This Friday night, VANL-CARFAC’s 2014 EVA award winners were named. They’re an interesting array of awards celebrating local visual arts (EVA stands for Excellence in Visual Arts). The awards recognize not only the achievements of visual artists, but the “significant contribution visual arts make to the vibrant and dynamic culture of Newfoundland and Labrador.” VANL-CARFAC is run by an active board of directors which includes representation from across the province, and their mandate can be read here. Most of the awards grant the artist $1,000 and/or other perks.
The Long Haul Award: Winner, Pam Hall
The Long Haul Award recognizes a substantial contribution to the visual culture of Newfoundland and Labrador by a senior artist.
This year’s winner, Pam Hall, is a visual artist, filmmaker, and writer, whose work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally, and is represented in many corporate, private, and public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada.
The Large Year Award: Winner, Will Gill
The Large Year Award celebrates a visual artist who has enjoyed an exceptional year, with at least one exhibition and critical recognition.
Will Gill was named to the long-list of the Sobey Art Award (one of Canada’s most esteemed visual arts awards) in the 2004 and 2006 competitions. Recent career highlights include a commission for a large-scale water installation at Toronto’s Scotiabank Nuit Blanche (2012), participation in a two-person collateral exhibition at The 55th Venice Biennale (2013), a solo exhibition of paintings at The Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George, British Columbia (Oct 2013), work on a $100,000 sculpture commission for a corporate building in downtown St John’s, Newfoundland (2013) and a design commission for a hand tufted carpet for The Canadian Consulate in London, England (2014).
The Emerging Visual Artist Award: Winner, Kailey Bryan
The Emerging Artist Award honours the promising start made by an emerging visual artist in the early stages of their career.
Kailey Bryan received her BFA with Honours from York University and was the recipient of the E. J. Lightman Sculpture Award and the Louis Odette Award for Sculpture. Kailey is a founding member of Toronto based collective Tongue & Groove, who create participatory installations with recycled materials, increasingly exhibited in public spaces. Kailey’s individual practice centers on commercially manufactured materials and the body, exploring ways in which bodies and environments – physical, social, and psychological – mutually construct one another. Moving toward installation, video and performance, she hums and haws about power, agency, and accountability. Forthcoming are a solo exhibition as part of Eastern Edge Gallery’s performance series One Night Stand, a panel discussion at the Rooms, and new work for the Fibre Arts Conference 2015.
The Critical Eye Award: Winner, Lisa Moore
This award recognizes the impact that critical art writing can have on a visual artists’ career. Any writer worldwide who has written about a NL artist in any recognized print or online publication during the past calendar year is eligible for consideration.
Lisa Moore is best-known as one of Canada’s best fiction authors, despite being a visual artist and NSCAD grad herself. She has written two collections of short stories, Degrees of Nakedness and Open, and three novels, Alligator, February and Caught, and edited The Penguin Anthology of Canadian Short Fiction by Women, and co-edited (along with Dede Crane) Great Expectations: 24 True Stories about Birth by Canadian Authors. She has recently adapted February for the stage. She has taught at the University of British Columbia’s online Master Program in Creative Writing, and at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Kippy Goins Award
This award recognizes an individual or organization whose efforts have helped to sustain and build the visual arts sector in our province.
This year’s winner is The Community Youth Arts Program, administered by The Murphy Centre and funded by Service Canada. It’s a visual art based, career development project for youth between the ages of 16 and 30. It is dedicated to life-long learning and employment training in the visual arts through community service as well as group and individual skills training. CYAP helps participants apply for career and educational opportunities and assists in connecting them with professionals in the community that match their life goals or personal challenges. Providing a forum for community networking and support is an integral part of CYAP.
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