Koffler Arts

Arcade

An ongoing inquiry into the art and ideas of our time.
Published by Koffler Arts.

Recommended reads

Curating From a Sense of Necessity

As Koffler Arts closes out 2025, General Director Matthew Jocelyn looks back on a year of exhibitions, experiments, and encounters—and makes the case for why cultural institutions should resist being easily summed up.
by Arcade /
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Recent Posts

All Caught Up in the Infinite Middle

All Caught Up in the Infinite Middle

Tia Glista unravels the Möbius strip of narrative in Catherine Lacey’s latest book—a hybrid of memoir and fiction, about a recent break-up and an earlier loss of faith—and reflects on her own break with God, and what faith means in the first place.
by Tia Glista /
“Could I Bring Goats In?” — A Vaudevillian’s Eye for Everyday Wonder

“Could I Bring Goats In?” — A Vaudevillian’s Eye for Everyday Wonder

In Koffler301’s inaugural exhibition, Sage Szkabarnicki-Stuart uses goats, pigeons, and plastic bags to strange, slapstick effect, blurring the boundary between the mundane and the magical.
by Arcade /
The Boring Kind of Heartbreak

The Boring Kind of Heartbreak

In No Fault, Haley Mlotek searches for the language of love’s quiet undoing—from grief to the unexpected grace that comes with choosing to leave a marriage. Patrick Pittman traces what happens when cultural expectations, legal reform, and literary form converge in the finality of divorce.
by Patrick Pittman /

The Art of Quitting

Maybe true artistic freedom isn’t about about perseverance, but knowing exactly when to stop. Jowita Bydlowska reflects on the decision by her mentor and friend Barbara Gowdy to quit writing.
by Jowita Bydlowska /

Form is Always Full of Meaning

In conjunction with her career retrospective now at Koffler Arts, Elana Herzog speaks with curator and longtime friend Jessica Stockholder about 1970s New York, the misunderstandings of formalism, and the evolution of a practice decades in the making.
by Arcade /

Theatre as Necessity in Disempowering Times

Actor, director, and playwright Christopher Morris on the intensive research and moral questioning behind his play The Runner, opening this week in a new production presented by Koffler Arts.
by Jonathan Garfinkel /
Arcade 13 — December 2024
Arcade 12 — November 2024
Arcade 11 — September 2024

When a Garden Leans into Complexity

As with the field of botany, the idea of the botanic garden in the West is deeply rooted in the history of European imperialism and extractivism. Led by London's iconic Kew, botanic gardens around the world are now attempting to untangle the legacies of empire.
by Patrick Pittman /

Til Freedom Do Us Part

When it comes to 20th century intellectual power-couples, no two represented more disparate ideas about marriage and freedom than the chain-smoking liberationists Sartre and de Beauvoir on the one hand, and the neoliberal economists Milton and Rose Friedman on the other.
by Linda Besner /
Arcade 11 — September 2024

When a Garden Leans into Complexity

As with the field of botany, the idea of the botanic garden in the West is deeply rooted in the history of European imperialism and extractivism. Led by London's iconic Kew, botanic gardens around the world are now attempting to untangle the legacies of empire.
by Patrick Pittman /

Til Freedom Do Us Part

When it comes to 20th century intellectual power-couples, no two represented more disparate ideas about marriage and freedom than the chain-smoking liberationists Sartre and de Beauvoir on the one hand, and the neoliberal economists Milton and Rose Friedman on the other.
by Linda Besner /
Arcade 10 — August 2024

Tearing Up the Script

As he approaches the first anniversary of his joining Koffler Arts as its new general director, Arcade spoke with Matthew Jocelyn about the tenuous position of Canadian arts organizations, and his vision for Koffler going forward.
by Arcade /
Arcade 09 — June 2024

Every Weed Is a Rebellious Being

Though the original names of many native plants in Canada were lost to colonialism, with the garden he has designed in dialogue with the exhibition Botannica Tirannica, Isaac Crosby aims to show the resilience of both Indigenous knowledge and the plants themselves.
by Arcade /
Arcade 08 — April 2024
Arcade 07 — March 2024
Arcade 06 — February 2024

Good Things to Come

Sometimes, it's worth taking a moment to look forward, at all the good things in our future. A selection of picks for the art worth looking forward to in 2024.
by Arcade /
Arcade 05 — December 2023
Arcade 04 — November 2023
Arcade 03 — October 2023
Arcade 02 — September 2023
Arcade 01 — August 2023