Audain Prize Boosted to $100,000

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Michael Audain

The Audain Prize for British Columbia’s most distinguished visual artists is this year being raised to $100,000, says Michael Audain, chairman of the Audain Foundation.

The prize, established in 2004, will become one of three annual Canadian arts awards that gives the winner a cash prize of $100,000.

The Giller Prize, which celebrates excellence in Canadian fiction, and the Sobey Art Award, for a contemporary Canadian artist, age 40 and under, are in this rare company.

“We are increasing the value of the Audain Prize award because we want our leading artists to become better known," says Audain. "After all, British Columbia has some wonderful visual artists, and many are not as widely recognized as they should be.”

The Audain Foundation also plans to fund five $7,500 travel grants for students in university-level visual arts programs.

The Audain Art Museum in Whistler will manage the award, which will be announced Sept. 23. Recipients will be selected by an independent jury of curators and artists.

A $1.5-million endowment previously set up at the Vancouver Art Gallery for the award will be added to the gallery's Audain Emerging Artists Acquisition Fund, increasing it to $3.5 million, says Audain.

Past Audain Prize recipients include Ann Kipling, Edward J. Hughes, Eric Metcalfe, Gordon Smith, Jeff Wall, Liz Magor, Robert Davidson, Rodney Graham, Marian Penner Bancroft, Takao Tanabe, Gathie Falk, Fred Herzog, Michael Morris, Paul Wong, Carole Itter and Susan Point.

Source: Audain Art Museum