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AB3021 – Toronto
June 19 @ 6:00 pm EDT
Art Battle x UNHCR – World Refugee Day
Doors @ 6:00pm / Painting @ 7:00pm
OCAD U Waterfront Commons Room – 130 Queens Quay E Tower, Floor 4R, Toronto, ON
As an artist, you hold the power to tell stories that words alone cannot capture.
On June 19th, Art Battle and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, invite you to contribute your talent to a live collaborative painting that brings visibility, empathy, and hope to the experiences of refugees and people forced to flee their homes worldwide.
Theme Focus: Hope Away From Home
“No one chooses to leave their home. No one chooses to become a refugee. What would give you hope if you were forced to leave your home one day? Or what has given you hope if you are forcibly displaced?”
Today, more people than ever have been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence, and persecution. As of May 2024, over 120 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide. In the face of rising hostility and xenophobia, we must challenge negative narratives and promote compassion towards refugees and people seeking safety.
Ahead of World Refugee Day, we want to push back against this negatively and find Hope Away From Home. This theme celebrates and explores what hope looks and feels like for refugees, not just surviving, but finding meaning, connection, and dignity in a new place.
Hope Away From Home aims to reflect on the strength and resilience of refugees and the power of inclusion. Hope is found in the moments when people feel part of a new community — being welcomed, making new friends, reuniting with loved ones, finding work, and having a place to learn and grow.
Plus, thanks to our generous partner UNIQLO, all attendees will receive a UNIQLO Peace For All T-shirt at the event!
You can find our campaign here: https://www.unhcr.ca/hope/
This is an All Ages event.
REGISTER NOW TO VOTE
Confirmed Competitors
Vaux
Instagram: Vaux.z
Vaux is a self-taught charcoal artist from Nepal whose work channels deep emotion through smudges, shadows, and tension. His art explores themes of discomfort, distortion, and emotional depth—often challenging conventional perspectives. Working in chaos, each piece is an attempt to strip away the surface and reveal something raw, flawed, and deeply human.
I’m a charcoal artist from Nepal. My work explores emotions, depth, and the distortion of life. I work in chaos—smudges, shadows, and tension. Each piece is an attempt to strip away the surface and reveal something honest, flawed, and human.
Ariel Hosanny
Instagram: Dreampaintart
Ariel returns with her multidisciplinary artistry, bringing dreams and visions to life on canvas. In addition to her skills as a professional face painter, she also hosts paint nights and creates custom artwork.
Looking forward to getting back on the easel and painting something strange and new.
Nisreen Askar
Instagram: nisreenartstudio
Nisreen draws inspiration from the natural beauty of Mississauga—the sunrise, trees, sky, water, and boats often influencing her work. She specializes in landscapes, florals, and abstract pieces, using both palette knives and brushes to bring her vibrant visions to life. Nisreen believes her use of color evokes happiness, excitement, and love. She also shares her passion as an art instructor at Nisreen’s Art Studio.
Thank you I would like to expresses gratitude for your love and support, which is a source of my energy and motivation.!
Dinesh Subramanian
Instagram: dinesh.at.toronto
Dinesh paints Toronto’s everyday moments in watercolors, capturing their fleeting beauty. This is his second time competing at Art Battle, where he shares his unique and loose style. His work shows how ordinary scenes can become something special through art.
Dinesh captures the fleeting moments of Toronto through expressive watercolor paintings.
Kyla Yager
Instagram: Artby.kylay
K👁️LA is a Toronto based, New Orleans bred full time artist who intuitively captures the energy and vibration of the room through her paintbrush. Utilizing her ADHD, intuition and mindset, Kyla's maximalist mark making includes abstraction, funky faces, and "eyes of empathy", allowing a safe space to connect, unmask, and collectively heal through art.
K👁️LA is a Toronto based, New Orleans bred full time artist who intuitively captures the energy and vibration of the room through her paintbrush. Utilizing her ADHD, intuition and mindset, Kyla's maximalist mark making includes abstraction, funky faces, and "eyes of empathy", allowing a safe space to connect, unmask, and collectively heal through art.
Olga Kholod
Instagram: Olga.kholod.art
Olga is a classically trained artist from Kyiv who explores the depth of realist art by blending tradition with experimentation. Now based in Toronto, she studies part-time at the Academy of Realist Art, where she continues to refine her skills in graphite, ink, charcoal, oil, and acrylic, while also creating digital illustrations. Drawn to the creative flow of making art, Olga uses her free time to push boundaries and explore new styles and techniques.
