Emma Ongman is an interdisciplinary artist, self-taught musician, and arts administrator. Primarily working with images, video, and sound, she is interested in community building and using unpredictable technologies to depict invisible disabilities in everyday environments. She embraces tech-accidents, the recycling of materials, and draws upon her personal experiences with neurodivergence to explore how we can empathetically engage with the world by giving second chances to ourselves and others. 
Ongman has shown her work in Canada, the United States, France, Greece, Ireland, and Poland. She holds a dual major Bachelor of Arts Honours degree with Distinction from the University of Guelph and has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Guelph Arts Council. Recently, she has been an artist in residence at Céline Bureau (Montréal, QC), Roundtable Residency (Toronto, ON), and Ed Video (Guelph, ON). Emma currently lives and works in Montréal, Québec.

View and download CV

email: emma.ongman@icloud.com
instagram: @emmaongman 
(also known as @teckbro11)

Thank you to Céline Bureau, Ontario Arts Council, Guelph Arts Council, and the University of Guelph for their generous support.

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree with Distinction, Double Major in Studio Art, and Criminal Justice and Public Policy, University of Guelph

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
Cool kids never die, The Drake Hotel, Toronto, Ontario
2021
Screen Time, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, Ontario
2020

irl, The Project Space, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
Technology and Failure, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, Ontario

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND SCREENINGS
2024
for the love of the game, Espace Louou, Montréal, Québec
Exposition de résidence, Céline Bureau, Art POP (POP Montréal), Montréal, Québec
2023
Lament Configurations, Feature Creep, Toronto, Ontario, Online
DJ'S DON'T DANCE, ponyHAUS, Toronto, Ontario
Centre Lartigue, Écomusée du fier monde, Montréal, Québec
2022
RoundTable 2022, Toronto, Ontario, Online
Billbored, Factory Media Centre, Hamilton, Ontario
KITCHEN, Fabricated Gallery, (Toronto, ON and Halifax, NS), Online 
2021
Unfolding, Boarding House Gallery, RBC Emerging Artist Mentorship Program, Guelph, Ontario
Elements, with Artist Collective “38N”, ArtFarm, Caledon, Ontario
Clubhouse T.V., Alice Street Clubhouse, Guelph, Ontario
Shared Space, with Artist Collective “38N”, Ashlar Gallery, Guelph, Ontario
Top 10, Juried Art Show, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, Ontario
Gateway | Zavitz Gallery | University of Guelph and Winthrop University Exchange Show | Rock Hill, South Carolina
Lot. 14, Specialized Studio, Boarding House Gallery, Guelph, Ontario
Temporary Collection, Ed Video, Guelph, Ontario

2020
A Thousand Miles from Nowhere, Specialized Studio, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, Ontario
Virtual Juried Art Show, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario
Show and Tell, The Graham, Brooklyn, New York
2019
Something Special and Nothing Important, Boarding House Gallery, Guelph, Ontario
Juried Art Show, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario
2016

Larger than Life, Latcham Art Centre, Stouffville, Ontario

ART FAIRS/PERFORMANCES/BIENNALES
2024
Ambient music & live visuals, Collaboration with Trevor Kiernander, Centre des arts actuels SKOL, Montréal, Québec
Listening Room Programme 1, Sonorities Festival, Belfast, Ireland
2023
Black Holes, Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu Pavillion (The Wrong Biennale), Toruń, Poland
Pique Festival, Collaboration with LCON, Ottawa, Ontario
Rayons, Le Basement (MTL Improv Club), Montréal, Québec
2022
Calling All Alien Cyborgs, LUMEN Festival, Waterloo, Ontario
Pseudo Band, Kazoo! Fest, Guelph, Ontario
Women in Space Festival, Collaboration with LCON at the Tranzac Club, Toronto, Ontario
2021
Together Apart, La Station - Gare Des Mines (Paris, FR), Long Winter Music and Arts Festival (Toronto, ON)
Spurious Anniversary, ponyHAUS, Toronto, Ontario
Mimema, Platforms Project Net, Ed Video Booth, Athens, Greece

SELECTED AWARDS, GRANTS, AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2024
Residency Project Grant, Céline Bureau
2022
Exhibition Assistance Grant, Ontario Arts Council 
2021
Project Grant for New Generation Artists, Ontario Arts Council 
Jane Graham Memorial Award, Guelph Arts Council
BMO 1st ART! Invitational Student Art Competition, Photography Nominee
Faculty Award, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph
Technician's Award, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph
Top 10 Award, Juried Art Show, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph 
2020
Michael Scotchmer Scholarship for Visual Arts, University of Guelph

College of Arts Student Union Award, University of Guelph
Director's Award, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph
Printmaking Award, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph
2019
Photography Award, School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph
2017
Excellence in Applied Research, University of Guelph
2016-2021
Dean’s Honour List, University of Guelph 
2016-2017
Entrance Scholarship, University of Guelph

RESIDENCIES
2024
Résidence studio, Céline Bureau, Montréal, Québec
2022
Roundtable Residency, Roundtable, Toronto, Ontario
Amateur Radio Operator Certificate, Basic Qualification with Honours, Radio Amateurs of Canada
        Call sign: VE2TKB
2021
Equipment Residency, Ed Video Media Arts Centre, Guelph, Ontario
Guelph Emerging Artist Mentorship Program, Mentee under Lisa Conway (LCON) 
2020
Digital Residency, University of Guelph
Co-Create, Collaborative Residency for Creatives, Otherwise Studios and Bumaroo, Guelph, Ontario

JURIES AND CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2022
Platforms Project Curator, Ed Video Booth, Athens, Greece
Media Art Juror, Juried Art Show, Ed Video Representative, Guelph, Ontario
2021
Zavitz Gallery Coordinator, 2020-2021, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario

BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023
blogTO, "Workflow: Emma Ongman Solo Exhibition", Toronto, Ontario
Richard Williams, "Ever Approaching, Never Arriving: Emma Ongman's Black Hole," Feature Creep, Toronto, Ontario
2022
Tom Beedham, Pseudo Band @ Kazoo! Fest, "Kazoo! Fest Makes Its "Long-Overdue Goodbye" by Doing What It's Always Done,"  Exclaim! Magazine, Toronto, Ontario
2021
Guelph Art's Council, "Emma Ongman, Guelph Emerging Artist Mentorship Project", Guelph, Ontario
Guelph Arts Council, "GAC Jane Graham Memorial Award Recipients", Guelph, Ontario
Ozon, "Platforms Project Net", Athens, Greece
Ozon, "Platforms Project Net, Teaser", Athens, Greece
Athens Up Radio, "Platforms Project Net", Athens, Greece
Emil White, "Emma Ongman: The Interviewing Artist Series", Kaleidoscope Magazine and the Juried Art Show, Guelph, Ontario
The Ontarion, Arts Issue, "Emma Ongman", Guelph, Ontario
Ahmri Vandeborne, "Meet Emma Ongman", Co-operative Education & Career Services, University of Guelph, Ontario
2020
Anna Cox, Turning My Bedroom into a Camera Obscura, Research Notes: I Keep My Worries in My Teeth, Necessary Fiction, Boston, Massachusetts
Anam Khan, "Guelph artists paired during quarantine showcase works of art online", Guelph Today, Ontario
Kaleidoscope Magazine, "Corrupted Wood Grain #1", Issue 15, University of Guelph, Ontario
Otherwise Studios, "February Featured Artist", Guelph, Ontario
2019
Kaleidoscope Magazine, "Corrupted Image Series", Issue 14, University of Guelph, Ontario

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2023 - Present
Gallery Associate, McBride Contemporain, Édifice Belgo, Montréal, Québec
2022
Media Art Technician, Art Gallery of Guelph, (2021-2022), Guelph, Ontario
Staff Member, Ed Video Media Arts Centre, Guelph, Ontario
        Curator for Platforms Project (2022)
        Technology Coordinator, Temporary Collection (2022)
        Residency Coordinator (2021-2022)
        Volunteer (2020-2021)
Studio Assistant to Shannon Garden-Smith, Toronto, Ontario
2021
Studio Assistant to Suzy Lake, (2020-2021), Toronto, Ontario
Editor, Kaleidoscope Magazine, (2020-2021), University of Guelph, Ontario
        Layout Designer (2020)
Juried Art Show, University of Guelph, Ontario
        Coordinator (2020-2021)
        Photographer and Installation Assistant (2020)
Board Member, Fine Arts Network, University of Guelph, Ontario
        Juried Art Show Representative (2020-2021)
        Chairperson (2020)
        Secretary (2019)
Studio Art Representative, Student Services Fees Committee, School of Fine Art and Music | (2020-2021) | University of Guelph, Ontario
360° Photographer for Virtual Exhibitions, Art Gallery of Guelph in partnership with the Interdisciplinary Design Lab at the University of Guelph, (2020-2021) | Guelph, Ontario
2020
Undergraduate Research Assistant to Susan Dobson, University of Guelph, Ontario
2019
Studio Monitor, Photography Department, University of Guelph, Ontario
Studio Art Social Media Manager, University of Guelph, Ontario
Printmaking Department Assistant, Print Show and Sale, University of Guelph, Ontario
Latcham Art Centre, Volunteer, Stouffville, Ontario

TEACHING
2020
How to Make Cyanotypes, Bumaroo Festival, Guelph, Ontario
How to Make a Camera Obscura, Photography Department, University of Guelph, Ontario

SELECTED WRITING
2020
Suzy Lake: Innovative Professor and One of Canada's Most Important Photographers, Her Story: Women Trailblazers of Guelph and Wellington County, Canadian Writing Research Collaboratory