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haptic horizons

art symposium

February 27th to March 1st, 2026

in Hamilton, Ontario

The Haptic Horizons Art Symposium brings together the d/Deaf, disabled, and sensory-diverse communities for three days dedicated to deepening understanding of how vibration, touch, and multi-sensory technological innovations can expand artistic expression into new dimensions and make the arts more inclusive with the accessibility-driven possibilities of haptic (touch-based) arts.

Through cross-sector dialogue and hands-on experimentation, we aim to spark new ideas that support disability-led leadership and help to shape the future of tactile and accessible artistic practice. 

days
hours
minutes
A group portrait of twelve diverse Haptic Horizons residents standing and kneeling against a plain white studio background. The group is smiling and leaning toward one another, radiating a sense of community. Several members are using American Sign Language (ASL) to sign "I love you" or other hand gestures. The group includes people of various ages, ethnicities, and styles, wearing casual, colourful clothing.
A group portrait of twelve diverse Haptic Horizons residents standing and kneeling against a plain white studio background. The group is smiling and leaning toward one another, radiating a sense of community. Several members are using American Sign Language (ASL) to sign "I love you" or other hand gestures. The group includes people of various ages, ethnicities, and styles, wearing casual, colourful clothing.

Where Art Meets Touch

Voices in the Room

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Artists, speakers, and facilitators sharing their unique perspectives

People Gathering

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Attendees from across diverse disciplines and backgrounds

Full Days of Connection

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Including a DJ’d dance party and informal gatherings to extend the conversation

Co-Presented By:

Centre[3] for Artistic + Social Practice, a Hamilton-based non-profit centre dedicated to positive social impact and community change through the arts,

AND

VibraFusionLab, an innovative media centre for arts-based, vibrotactile research and creative practice, focused on multisensory artistic creation and presentation.

Centre[3] for Artistic & Social Practice logo
VibraFusionLab logo

This Year's Speakers
& Artists

exploring touch, vibration, and multi-sensory access in contemporary art

Eliza Chandlier

Haptic Scores – Composing Art and Access Through Vibration

More Details

Yvonne Felix

The Beacon Project: Accessibility, Haptics, and Re-visioning the Arts Centre

More Details

Ben Akuoko

Friday Emcee

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Marsha Ireland

Friday & Saturday Indigenous Elder Opening Ceremonies

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Dr. Dan Bosnyak

Enhancing EDM Dance Experience with the Addition of Ultra-low Frequency Sound and Vibrotactile Stimulation

More Details

David Bobier

Creating for Multiple Senses

More Details

Jim Ruxton

Creating for Multiple Senses

More Details

Leon Louder

Entomophonia Art Installation

More Details

Deirdre Logue

What if an Hourglass Felt Like an Earthquake? Art Installation & The Un-magic Lab Workshop

More Details

Gift Tshuma

Saturday Emcee & Unscripted: How Disabled Creativity Reshapes Art and Community

More Details

Olivia Brouwer

Sensorial Plurality Art Exhibition & Panel Discussion

More Details

Kim Fullerton

Sensorial Plurality Art Exhibition & Panel Discussion

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Connor Yuzwenko-Martin

Sensorial Plurality Art Exhibition & Panel Discussion

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Willy Le Maitre

Sensorial Plurality Art Exhibition & Panel Discussion

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Salima Punjani

Sensorial Plurality Art Exhibition & Panel Discussion

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Ebony R. Gooden

Sensorial Plurality Art Exhibition & Panel Discussion

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Christie Pearson

Seven Approaches to Wave-Based Art

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Marcus Boon

Seven Approaches to Wave-Based Art

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Colin Clark

Experiments in Vibration and Form & Composing for Vibratory Media Workshop

More Details

Laurel Lawson

Experiments in Vibration and Form & Composing for Vibratory Media Workshop

More Details

See All

View The Full Lineup

EVENT SCHEDULE

With Entertainment By

A promotional graphic for "Haptic Dance Party with DJ Zahra Habib". The image features a woman with dark curly hair and an off-the-shoulder teal top standing confidently. The background consists of vibrant blue concentric circles with pink text and three small sparkling disco ball icons.

DJ Zahra Habib

Join us on Friday night for a haptic dance party to celebrate and feel the music move you

Learn More
A promotional photo for the Ghost Rooster Collective featuring four people in expressive poses against a wavy, multicoloured patterned backdrop. They wear bold textures, including leopard print, red satin, and shimmering silver. A graphic logo in the top right shows a stylized black rooster logo with the collective's name.

Ghost Rooster Collective

Enjoy a performance rooted in lived experiences by an interdisciplinary group of disabled artists committed to exploring accessibility as a creative framework

Learn More
A promotional photo for the Ghost Rooster Collective featuring four people in expressive poses against a wavy, multicoloured patterned backdrop. They wear bold textures, including leopard print, red satin, and shimmering silver. A graphic logo in the top right shows a stylized black rooster logo with the collective's name.

Schedule of Events

A candid shot from an opening reception inside one of Centre[3]'s galleries. The gallery has white walls and light wood floors. Several visitors are standing and observing various artworks, including a series of red figurative sketches on the wall and a bright digital projection of a portrait framed in an ornate oval border.

Art Exhibition Opening Reception – Sensorial Plurality

February 27 @ 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
featuring works by artists Ebony R. Gooden, Willy Le Maitre, Connor Yuzwenko-Martin, Olivia Brouwer, Salima Punjani, and Kim Fullerton
A colourful graphic for the Symposium's Friday Opening Ceremony. The design features large, overlapping organic shapes in shades of magenta, teal, and deep purple. At the bottom, thin white line drawings of hands reach towards a central glowing geometric wireframe structure that emits light rays and data particles into a dark void.

Friday Opening Ceremony

February 27 @ 7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
with emcee Ben Akuoko and Indigenous Elder Marsha Ireland
A cinematic promotional graphic for the presentation "Haptic Scores" at the Haptic Horizons Art Symposium. A human hand and a robotic hand reach towards one another over a surreal landscape featuring a glowing purple moon, abstract sculptures, and a distant city skyline under a star-filled sky.

Haptic Scores

February 27 @ 7:50 pm - 8:20 pm
with Eliza Chandler
A rich, purple-toned promo graphic for the presentation "The Beacon Project". It depicts a diverse group of individuals interacting with sensory technology: a woman in a wheelchair, a person using a VR headset, and a large haptic-gloved hand in the centre touching a textured wall. Glowing particles and fluid patterns tie the figures together in a collaborative space.

The Beacon Project

February 27 @ 8:20 pm - 8:50 pm
with Yvonne Felix, Executive Director of Centre3
A promotional graphic the presentation "Creating for Multiple Senses" at the Haptic Horizons Art Symposium. The vibrant blue and purple design features illustrated hands interacting with sensory elements: one finger touches a glowing ripple pattern, another hand rests on a textured sphere, and a third holds a vibrating haptic device. Sound waves and fluid geometric shapes flow across the bottom.

Creating for Multiple Senses

February 27 @ 8:50 pm - 9:20 pm
with David Bobier and Jim Ruxton of VibraFusionLab
A highly stylized neon-coloured promotional graphic for the art installation titled "ENTOMOPHONIA". Against a dark, star-speckled background with a large glowing moon, various insects—including a dragonfly, a moth, and a beetle—hover around digital sound wave visualizations. Glowing blue speakers and undulating liquid-like ripples suggest a fusion of nature and electronic sound.

Art Installation – Entomophonia

February 27 @ 9:20 pm - March 1 @ 4:00 pm
by Leon Louder
A promotional graphic for the art installation titled "What If An Hourglass Felt Like An Earthquake?". The image features a duotone purple and teal filter over a photograph of a large projector screen suspended in a studio, with dark stage curtains visible on the left. The title text is centred in bold, white lettering with a subtle drop shadow.

Art Installation – What if an Hourglass Felt Like an Earthquake?

February 27 @ 9:30 pm - March 1 @ 4:00 pm
by Deirdre Logue
A colourful graphic for the Symposium's Saturday Opening Ceremony. The design's composition uses bold, overlapping circles and fluid petal-like shapes in bright pink, cyan, and indigo. The background features a dark blue grid-like perspective, with small glowing blue orbs floating in the space.

Saturday Opening Ceremony

February 28 @ 10:00 am - 10:20 am
with emcee Gift Tshuma and Indigenous Elder Marsha Ireland
A dynamic promotional graphic for the HHAS presentation "Unscripted: How Disabled Creativity Reshapes Art and Community". The collage-style image features a robotic arm, a hand touching a braille-like surface, a person in a wheelchair interacting with a glowing orb, and another person in a VR headset, all set against a textured, multicoloured background.

Unscripted: How Disabled Creativity Reshapes Art and Community

February 28 @ 10:20 am - 11:00 am
with Gift Tshuma
A candid shot from an opening reception inside one of Centre[3]'s galleries. The gallery has white walls and light wood floors. Several visitors are standing and observing various artworks, including a series of red figurative sketches on the wall and a bright digital projection of a portrait framed in an ornate oval border.

Art Exhibition Open House – Sensorial Plurality

February 28 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
featuring works by artists Ebony R. Gooden, Willy Le Maitre, Connor Yuzwenko-Martin, Olivia Brouwer, Salima Punjani, and Kim Fullerton
A promotional graphic for the Resident Artists Panel Discussion event at the HHAS. Four silhouettes of artists are seated in chairs on a stage, facing each other in conversation in front of an audience of people. Above them, a neon glowing pink and blue wave of light flows across a background.

Artists’ Panel Discussion – Beyond the Visual & Auditory

February 28 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
with Haptic Horizons resident artists Ebony R. Gooden, Willy Le Maitre, Connor Yuzwenko-Martin, Olivia Brouwer, Salima Punjani, and Kim Fullerton, moderated by Yvonne Felix
A vibrant abstract graphic titled "Seven Approaches to Wave-Based Art". Swirling, thick ribbons of liquid-like textures in teal, magenta, and deep purple flow across the frame. Some ribbons show cracked earth textures, while others feature a glowing grid or vibrating light frequencies, representing different elemental and sensory waves.

Seven Approaches to Wave-Based Art

February 28 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
with Marcus Boon and Christie Pearson
A high-energy graphic titled "Enhancing EDM Dance Experience with the Addition of Ultra-low Frequency Sound and Vibrotactile Stimulation". There are silhouettes of four illustrated people dance on a stage bathed in purple spotlights. A massive, glowing sound wave visualizer in pink, white, and blue dominates the centre, while concentric circular ripples on the floor suggest physical vibrations.

Enhancing EDM Dance Experience

February 28 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
with Dr. Dan Bosnyak
A vibrant promotional graphic titled "Experiments in Vibration and Form as Embodied Artistic Medium". The background features high-frequency sound wave peaks in deep purple, magenta, and teal. Subtle circular ripples and a thin, white oscilloscope-style line cutting through the centre suggest a physical, tactile representation of sound and movement.

Experiments in Vibration and Form

February 28 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
with Laurel Lawson and Colin Clark
A futuristic promotional graphic for "THE UN-MAGIC LAB WORKSHOP". The design features a translucent, glowing blue laboratory with interconnected pipes, chambers, and wireframe cubes. An illustrated hand with cybernetic sensors on the fingertips reaches out to touch a central, luminous cube.

Workshop – The Un-magic Lab

March 1 @ 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
with Deirdre Logue
A vibrant graphic with the workshop title "Composing for Vibratory Media Workshop". The background features undulating waves of purple and teal overlaid with glowing white circuit board lines. Concentric circular ripples, resembling vibrations in water or sound frequencies, pulse across the design.

Workshop – Composing for Vibratory Media

March 1 @ 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
with Laurel Lawson and Colin Clark 
A vibrant, futuristic promotional graphic for the HHAS Closing Reception at VibraFusionLab. It features a robotic hand with glowing blue fingertips on the left and a human hand reaching towards it on the right. Below the text are glowing digital visualizations of sound frequencies and tactile interfaces.

Closing Reception

March 1 @ 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
explore Hamilton's VibraFusionLab at the Haptic Horizons Art Symposium closing reception

Live ASL interpretation will be available for all presentations, discussions, and workshops

American Sign Language symbol

Haptic Horizons
Artist Residency

Who is Haptic Horizons for?

Makers

Artists and designers across disciplines working with hands-on tactile materials

Thinkers

Researchers and educators investigating accessibile technologies and sensory experiences

Builders

Cultural workers and accessibility practitioners creating tools and spaces that serve every body and ability

Explorers

Community members interested in learning how art can be expressed, felt and understood on a tangible level

A Note On Accessibility

The Haptic Horizons Art Symposium is committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for d/Deaf, disabled, and sensory-diverse communities. Over three days of presentations, workshops, and gatherings, we aim to prioritize access as a shared responsibility and a core value, not an add-on.

As a symposium rooted in disability-led perspectives, we recognize that access needs can vary and that no single approach will work for everyone. Our goal is to reduce barriers, support multiple ways of engaging, and remain responsive to your needs before, during, and after each event.

Accessibility is an ongoing process. We welcome all feedback and access requests, and will do our best to accommodate within our capacity.


– Brayden Smith, Accessibility Coordinator

Venue Details
Getting Here

A Note On Accessibility

Venue Details
Getting Here

Sensory Safe Spaces

Quiet, low-stimulation spots provided for rest and regulation

Communication Support

Deaf Interpreters and ASL interpreters for all presentations and workshops, with presenters encouraged to describe visual content verbally

Service Animals

Welcomed and accommodated fully with water stations and designated areas

Access On Every Floor

Wheelchair accessible entrances and facilities, with elevators and ramps connecting to main programming areas

Flexible Participation Encouragaed

Move, stand, leave or re-enter event sessions as needed

Requests Welcome

We encourage contacting us with any specific requests in advance so we can accommodate them accordingly

Request Additional Access Needs
HHAS's Commitment To Digital Accessibility

You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers

Common inquiries about access and what to expect at each venue

Still Wondering? Contact us >

Livestreaming will be available for all presentations. Once the symposium is live, you can join the broadcast by clicking here!

Recordings will also be shared with all registrants via email after the symposium concludes.

Absolutely! You can request specific access needs by notifying us in advance via our contact form. We’re happy to work with you to arrange supporting accommodations.

Reserved accessible parking is available at the Spice Factory venue. Spaces are clearly marked and close to main entrances, no permit required. You can view more details on parking and transit here.

Staybridge Suites Hamilton Downtown has been selected as the official hotel for the Haptic Horizon Arts Symposium. Its spacious suite-style rooms, accessible amenities, and convenient downtown location make it an ideal spot if you’re planning a stay for the weekend. A preferred nightly rate has been arranged for all Haptic Horizon participants – click here to learn more and book.

Redefining How Art Is Experienced
Register For Free

Generously Supported By Our Partners

City of Hamilton logo
City of Hamilton
The official logo for the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The black graphic features a stylised three-petalled trillium flower in the centre, flanked by the English and French names of the foundation.
Ontario Trillium Foundation
Ontario Arts Council logo
Ontario Arts Council
Canada Council for the Arts logo
Canada Council for the Arts

We extend our sincere gratitude to our funders for their invested belief in the power of the arts to drive meaningful social impact, and for continuing to support work that builds more inclusive, responsive, and accessible cultural futures. 

Transit Options

To Spice Factory
121 Hughson St. N, Hamilton, ON L8R 1G7

From Toronto & the GTA (Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington) 

GO Train:

  1. Take the Lakeshore West GO Train from:
    a)     Union Station (Toronto), or 
    B) Any station westward (Exhibition, Mimico, Long Branch, Port Credit, Clarkson, Oakville, Bronte, Appleby, Burlington).
  2. Travel toward Hamilton: Get off at West Harbour GO Station (closest to venues), or 
    Hamilton GO Centre (downtown terminal).
  3. From West Harbour GO: 
    Walk 10-12 minutes to The Spice Factory (south along James St N, then east to Hughson).
  4. From Hamilton GO Centre: 
    Walk 15-17 minutes to The Spice Factory, or take an HSR bus a few stops north toward Barton and James, then walk to Hughson St N. 
  5.  

GO Bus:

  • From Union Station Bus Terminal or Mississauga (Square One), take a GO Bus to Hamilton GO Centre. 
  • From Hamilton GO Centre, walk 15-17 minutes to The Spice Factory, or take an HSR bus a few stops north toward Barton and James, then walk to Hughson St N. 

 

 

From Niagara Region (St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Grimsby) 

  1. Take a GO Train or GO Bus toward Hamilton (often via the Niagara–Toronto corridor with stops in St. Catharines and Grimsby).
  2. Get off at Hamilton GO Centre or West Harbour GO.
  3. Walk, take a short HSR bus ride, or taxi to The Spice Factory.

(Service frequency varies in Niagara; check current schedules in advance.) 

 

 

From Brampton, Halton, & Peel Region 

  1. Travel by local transit or GO Bus/Train to Union Station or Oakville/Burlington.
  2. Transfer to the Lakeshore West GO Train toward Hamilton.
  3. Arrive at West Harbour GO or Hamilton GO Centre and proceed as above.

 

 

From Kitchener–Waterloo, Guelph, & Cambridge 

  1. Take the GO Train or GO Bus from Kitchener, Guelph, or Cambridge toward the GTA (often via Brampton or Mississauga).
  • Transfer to the Lakeshore West GO Train toward Hamilton.
  • Get off at West Harbour GO or Hamilton GO Centre and walk/HSR to The Spice Factory. 

(Some routes may also connect via Aldershot GO (Burlington) with a short GO Train hop into Hamilton.) 

 

 

From Within Hamilton 

HSR (Hamilton Street Railway) serves downtown extensively. 

  • Look for buses stopping near James St N, King St, or Barton St. 
  • The Spice Factory is a short walk from James & Barton, James & Wilson, or King & Hughson stops.

 

 

Accessibility Notes for Transit Users 

  • GO Transit trains and buses, as well as Hamilton GO stations, are equipped with accessibility supports (ramps, elevators, priority seating, etc.). 
  • Many HSR buses are low-floor and wheelchair accessible. 
  • If you have specific accessibility needs related to transit or transfers, please contact us and/or GO Transit/HSR in advance to confirm the best route.
  • DARTS is a specialized transit service local to Hamilton, available to those with disabilities who are unable to access regular transit service. 
HSR Schedules & Routes
Book DARTS transit