Artists Win National Craft Awards for Clay and Glass

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Jeanne Letourneau, “Chaussure N.03” from the “Objects and Relics series," 2021, crystal, 4’’ x 4’’ x 7.5’’, collection of the artist (photo by Joh Wax)

Two major craft awards – a ceramics prize for Amy Duval, of Medicine Hat, Alta., and a glass one to Montreal artist Jeanne Letourneau – were announced Tuesday by the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ont.

Duval picks up the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics, while Letourneau is the winner of the RBC Award for Glass. They each receive a $10,000 prize to support the development of their careers.

"Winners and finalists of these awards are recognized as the best and brightest of the future of Canadian ceramics and glass art," the gallery said.

The finalists for the ceramics award were François Grenier, of Chatham, Ont., and Brianne Siu, of Burnaby, B.C., who each receive $1,000 to further their practice.

The runner-up for the glass award was Charlie Larouche-Potvin, of Montreal, who takes home $2,500. Nadira Narine, of Toronto, is a finalist with a prize of $1,000.

The gallery will feature the winners and finalists in an awards exhibition, Emergence, in the summer. 

Letourneau graduated from Montreal's Espace Verre in 2021. She was a runner-up for the 2022 Award for Glass.

Her practice focuses on the contemporary urban environment and reimagines everyday objects as status symbols.

Jurors Susan Edgerley, Jessamy Kelly and Julia Reimer said Letourneau's work "shows an unusual commitment to glass-making at such an early stage in her career with a strong and well thought out conceptual framework."

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Amy Duval, "Originate/Replicate," (detail), 2022, mixed media, 168" x 84" (courtesy of the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery)

Ceramics jurors Elaine Cheasley Paterson, Robin Dupont and Roswitha Wulff noted Duval's "varied and uninterrupted career path" since her undergraduate studies, and praised her contributions to the ceramics community through exhibition, teaching and arts administration.

Source: Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery