DesignTO is now accepting submissions for its 2025–26 programming, inviting designers, artists, and creative thinkers to explore themes of world-building and identity.
Submissions are being accepted for the following programs.
2025-26 DesignTO Youth Call for Submissions
‘Otherworld’ is the seventh edition of DesignTO Youth, a program that provides youth between the ages of 18 and 29 with access to creative disciplines and professionals. This year’s program, grounded in the understanding that humans are dynamic and ever-evolving, invites participants to “reflect on the power of worldbuilding as a device for conscious change.”
The program will culminate in a one-day in-person showcase during the 2026 DesignTO Festival. Youth will deliver multidisciplinary presentations including exhibitions, performances, soundscapes, and installations in response to social issues that reflect their own concerns and perspectives.
DesignTO Residency Call for Submissions
DesignTO and Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer have launched a new Artist-in-Residence Program that will culminate in a public exhibition as part of the 2026 DesignTO Festival.
The successful applicant will immerse themselves in the environment of Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer over the course of a two-week stay in October 2025. During this time, the artist will develop a proposal for an artwork to be displayed in the hotel lobby. The final artwork will be exhibited for the duration of the DesignTO Festival from January 23 to February 1, 2026, and will be the focus of a reception hosted by Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer and DesignTO during the Festival.
2026 DesignTO Thematic Exhibition Call for Submissions
The exhibition, “Traces,” explores how artists, designers, and architects respond to realities of climate crisis, war, economic hardship, and social unrest, by “capturing the emotional weight of migration, the impact of involuntary relocation, and the ongoing struggle to preserve culture and identity.”
From architecture shaped by conflict to art that gives voice to personal histories, the exhibition aims to “bring together powerful, human-centred perspectives on one of the defining issues of our time.”
DesignTO invites submissions from artists and designers working in all mediums and formats. Submissions of existing work or realized projects are preferred; however, submissions of new work and speculative projects will also be considered.
The exhibition runs from January 23 to February 22, 2026, as part of the DesignTO Festival.