Curator Samantha Lance Follow.Art Card

About me

Samantha Lance is a Canadian curator and writer who creates exhibition experiences that bring hope and spark meaningful bonds between artists and communities from diverse backgrounds. She is drawn to interdisciplinary practices exploring hybrid identities, the healing of trauma, and intergenerational knowledge transfer. She holds a Master of Visual Studies in Curatorial Studies degree from the University of Toronto and a BFA with Distinction in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from OCAD University.

She has worked with the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, C Magazine, the Art Gallery of Algoma, Onsite Gallery, Workman Arts, Station Gallery, Latitude Gallery New York, and Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Art Magazine. Lance continues to engage with contemporary art and the public as a freelance writer, editor, consultant, juror, guest speaker, tour facilitator, and invited moderator.

From start to finish, curating is a labour of love and a powerful form of storytelling. Her graduating exhibition, "The Love that Remains", at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto (2024), brought together three Toronto-based artists whose contemporary textile practices recover matrilineal histories of displacement and belonging. Lance continues to research and connect with artists and curators who make it their lifelong work to advocate for women's labour, textile practices, and the revival of ancestral techniques.

Lance sees the exhibition space as a palette. One on which she and artists can create a kaleidoscope of colours that have never been mixed before. She continues to expand her worldview by learning about artists and their cultures, ancestries, life experiences, and spiritual beliefs different from her own. Lance is interested in experimental exhibition strategies that reimagine the museum or gallery as a multisensory, accessible space for visitors to share their unique perspectives on art.