About

Olenka Kleban is a public art specialist, with technical experience as a professional sculptor and mouldmaker; and a leader in community arts engagement as a concert producer and cultural event programmer.

She is a graduate of OCAD University, where she majored in Sculpture & Installation. Her favourite coursework was in woodworking, bronze casting, and art theory.

In the early 2010s Olenka became a core member of Kosa Kolektiv. Her silo as an emerging contemporary artist opened up to a field of collaboration with the Kosas, who shared her interest in exploring their shared Ukrainian identity in an urban, diaspora context. Together, the group put on multidisciplinary art events focused on audience participation. This was a prolific period of turning rural Ukrainian customs into experiential arts programming for diverse urban audiences in Toronto. In addition to reviving old customs, Olenka’s involvement with Kosa Kolektiv influenced the content of her contemporary sculpture practice. Throughout this decade, Olenka produced sculptures in bronze, aluminum, and iron in a range of environments, from professional fine art foundries and commercial fabrication shops to community-led metal casting jamborees across the US and Canada.