Helen Toomer

HELEN TOOMER is a recognized leader in the arts, with over fifteen years’ experience organizing events, exhibitions and residencies. She is dedicated to uplifting womxn in the arts.

Toomer is Co-Founder of STONELEAF RETREAT, an artists’ residency and connective space in the Hudson Valley of New York focused on supporting womxn and families. She is the Founder of UPSTATE ART WEEKEND and the Co-Founder of Art Mamas Alliance. She is also the Director of PHOTOFAIRS New York, the inaugural edition of which takes place at the Javits Center in New York City, September 8-10, 2023.

Formerly, Toomer was executive director of Artists in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) and director of the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair, Collective Design Fair, and PULSE Contemporary Art Fairs. She also co-founded and managed a contemporary art gallery, toomer labzda, in New York City.

Toomer lectures on art fairs and professional development at universities and arts organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom, and was an adjunct professor at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the Fashion Institute of Technology. She serves on Advisory Committees for Foundwork, The Dorsky Museum and the Baxter St Camera Club of New York.