Rotem Raz
I am a Toronto-based storyteller, interdisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher.
I am interested in origin stories, transformation, and the creative process.
I grew up in Kibbutz Yiftah, a remote community in northern Israel, very close to the border between what we now call Israel and Lebanon. We were living so close to the border that we could hear the prayers from a mosque in Lebanon as the wind carried them over the fence to our small community. That freedom that the sound had to travel uninterrupted over the border ignited in me a desire to transcend present-day limitations and connect with my relatives - the human family - to relearn about our pasts and envision better futures.
My recent doctoral dissertation Planting Seed of Hope at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto is an arts-based study looking at a model for aspiring allies to the revitalization of Indigenous languages and cultures on Turtle Island.
Exhibition:
Solo Exhibitions
2026 | The Astrology Lesson: A Will to Listen - Seeing & Perceiving, Wychwood Barns, Toronto.
2024 | Riddles, Gallery 222, Toronto (incl. artist talk/story circles).
2009 | Travel an Inch; Erode a Day (duo show with Christina Kostoff), Interaccess, Toronto.
Group Exhibitions & Public Art
2026 | Origin, (Public Displays Agency) Avant Garde Gallery, Toronto.
2025 | Lumen, (Public Displays Abency ) Parkdale Hall, Toronto; Toronto KennelKlub (Toronto Island).
2022 | Bayview Spring Art Sale, The Gates of Bayview, Toronto.
2021 | Oriole Garden’s Art, Toronto; Art Attack, Buddies in Bad Times, Toronto.
2015 | YYZ LAB, North York Centre for the Arts.
2014 | YYZ LAB Residency, Open House, Toronto; Stitched, Artscape Youngplace; Hook, The 519 (World Pride).
2009 | Emerging Artists of the Americas, Albuquerque; Meditation’s on the Curse of Macha, Board of Directors, Toronto; Graduate Show, The Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto.
2008 | The SCIN Show, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto.
Education:
2024 | PhD - Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE)
2019 | MEd - Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE)
2013 | Youth Worker Diploma - Humber College of Technology and Advanced Learning
2009 | BFA - The Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD University)
2003-2005 | Astrology training with Ruti Aharoni
Awards & Recognition:
2019-2023 | University Of Toronto Fellowship, Department Of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
2020 | Shiff Family Graduate Award in Jewish Studies
2018 | Shiff Family Graduate Award in Jewish Studies
2015 | Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant (for the Weave Project)
2015 | Bartiemaeus Inc. Achievement Award (for outstanding achievement in
Child and Youth Work).
2013-2014 | Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council Grants (for WEAVE - Arts in The Community Project, as FibreWebs Collective Lead Artist)
2008 | Wayne Lum Memorial Award (for proficiency in Sculpture and
Installation, OCAD U).
2007 | Certificate of Recognition (for outstanding service to OCAD and the community)
2007 | Friends of OCA Award (for proficiency in Integrated Media, OCAD U).
2007 | Jacques Dagenais Science in Culture award(for proficiency in Integrated Media OCAD).
2006 | Ferdinand H. Marani Award (for proficiency in 1st year, OCAD U).
Associations
Craft Ontario (2025-present)
IATSE 873 Union member. (2025- current)
Toronto Guild of Hand Spinners & Weavers (2010–2025).
Modern Quilters Guild of Toronto (2023–2025).
Publications:
Journal Articles
Raz, R. (under review) 1.2.3. Riddles. Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes Art /Jews / Canada.
Doctoral Dissertation
Raz, R. (2024) Planting Seeds of Hope - Trinities, Assymetries, Kinship and Sweetgrass Braiding: Anishinaabe, Lunaapeew, and Hebrew Revitalization.
Book Chapter
Raz, R. (2019) Dillemas in Decolonizing Spirituality: Thoughts for Educators. In Wane, Torres & Nyaga (Ed). Transversing and Translocating Spiritualities - Epistemological and Pedagogical Conversations. Canada: Nsemia Inc. Publishers, pp.161-180