February 24, 2026 at MOCA
The arts community and art collectors gathered at MOCA to support the CONTACT Photography Festival which has seen a drop in corporate funding from its lead corporate funder Scotiabank. Originally giving CONTACT a yearly half million dollars; it started weaning its funding dollars two years ago. CONTACT’s Executive Director, Darcy Killeen tried to find replacement funding from smaller corporate donations, but it wasn’t enough. This year’s festival will be a leaner event but still carry on after making cuts to staff and salaries and some programming. This is a corporate trend as Globe and Mail writer Josh O’Kane indicated in his February 23, 2026 article on funding for the arts.
CONTACT funder and Stephen Bulger Gallery director, Stephen Bulger with guests
For a first fundraiser in 30 years this was more than successful. Over 250 supporters and patrons came for the live and silent auction and the event surpassed its goal of $150,000 grossing over $200,000.
Darcy Killeen, CONTACT’s Executive Director
Killeen was overwhelmed by the show of support as he later said, “Thank you for joining us for our inaugural photography auction, Picture This! With your time, energy, and generosity, the evening became a joyful celebration of 30 years of CONTACT — and a tremendous success in raising vital funds to support the festival and the artists. It was truly special to gather alongside such a warm and enthusiastic community of artists, supporters, and festival partners here in Toronto. The room was buzzing — and we’re still smiling about it.”
Auctioneer and Board Member, Stephen Ranger
Bidding for Ken Lum’s Hurry, 1995
The bidding for works was a win for both collectors & CONTACT. Auctioneer and Board Member, Stephen Ranger, lead the charge with getting the attention of buyers in the room, not always an easy task. Works by photographers Carrie Mae Weems, Suzy Lake, Ken Lum, Edward Burtynsky, Arnaud Maggs, Lynne Cohen, Sara Angelucci, Shelley Niro, James Lahey, Steven Beckley, Dawit L. Petros, Scott McFarland, Caitlin Cronenberg and others fetched much needed dollars for CONTACT.
Sara Angelucci and Edward Burtynsky
Collector Kenneth Montague even had some bids on offering a tour of his collection at his home.
Kenneth Montague with a guest
There were other pledges of support that helped raise money. Edward Burtynsky, also a board member, had a work in auction Rainforest #3 which fetched over $30,000 alone.
Edward Burtynsky, Rainforest #3, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA, 2024, pigment inkjet print
The $250 ticket to fundraiser gave supporters a great cocktail reception well catered and a opportunity to bid on some wonderful works of art. Unfortunate that the CONTACT Festival is short of funding but kudos for putting on a successful fundraiser and no doubt there will be more to come as art organizations reach out and get more creative in sourcing much needed arts funding.
Text and photo: Phil Anderson