The KAC Newsletter | June '26 Issue 1

New KAC Program! Q (we're) by Harvey Tolentino Doniego, Upcoming Events, and Job, Opportunity, & Grant Board Highlights!

June 01, 2026

KAC NEWS & UPDATES

Introducing the KAC’s Newest Program: The Living Room Sessions!

We’re launching a new monthly gathering for KAC Members! And the first one is all about getting hired.

The Living Room Sessions are small, informal meetups designed to feel less like a workshop and more like a conversation with peers. Each session, a small group of interdisciplinary artists (about 10) comes together in the KAC’s cozy, lamp-lit meeting space. These sessions aim to feel more like a living room conversation than a formal critique, ideally fostering openness, connection, and collaboration.

Session 1 Focus: Resumes, Portfolios, Websites, & Artist Statements

Our first session focuses on the documents artists use to get hired.

Bring your resume, cover letter, portfolio, or website or just come ready to look at others and weigh in.

We'll dig into what's working, what's not, and what might give you a better shot at landing the opportunities you're going for.

Registration is free and open to artists of all disciplines. Space is limited to 10 participants. Open to current KAC members only.

POCKET GALLERY

NEWLY ON DISPLAY: Q (we’re) by Harvey Tolentino Doniego

Date: 25 May - 17 July 2026
Location: Kingston Arts Council | Unit 115, 370 King St W, Kingston

Q(we’re), pronounced “queer,” is an exhibition and prose project that explores the liminality, community, and introspection of being queer. Rooted in personal and collective experience, the exhibition seeks to accentuate queer futures while provoking thought around the discourse of queerness within contemporary society. At a time when the envisioning of queer futures, culture, and community has never been more vital, Q(we’re) offers space for reflection, celebration, and radical imagination.

Historically, the word “queer” has been used to dictate the odd, the othered, and the alternative. Q(we’re) reclaims and celebrates the power of queerness — its creativity, fluidity, resistance, and camp sensibility. The exhibition embraces queerness not only as an identity, but as a way of perceiving and navigating the world beyond heteronormative and patriarchal structures. It acknowledges LGBTQ+ culture while creating space for those who exist within states of in-betweenness, transformation, and self-discovery.

Ultimately, Q(we’re) becomes both an invitation and an offering: a space where memory, identity, and possibility converge. It asks viewers not only to witness queer experience, but to participate in its unfolding with openness and curiosity.

EVENTS

Domino Theatre
Date: 4 - 20 June 2026

“Very Heaven” a Canadian play by Ann Lambert and Directed BY Katie Flower-Smith. A poignant show that delves into the complexities of family dynamics, memory, and the process of grieving.

Set in a country house in Quebec, the narrative follows three sisters—Harriet, Juliet, and Lee—who reunite at their childhood home to scatter their mother’s ashes.

As they navigate the tensions of their estranged relationships, long-held secrets emerge, challenging their perceptions of the past and each other. Through sharp dialogue and emotional depth, the play explores themes of loss, reconciliation, and the enduring bonds of sisterhood.

Ground Up Dance Festival x Grand Poney
Date: 10 June 2026 | 7:00 PM

Five dancers from Grand Poney perform on an unusual and wondrous machine: an oversized treadmill. On this rolling and confined surface, movement is restrained and ecstatic, exhilarated and acrobatic.

At times in group or alone, the performers address the themes of identity, self-fulfillment, determination, coexistence, freedom, exhaustion and the unending feelings and sensations that makeup the complexity of life.

They suspend actions in space in order to dig out the details of gestures, questions and interactions. The machine becomes a metaphor for the passage from childhood to adulthood. It is the path that we choose to travel and the life that we learn to tame.

There are always plenty of arts events happening in Kingston and the surrounding area. Check out our Arts Events Calendar to view our full list of upcoming events!

JOBS

Director (Yellow House, Centre for Student Equity and Inclusion)
Remuneration: $91,000.00 - $119,000.00/annually
Deadline: 2 June 2026

Audio Visual Technician (St. Lawrence College)
Remuneration: $34.60/hourly
Deadline: 4 June 2026

Acoustic Technician Assistant (Patry)
Remuneration: $19 - $23/hourly
Deadline: 8 June 2026

Art Technician (Queen's University)
Remuneration: $53,593.00 - $65,358.00/annually
Deadline: 11 June 2026

Community Outreach & Communications Coordinator (Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative) 
Remuneration: $20.00/hourly
Deadline: 22 June 2026

Education Assistant, Small Projects (Agnes Etherington Art Gallery)
Remuneration: $22.00/hourly
Deadline: 28 June 2026

Marketing Graphic Designer (Patry Group)
Remuneration: $55.00-$75.00/hourly
Deadline: Until Filled

Cello/Woodwinds/Voice/Piano Teachers (Long & McQuade)
Deadline: Until Filled

Scenic Carpenter (Thousand Islands Playhouse)
Remuneration: $850/weekly | 4 May 4 - 6 September 2026. (18 Weeks)
Deadline: Until Filled

Scenic Artist (Thousand Island Playhouse)
Remuneration: $950/weekly | 18 May - 20 September 2026. (18 Weeks)
Deadline: Until Filled

OPPORTUNITIES

Call for Applications:
Slaight Music Video Program (KCFF x Kingston Music Office x Kingston Film and Media)
Deadline for Musicians: 5 June 2026 | 11:59 PM

Call for Qualification:
Vanier Artist-in-Residence (The City of Ottawa)
Deadline: 26 June 2026 | 11:59 PM EST

Call to Artists:
The Pantry Project (Michelle Reid)
Deadline: 30 June 2026

Call to Artists:
Creative Futures: Empowering Teen Artists (Tett Centre)
Deadline: 5 July 2026

Call for Volunteers (Skeleton Park Arts Festival)
Deadline: 10 June 2026

Call for Volunteers (Kingston Pride)
Deadline: Until Filled

GRANTS

Below is a snapshot of upcoming grant deadlines. To view our more comprehensive and fully navigable database of grant opportunities at the local, provincial, and national levels, please visit the KAC Grants Board!

Publishing Marketing and Discoverability Fund (Ontario Creates)
Deadline: 1 June | 5:00 PM

Deaf and Disability Arts: Materials for Visual Artists (Ontario Arts Council)
Deadline: 16 June | 1:00 PM

Arts Across Canada and Abroad: International Residencies (Canada Council for the Arts)
Deadline: 17 June | 11:59 PM

Chalmers Arts Fellowships (Ontario Arts Council)
Deadline: 25 June | 1:00 PM

SUPPORT THE KAC

Love the arts? So do we!

When you support the Kingston Arts Council, you’re helping empower an arts sector that drives innovation, fuels the local economy, and enriches the lives of everyone in Katarokwi/Kingston.

Your donation – whether one-time, monthly, or annual – enables us to deliver impactful programs and services that support the artists and creatives shaping our cultural industry.

As a registered charity, we’ll provide a charitable tax receipt for your contribution. Join us in building a thriving, sustainable arts sector.

THE KINGSTON ARTS COUNCIL IS PROUDLY FUNDED BY