For more than two decades Helen Toomer has been dedicated to supporting, advising and uplifting artists through her leadership and creation of large-scale events, exhibitions and spaces.
Photo taken by Tonje Thilesen for Art Basel Stories
Toomer is co-founder of STONELEAF RETREAT, an artists’ residency focused on womxn and families, co-founder of Art Mamas Alliance, a support group for parents in the arts, and she founded UPSTATE ART WEEKEND, an annual event, unifying over a hundred organizations in the Hudson Valley of New York.
Formerly, Toomer was director of Photofairs New York, Artists in Residence in Everglades, IFPDA Print Fair, Collective Design Fair, and Pulse Contemporary Art Fairs. She co-founded and managed a contemporary art gallery, toomer labzda, in New York City and has lectured at the Arts University Bournemouth, Fashion Institute of Technology, Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Winchester School of Art.
Toomer was a juror of the 2024 Bermuda Biennial and sits on the Advisory Committees for The Dorsky Museum and the Baxter St Camera Club of New York.