About » Board of Directors

Michael Awad, Chair of the Board
Joined July 2004; elected Chair June 2006

Michael Awad holds both Bachelor and Masters degrees in Architecture, a Masters of Urban Design, and has taught at the UofT Faculty of Architecture for nearly a decade. First exhibited in 2001, Michael's experimental photography was included in and represented the 'Substitute City' exhibition at the Toronto PowerPlant Gallery, curated by Philip Monk. He was then selected to represent Canada at the 2002 Venice Architectural Biennale, and was commissioned to design the Canadian Pavilion at the 2004 Art Biennale of Brazil in San Paulo. His first solo exhibition, 'The Entire City Project', was presented in 2005 at the Art Gallery of Ontario, curated by David Moos. His commissioned art works are now in the collections of The Art Gallery of Ontario, Pearson International Airport, the City of Toronto's Office of the Mayor, and York University. Awad was recruited as a board member in 2004 specifically to manage the relocation of InterAccess to its new location.

Robert Cruickshank
Elected November 1999

Robert Cruickshank is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist. His works in various media including electronic and robotic installations, sound art, electroacoustic music, and photography have been exhibited in Toronto, and internationally. As a long-term member of InterAccess, he has participated in many collaborative projects, such as the shows Space Probe and SenseBus, and the Art Interface Device project. He is currently a member of I/O Media, an InterAccess-based electronic audio/visual improvisational group. He has developed a number of workshops at InterAccess, providing artists with an opportunity to learn electronics, and has assisted numerous artists with the technological challenges of realizing their works. By day, he works in the engineering department of CHUM Television.

Dafydd Hughes
Elected June 2006

Dafydd Hughes is an artist and music educator based in Toronto, Canada. He is an instructor in Music Technologies and Ear Training at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, and is active as a performer, composer and arranger in Toronto and throughout Canada. Dafydd's formal training includes studies at Mohawk College and the University of Toronto, where he earned a degree in jazz performance with a minor in composition in 1999. Since graduation he has worked extensively as a freelance performer, composer and arranger in Toronto's jazz, popular and improvised music scenes. Through involvement with new media organizations such as Toronto's InterAccess, Dafydd has devoted considerable research to the relationship between technology and art, concentrating on computer music and audio. He has developed several computer-based musical systems using programming environments such as Pure Data, Csound and Python. He has taught workshops in Pure Data and synthesis for several organizations including InterAccess.

Risa Horowitz, Vice-Chair, Treasurer
Elected June 2006

Currently living in her hometown, Toronto, Risa Horowitz has lived and worked as a visual artist, writer, and art gallery programmer in seven Canadian provinces, and has exhibited her works in galleries including Plug Inc ica, The Saidye Bronfman Centre, The Mendel Art Gallery, and several artist-run-centres, as well as in the UK and in Brazil. Reviews of her work have appeared in the Globe & Mail and BlackFlash, while critical writing by Horowitz has been published in Canadian Art, Border Crossings, C-Magazine and BlackFlash. Risa was recently awarded grants from both the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts in addition to the K.M. Hunter award for excellence in Visual Arts. Risa is also a member of the Programming Advisory Council at InterAccess. 2008 exhibitions of her work will take place at the Experimental Art Foundation in Adelaide, Australia, and at MKG127 Gallery in Toronto, and Risa will attend La Cité - the Paris Studio - in summer 2008.

Dave Kemp
Elected June 2008

Dave Kemp is a visual artist and recent graduate from the Master of Visual Studies program at the University of Toronto where he also complete the Collaborative Program in Knowledge Media Design. Prior to this, he earned an Image Arts (photography) BFA from Ryerson University and his BScE in Mechanical Engineering at QueenÕs University. His art practice looks at the intersections and interactions between art, science and technology - particularly at how these fields shape our perception and understanding of the world.
In addition to his personal art practice he has worked as the Studio Manager at Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, Photo-Editor of the Toronto International Film FestivalÕs Festival Daily newspaper, as coordinator of the MediaGenerator initiative at University of Toronto Mississauga and as a technical consultant/designer for a number of artists including: Germaine Koh, Jessica Thomson, Lisa Steele + Kim Tomczak, Susan Schelle and David Rokeby.

Julie Lassonde
Elected June 2006

Julie is qualified as a lawyer in Ontario and has experience serving on a corporate Board. She is also involved in the fields of performance art and video. In addition, Julie is fluent in English and French. Julie is currently in the final stages of an interdisciplinary Master's degree at the University of Victoria involving visual arts and law. Her interest in new technologies, electronic and digital arts initially emerged out of her practical need to document live performance for this project, but she quickly discovered their exciting potential as a medium of expression.

Angella Mackey
Elected June 2008

Information coming soon.

Stephanie Rogerson
Elected June 2007

Stephanie Rogerson is an artist and independent curator. She received her MFA in photography and related media from the School of Visual Arts. Currently, Stephanie is pursuing her PhD in visual culture studies at the University of Western Ontario.