Conversation with Tamara Toledo from the Latin American Canadian Arts Project (LACAP)

We interviewed a representative-Tamara Toledo-- of  the Latin American Canadian Arts Project or LACAP.  Their mission showcased a good example of support for the community, by the community.  Tamara's passion was infectious: “Because my background is in the arts, that sort of has been my focus with that activist intention of changing how art is understood, accepted, and the narratives that are a part of the Canadian dialogue.” 

LACAP is a Toronto-based organization that helps contemporary Latin American artists who are living in Canada connect to resources, such as help with exhibitions and research. They also provide public programming. LACAP frequently works with Toronto's institutions, such as Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD) and York University, providing lectures and seminars about Latin American artists and the history of Latin American art. LACAP’s two founders are Tamara Toledo and Rodrigo Barreda, who is in operations management. Toledo’s background in Art history and curation allows her to understand the artists' needs on a deeper level and provides mentorship for up-and-coming Latin artists. Having attended OCAD herself, she first-hand encountered the issues that many fellow artists were experiencing, allowing her to work directly with the University's programming to create a more inclusive curriculum. 

LACAP only has two paid employees; everyone else is contracted, depending on project funding. In 2025, they had 3 paid staff who received payroll thanks to an additional grant they received. In general, the organization relies heavily on a fluctuating number of volunteers, meaning that lots of people are constantly coming and going.

LACAP is always looking for helping hands--you can apply on their website if you are interested in getting involved with the Latin arts community. 

One of LACAP’s main initiatives is Sur Gallery, located right on Toronto's Waterfront. The gallery is a dedicated space used to present contemporary Latin American and LatinX art. This venue and its programming focus on the dialogue between artists, scholars, and communities while encouraging collaboration across borders and artistic disciplines: “Initiatives are aimed to socially innovate, critically engage, lending itself to opportunities of national relevance to begin to develop global networks of exchange.” (LACAP, 2026) Toledo saw the lack of Latin American representation in the art scene of Toronto and understood the issues many Latin artists were experiencing throughout the art community. This left her and her partner to create LACAP to allow the artists to build a strong foundation in their craft to succeed in the Canadian art world. One of her favourite projects is at the Sur Gallery. She visited four Canadian cities and interviewed 15 Latin American artists for the exhibit. Toledo and her team curated a series of video interviews, forming video portraits of Latin American artists across the country, providing a platform for the artists' voices and experiences.

The work that the organization does is incredibly important as it acts as one of the only support bodies for the Latin American art community in Canada. LACAP strives to employ a mainly grassroots approach, as explained by Tamara in our interview: “(...)20 years ago there was a lack of representation, visibility, of the Latin American diaspora in galleries and institutions, and so for me the motivation was to change that and to create that change and it had to be done from a grassroots place.”

The gallery plans for the long term; The Covid epidemic required them to shift gears and create alternative plans to showcase their artists.  Currently, LACAP is  undergoing structural and organizational changes, in order to continue to serve their community as best as they can by responding to  constantly changing needs. 

Imogene: Good afternoon. My name is Imogene, and this is my colleague Katie, and, this interview is part of our contribution to the AnthroHarvest Collective. So, we are joined… we're pleased to be joined today by Tamara Toledo, which is one of the directors at the Latin American Canadian Art Projects, or the LACAP, which is a not-for-profit.

Imogene: So, we'd first like to start by giving you the opportunity to properly introduce yourself, as well as briefly go through what the organization is, and then Katie will follow up with more in-depth questions about the organization afterward.

Tamara Toledo: Yeah. Okay, so my name is Tamara Toledo, I'm the director, curator of LACAP / Sur Gallery. So, LACAP is a non-profit arts organization that has been around for 20 years now, implementing different, programs, initiatives, projects throughout the city of Toronto mostly. And for the past 10 years, one of its projects, which has been… is one of, its most relevant projects now, is Sur Gallery, which is the actual physical bricks-and-mortar space where we program, a lot of, the… yeah, a lot of the programming that we currently hold. 

Tamara Toledo: And as an introduction, for myself as well, I am a curator, and the curator of SurGallery. I am a scholar, art historian, and I started off my career as a visual artist. So I also studied drawing and painting at OCAD University in the 90s.

Katie: Wow, that's amazing. Thank you so much. So, who does your organization serve? What is the main community that you are working with?

Tamara Toledo: So we mainly serve the Latin American, LatinX, diaspora in Canada. I would say it's mostly locally based. But, since we started programming a lot more online initiatives, it has expanded to a more national reach, as well as international, and that, of course, started during the pandemic. We had to pivot quite quickly, and look for different strategies to engage with our audiences.

Katie: That's amazing.

Tamara Toledo: And that sort of led to reaching other more national throughout different provinces in Canada and internationally. But it's history from the beginning has been very locally based: the Latin American diaspora. And that doesn't mean that we don't engage with other communities that are interested in the art and culture and histories of Latin America.

Katie: Amazing! So that must mean that your staff must have grown since having to diversify how you are reaching more of the population. So how many staff did you start with, and how has that grown since?

Tamara Toledo: Yeah, it seems like we are a very large organization, but paid staff is currently just two people. Everyone else is by contract, and depending on project funding. So, last year, we had 3 staff that were paid staff, that receive payroll, because of an additional grant that we received. But ongoing operationally, it's just two paid staff, one full-time and one part-time. Everyone else is contract, volunteers, we have a board of directors, we have an advisory board and we have a lot of people that have come and gone throughout the years because it has such a long history. It started off all on a volunteer basis, and slowly we've managed to receive government funding from all streams to be able to operate.

Katie: That's amazing. What do you find motivates you to do this work, and why?

Tamara Toledo: Well, I would say mostly with the intention, it's very intentional in the way that I would like for there to ignite change within a broader Canadian context in the arts. Because my background is in the arts, that sort of has been my focus with that activist intention of changing the ways in which art is understood, accepted, and the narratives that are a part of the Canadian dialogue. So, 20 years ago there was a lack of representation, visibility, of the Latin American diaspora in galleries and institutions, and so for me the motivation was to change that and to create that change and it had to be done from a grassroots place. And it's slowly changed and been affecting other sectors, so things have changed quite a bit in 20 years. There is some representation in some of these institutions currently, but there is a long way to go still.

Katie: Do you have some specific institutions you've loved working with, or that you find have been a great asset to your organization?

Tamara Toledo: We've certainly collaborated and partnered with several institutions and organizations throughout the years, which have been instrumental to the growth of LACAP and Sur Gallery. I think that for a smaller organization like ours, those partnerships and relationships are essential, and so we've tried to foster them. Throughout the years, we've collaborated with so many, not only institutions and galleries, but also festivals, and the relationships have been, of course, mutual in terms of gaining access to resources and sharing knowledge and resources.

Tamara Toledo:  So just examples, let's see. We've collaborated with… I'll start with larger institutions. We've partnered with the AGO, with the Power Plant, with Harborfront Center; we've partnered with Artist Run Centers like Gallery 44, A Space Gallery; with universities, York University, OCAD University, with George Brown College; we've partnered with festivals like 7A*11D, Mayworks, Planet in Focus, so… Oh my goodness, like, I can't remember all of them, but, yeah, I think that most importantly it’s relevant to emphasize that those relationships are so important to the growth of the organization.

Katie: Amazing, wow, that is amazing. Also, being in Toronto, you have so many areas around you being so artsy. It's a great center to be surrounded by all the creativity and build amazing relationships. Do you have a specific relationship or story that really stood out to you? That really maybe pushed you to continue what you're doing, or just really is highlighted in your mind?

Tamara Toledo: Like, a particular partnership or relationship?

Katie: Yeah, like, if you have a story about one of your favorite partnerships that you've worked with, or even just helping an individual in the community that stood out; anything that in your past years in this organization that really stood out to you?

Tamara Toledo: Hmm… I mean, it's difficult to point out just one example, because it has been years of collaborations in different ways. Not just cross-promoting, but also working together on programs, and collaborating with changing that narrative which I spoke about before. So yeah, it's kind of difficult to think about just pinpoint one example.

Katie: So what would you say is your personal mission statement.

Tamara Toledo: My personal, like, as Tamara?

Katie: Yeah, as an individual or even as an organization, you could also elaborate on that; how do you want to continue growing in your organization? What do you see in the future for it?

Tamara Toledo: Okay. I would say that LACAP right now is going through some change, some internal change of growth. And I believe that this is a moment where a lot of things can develop, and a lot of things can happen. We've already gone through 10 years of running a gallery and so we're presently looking at what does our mission, our mandate, and the things that we can contribute with and how to foment and continue to change and to grow. Within the next 10 years, what does that look like and how can we still be relevant in the next 10 years? So we're going through that process of strategically thinking about our position and what are the ways we can contribute to that. The world is changing dramatically not only with AI, but geopolitically as well. And so, I think that all of those things should be under consideration when we start developing this plan for the future; for the next 10 years. From the very beginning of LACAP's inception, we've always responded to the needs of the community, what that need was in the beginning, so I think that ultimately, that has been the mission from from the beginning, and it continues to be, so that's why we're questioning currently what is the needs of our immediate community right now and how to address that need? So, yeah, I mean, there are so many layers to how we've contributed throughout the years, but essentially, um, if you have to narrow it down, it's sort of addressing the needs.

Katie:  Amazing, amazing. Thank you so much for really delving into everything you have done. This is amazing to hear. Is there anything else you'd like to bring up that we did not ask you today?

Tamara Toledo: I'm not sure. I mean, like, I would like to know a little bit more about the project and how I could address perhaps some things that I haven't mentioned, or mention something additionally to what this project is about, it's hard to… it's hard to say.

Katie: Of course. Mm-hmm. So, our project focuses on archival work. So we are an anthropological class, we are studying Latin America and the diaspora, and how Latin American individuals are interacting with a modern-day community in Canada. So our task was to reach out to a Latin American organization, ideally Canadian and close to us. I have a background in art history, so I also am very familiar with the art world and the growth it has been evolving very rapidly, especially since the pandemic. So we love we love that you were able to talk to us, because having those ties to art history but also having ties to anthropology is very hand-in-hand. I think they do go quite coincidely together to really understand the experience of Latin Americans in Canada, and how we can improve your experience as well.

Tamara Toledo: Amazing. Well, I think that, with that said what I could add would be the work that we've done with Archivo and with Profiles, which are two projects that we've led through Sur Gallery to address this sort of representation and visibility of the Latin American diaspora. I'm not sure if you're familiar with those two. You can find more information at surgalleryvirtual.ca. Profiles is basically a series of video portraits of Latin American artists across Canada. We went to four different cities and interviewed 15 artists and created these 5-minute videos to represent the various types of artists that you can find. They've been curated, all of them are very different: different approaches, different mediums, different themes. 

Tamara Toledo: So,that is one project. And the other one is Archivo, which is a database of the Latin American diaspora of artists, of LatinX artists that identify as Indigenous from the region (from the Latin American region), Black, and Latin Caribbean. So, that one has taken about 2 years, and it continues to grow. It's project-based, and it's been implemented through project-based funding, and we hired an archivist to research and develop that particular project, and now we have over 140 entries of different artists across Canada. So, I think for your particular interest, I guess that those two would be most relevant, those two projects. And of course, we also implement a vast array of different different programs. More notably, I would say the exhibitions that we host every year, and the programming around those. There's also a symposium we held a few… maybe 3 years ago now? - called Positionality: Latin American art in Canada. And, that also is posted on our website. We have a huge archive of different events on our website that you can look through.

Katie: If I'm ever in Toronto again soon, I would love to come by and check out the gallery and see if any events are on.

Tamara Toledo: Amazing.

Katie:I have had a blast talking to you today, and I have learned so much about you and what you do for the community, and I appreciate the time you've spent with us.