[2] At Bard, Toia studied art with Jim Sullivan, Nancy Mitchnick and Jake Greossberg.
He received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts and worked with Loren Madsen, Judy Pfaff, Lucio Pozzi, Petah Coyne, Jackie Windsor and Bill Tucker.
in Urbino, Italy where he discussed his work with visiting artists in residence Eliseo Mattiacci, Enzo Cucchi and Jannis Kounnelis.
In March 2002, his works were displayed at the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, New Jersey in an exhibition entitled "Jim Toia: Groundwork" and featuring mushrooms as both source and subject.
[4] In 2020, Toia completed a residency with boxoPROJECTS[5] in Joshua Tree, CA where he developed works around the study and manipulation of images of the desert crust.