The Winnipeg Arts Council and Mayor Scott Gillingham have announced the winners of the 2024 Winnipeg Arts Council Awards. Of the awards presented this year, two have been given to visual artists.
Ekene Emeka-Maduka
Ekene Emeka-Maduka is the winner of the RBC On the Rise Award, which recognizes “the demonstrated promise of an emerging professional artist in any discipline,” according to the news release.
A Nigerian artist based in Winnipeg, Emeka-Maduka holds a BFA (Hons) from the University of Manitoba School of Art and Design and has exhibited her work in both solo and group shows at the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York City, Expo Chicago and Hofa House of Fine Art in the United Kingdom, as well as Winnipeg’s Centre for Cultural and Artistic Practices.
Jennine Krauchi
Jennine Krauchi is the winner of the Making a Difference Award. A Métis beader, artist, knowledge keeper, teacher, mentor and advocate, she champions the shared inheritance of Métis beadwork and helps connect its past to today’s concerns. “She has created two designs for coins for the Canadian Mint as well as restoring or replicating historical artifacts for the Manitoba Museum, the Canadian Museum of History, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, as well as for institutions in Scotland, France, and the United States,” according to the news release. “Jennine has won the National Indigenous Foundation Indspire’s Award for Culture, Heritage, and Spirituality; the Manitoba Arts Council’s Award of Distinction; and the Métis National Council’s Order of the Sash.”
The awards were presented June 13 at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg, Man.
“Winnipeg artists achieve beyond their means, are revered across the country, and assure the city is celebrated for the arts,” said Carol A. Phillips, the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Executive Director. “We need the voices, the words, the images, the sounds, all the creativity that artists generously offer, to sustain our own lives, for children to flourish and to know stories of the past and glimpses into the future.”
Source: Winnipeg Arts Council
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