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What Does Retirement Look Like for an Artist? A Toronto Exhibition Investigates
A Forwards Retreat, curated by Rui Pimenta for the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair's 65th year, features senior artists reflecting on aging and creative life
Published: July 19, 2026
To mark the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair's 65th anniversary, curator Rui Pimenta organized an exhibition exploring what retirement means for working artists, many of whom never fully stop creating. Held at Nathan Phillips Square, A Forwards Retreat features new work from acclaimed artists including choreographer Peggy Baker, sculptor Max Dean, coin artist Micah Lexier and installation artist Ed Pien, alongside mid-career sculptor Naomi Dodds. Highlights include Dean's public giveaway of his late wife's lifetime body of artwork, and Lexier's roaming distribution of thousands of hand-minted coins, one for each day of his life. The show ultimately reframes aging not as decline but as an ongoing source of meaning and creative purpose.
