PADDY LEUNG
Artist, Educator & Cultural Worker
I create participatory art projects and learning experiences that centre care, equity, and collective storytelling. My practice brings together art, education, and community engagement to support 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, racialized youth, and intergenerational connections.
Paddy Leung is a Toronto-based artist and arts educator working at the intersection of community care, cultural production, and social justice.
Their practice is rooted in collaboration, accessibility, and relationship-building, with a strong focus on 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, youth engagement, and public participation.
Through workshops, exhibitions, and large-scale community projects, Leung creates spaces where people can connect, share knowledge, and imagine more caring futures together. Their work has been presented in galleries, schools, and public spaces in partnership with arts organizations, school boards, and community groups.
Available for Projects, Workshops & Commissions — across Canada & Internationally.
Photograph by Jocelyn Reynolds
Paddy Leung is a genderqueer, neurodivergent, second-generation Chinese Canadian artist, educator, and activist whose work spans drawing, painting, mixed media, and installation. Their practice celebrates queer joy, imagination, and connection, creating art that invites people into playful and affirming spaces.
Guided by lived experiences between cultures and places, they explore themes of identity, belonging, and intergenerational relationships. Through experimental, community-rooted approaches, Leung builds welcoming environments that nurture care, connection, and more inclusive futures.
With over a decade of experience in exhibitions, facilitation, and event production, Leung is committed to creating accessible creative spaces where people of diverse identities can connect, dream, and grow together.
Interested in working together?
Paddy Leung combines their arts and crafts practices, integrating various materials and methods in their sculptures, installations, and other art forms. Their work continues to carry on traditions of community collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Available for short & long-term contracts and freelance. Reach me at leung.paddy@gmail.com
Services
- Public and Private Commissions
- Event and Program Production
- Customized Art Workshop
- Mentorship and Professional Training
- Arts Education and Facilitation
Paddy Leung
(They/Them)Artist, Educator, Activist
B. 1988, Toronto, ON
Residence in Toronto, ON
Selected Community-Engaged Art Programs & Events
2025 – Corporate Engagement, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP: Tie Dye Workshop, Toronto, ON
2023 – Public Art Program, Union Station, Squeegee Painting, Toronto, ON
2023 – Seniors Program & Special Exhibition, TIFF Bell Lightbox: Silver Screening, Food For Thought, Toronto, ON
2023 – Virtual Seniors Program & Special Exhibition, Ottawa Art Gallery, Lantern Workshop, Ottawa, ON
2022 – Virtual Program, Ottawa Art Gallery: Lunar New Year Lantern Workshop, Ottawa, ON
2022 – Public Art Program, North York Arts, Around Art & Land, Toronto, ON
2022 – Hybrid Public Art Program, Chinatown BIA: Yue Moon 完滿: Tiger With Wings 如虎添翼, Toronto, ON
2021 – Public Art Program, The Bentway: Community Incubation Program, Kindness Rocks, Toronto, ON
2021 – Virtual Program, VIBE Arts: Reduce, Reuse, Remake, Toronto, ON
2021 – Public Art Virtual Program, STEPS Public Art & Chinatown BIA: 完滿 (Yue Moon II)
2021 – Virtual Program, VIBE Arts: Mini PUFF CLUB, The 519, Toronto, ON
2021 – Corporate Engagement, Huawei Canada: Paper Lantern Workshop, Windsor, ON
2020 – Virtual Program, VIBE Arts: PUFF Club Boys & Girls Club Humber, Toronto, ON
2020 – Corporate Engagement, Huawei Canada: Halloween Mask Making Workshop, Markham, ON
2020 – Public Art Program, STEPS Public Art & Chinatown BIA: 完滿 (Yue Moon), Toronto, ON
2019–2015
Community, youth, festival, and public art programs across the GTA – full list available in PDF CV.
Selected Exhibitions & Commissions
2022 – Featured Exhibition, Yue Moon 完滿: Tiger With Wings 如虎添翼, DesignTO, Toronto, ON
2021 – Online Group Show, That So Gay (11th year): Eleventeen, Toronto, ON
2020 – Commission, Take Care, Whippersnapper Gallery, Toronto, ON
2020 – Commission, The Butterfly Effect, BIG on Bloor Festival, Toronto, ON
2019–2014
Installations, shows and commissions with Art Gallery of Ontario, The Royal Ontario Museum, Gladstone Hotel, The Drake Hotel, Nuit Blanche, DesignTO, and more – full list available in PDF CV.
Selected Press & Media
2022 – Media Featured, A rundown of Toronto’s Lunar New Year celebrations, Breakfast Television
2022 – Website Interview, This lantern exhibit in Toronto with brighten your Lunar New Year, Daily Hive
2022 – Website Interview, Toronto Chinatown Exhibit ‘Yue Moon’ Illuminates Culture and Community, Art Helps
2022 – Website Featured, Asian communities to celebrate Year of the Tiger with artwork, CBC News
2022 – Website Featured, Yue Moon 完滿: Tiger With Wings 如虎添翼, AGO Insider
2021 – Digital Content, Mini Paper Lantern with PUFF Paddy, CBC Arts
2020 – Digital Content, WEE Asian Arts: Coffee Filter Arts, Reel Asian
2020 – Digital Content, VIBE Arts: Puffy the Clown Mask, The 519
2020 – Website Interview, Q&A with PUFF Paddy, Whippersnapper Gallery
2019 – 2016
Features, interviews, and digital content across CBC Online, NOW Magazine, LSTW Magazine, Side Streets and more
– full list available in PDF CV.
Awards & Grants
2021 – Ontario Art Council: Artist in Community and Schools
2020 – Ontario Art Council: Artist in Community and Schools
2020 – Toronto Art Council: Open Door
2020 – Toronto Art Council: COVID-19 Response Fund
2015 – Neighbourhood Art Network BMO Seeds Fund
Artist Talks & Panels
2022 – Virtual Program, PRIDE Month Celebration: Guest Artist Host – Milliken Mills High School, Markham, ON
2021 – Virtual Program, Asian Heritage Month: Artist Talk – Louise Arbour Secondary School, Mississauga, ON
2021 – Virtual Program, STEPS Public Art & REEL Asian: CreateSpace – 完滿 (Yue Moon II)
2021 – Virtual Program, That So Gay (11th year): Eleventeen - Artist Talk & Art Workshop
2020 – Virtual Program, CreateSpace Artist Workshops: PUFF Studio – Artist Talk & Art Workshop
2020 – Virtual Program, Project40: Diasporasian Future II – Artist Talk & Workshop
2016 – Artist Talk, That’s So Gay (7th year): Come Together, Toronto, ON
Professional Affiliations
2026 –
Family Pride Advisory Committee, PrideTO, Toronto, ON
2025 – Community Programs & Partnership, CANVAS Arts & Action Programs, Toronto, ON2024 – Selection Committee, StreetARToronto Partnership Program Advisory Panel, Toronto, ON
2023 – Guest Facilitator: Entrepreneurship & Professional Skills, Associated Designers of Canada, Toronto, ON
2023 – Mentor in Residence Program, VIBE Arts: LaunchPAD II, Toronto, ON
2022 – Child & Youth Facilitator, The 519, Toronto, ON
2022 – Selection Committee, StreetARToronto Partnership Program Advisory Panel, Toronto, ON
2022/ 2023 – Digital Residency, On Display/ For Review, Whippersnapper Gallery, Toronto, ON
2022 – Guest Facilitator, Professional Development: Virtual Visual Workshop, VIBE Arts, Toronto, ON
2022 – Mentor in Residence Program, Neighbourhood Arts Network, Toronto, ON
2021 – Mentor in Residence Program, Neighbourhood Arts Network, Toronto, ON
2021 – Mentor in Residence Program, VIBE Arts: LaunchPAD, Toronto, ON
2021 – Guest Facilitator, Professional Development: Virtual Visual Workshop, VIBE Arts, Toronto, ON
2021 – Guest Facilitator, Creativity Meets Business with Paddy Leung, Workman Arts, Toronto, ON
2020 – Selection Committee, Pride Public Art, The City of Mississauga, Mississauga, ON
2019 – Mentorship in Residence Program, VIBE Arts: Desire Lines, Toronto, ON
2017 – Guest Host, January Community Meal: Lunar New Year, The Theatre Centre, Toronto, ON