Toby Lawrence is a curator and writer based in lək̓ʷəŋən territory, now known as Victoria, BC. She holds an MA in Art History & Theory from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies focus on curatorial practice from the University of British Columbia Okanagan, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship. She joined the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in 2024 as the Curator of Contemporary Art and was appointed to the BC Arts Council in 2023. Toby is a co-founder of the Moss Projects curatorial learning and research program in collaboration with Michelle Jacques, funded through the Canada Council for the Arts Strategic Innovations Cultivate Grant and BC Arts Council Visual Arts Project Assistance programs, and was a curatorial resident of the Otis College of Art Emerging Curators Retreat, Los Angeles and a contributing curator for the inaugural Contingencies of Care Virtual Residency hosted by OCADU, Toronto Biennial of Art, and BUSH gallery. Her curation and scholarship explore the potential of gathering and long-term relationship-building inside and outside of gallery spaces, centering collaborative and relational approaches.

Photo: Tegan McMartin Photography.