours taking place between April and June 2026
A $3,000 artist commission to support research, creation, and facilitation related to the residency, and up to $500 for materials. The commission is intended to cover all artist fees and material costs associated with the development of the final artwork.
Artistic responses may include, but are not limited to:
Soundscape or audio works
Dance or movement-based work
Zines or small publications
Short play scripts or theatre pieces
Illustration or visual storytelling
Poetry or creative writing
Community Engagement
As part of the residency, the artist will design and facilitate a participatory arts-based activity at each of the three Eat More Scarborough Food Tour sessions.
These activities will be responsive to the tour context and offer both passive and active engagement opportunities. Possible approaches include storytelling prompts, collective reflection, participatory writing or drawing, or other engagement strategies that invite conversation and shared experience.
Support for facilitation planning will be provided by Scarborough Arts.
In-Kind Support
Scarborough Arts will provide in-kind support to the selected artist, which may include:
Access to desk space at Scarborough Arts for the duration of the residency
Access to basic materials and supplies for community engagement activities, where available
Access to a NikonZ30 Mirrorless Camera for art and documentation purposes
Final Artwork
The artist will complete a final artwork or body of work by mid-June. The artwork(s) will be presented in a public presentation (via to-be-determined showcase, display, exhibition, performance, artist talk, etc.) at a community gathering celebration held by Scarborough Arts and Eat More Scarborough.
Expression of Interest
Applicants are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) via this Google Form. The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2026. Shortlisted artists will be notified by mid-March.
About Scarborough Arts
Scarborough Arts is one of Toronto’s six Local Arts Service Organizations (LASOs) mandated to serve the Scarborough region by offering inclusive, low-barrier, and community-driven arts and cultural programming and services. We prioritize equity-seeking groups and serve children, youth, adults, seniors, and families from a broad demographic spectrum.
Eat More Food Tours and Eat More Scarborough Tours invites you to explore the rich, multicultural food scene of Toronto – the world’s most diverse city! Our guided, interactive tours are more than just a chance to eat—they’re an experience that blends incredible flavours with the stories behind them. Each tour combines food tastings with cultural insights: the history behind the dishes, the journeys of the entrepreneurs who make them, and the role food plays in shaping the community.
