SHORT BIO:
Devon is a curator, artist and advocate with two decades of experience in creating projects that bridge sectors, cities and neighbourhoods. Typically involving large assemblages of organizations, collaborations include the Pan Am Path, Arrivals Canada, Streetscape, Housepaint at the Royal Ontario Museum, Hype at the Art Gallery of Ontario, t.h.e.m., Ignite the Americas and a mural and research project at Kingston Penitentiary. A co-founder of Manifesto Festival, Devon was also a founder of Beautifulcity.ca, a successful campaign that put a levy on billboards to fund art in Toronto. Devon co-taught Arts Advocacy at the University of Toronto and certified in Nonprofit Management and HR Management from Ryerson. Devon holds an MA in Curating from Goldsmiths as well as a Masters of Public Administration from LSE. Visit ostrom.ca for more.

(Photo by Nick Kozack, 2013 http://www.nickkozak.com/ )

LONG BIO:

Devon is a curator, artist and advocate with nearly two decades of field experience in creating projects that bridge sectors, cities and neighbourhoods. Recent projects include working as the lead curator for the Pan Am Path from 2012-2017. This project included connecting an 80-kilometre multi-use trail from Brampton to Pickering, uniting the region with arts, culture and active-living opportunities. This community-led project raised over $6 million in legacy commitments, infrastructure improvements and local programming. The Path was widely celebrated as a top legacy project of the 2015 Games in more than 150 news pieces. The project lives on in continued trail builds and large scale murals. 

Past work includes Arrivals.ca: a 100-metre-long transparent photo of the eyes of new citizens across the front windows of City Hall, allowing councillors to “look through the eyes of a newcomer.” The project also added an Arrivals column to the Births and Deaths section of the Toronto Star.  

Other greatest hits include HYPE (Helping Young People Excel) at the Art Gallery of Ontario, a mural and research project at Kingston Penitentiary and Canada’s first major exhibition of street art, held at the Royal Ontario Museum. Across almost two decades of curatorial work also includes the acclaimed Streetscape programming for Luminato 2008, which simultaneously occurred at Regent Park and the site formerly occupied by Tent City. Devon was the artistic director of Ignite the Americas, which saw participation from more than 40 Pan American nations.

As a community organizer, Devon is a co-founder and former visual arts director of Manifesto Festival. He also founded BeautifulCity.ca, an alliance of more than 60 organizations that created a levy on billboards for art. This led Toronto Council to allot $69 million in new arts funding since 2010. He has served as president of the CARFAC Ontario board, on the Toronto Arts Council board (Advocacy Committee) and as part of Art Gallery of Ontario’s Government Relations Working Group.

Lectures include talks for CARFAC, OCAD University, the University of Toronto, Luminato, Artscape, Manifesto Jamaica, OpenWalls Spain, Central St. Martins UK, the Canadian Conference of the Arts, the Ontario Nonprofit Network and many more. Devon has co-taught at the University of Toronto, holds an MA in curating from Goldsmiths College and graduated from programs in non-profit and HR management from Ryerson University.

Devon Ostrom’s research focuses on the ability of art to create connected cities and improving the working conditions between civil and civic sector actors. Related concerns include the interplay between the built environment and human health. Recently Devon completed an MPA at the London School of Economics.

(Photo by Nick Kozack, 2013 http://www.nickkozak.com/ )

(Photo by Tyler Young, 2009)