BMO 1st Art! 2017 winners announced.

BMO 1st Art! celebrates the creativity of art school students from over 100 post-secondary institutions across Canada. Every year BMO Financial Group invites the deans and instructors of undergraduate-level certificate, diploma, or degree programmes in studio art to select from their graduating classes three students whose ability and imagination place them 1st among their peers.

Each promising student is asked to submit digital images of a recent work to BMO Financial Group’s Art Collection Unit by May 15, 2017. Our distinguished selection committee will review the submissions in July and choose one winner from every province and territory to be 1st in their region. A national winner will also be chosen.

The regional winners will each be awarded $7,500 and the award for the national winner is $15,000.

All winning entries for 2017 will be on display at the 1st Art! 2017 exhibition, held at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery from November 16 – December 16, 2017.

The BMO 1st Art! 2017 Selection Committee

Hugues Charbonneau, Director, Galerie Hugues Charbonneau; Naomi Potter, Director/Curator, Esker Foundation; Kim Simon, Curator, Gallery TPW; Pan Wendt, Curator, Confederation Centre Art Gallery; Dawn Cain, Curator, BMO Corporate Art Collection

2017 Winners

The winners for 2017 vividly demonstrate the excellence and promise of Canada's newest generation of artists (click on the image for a larger view).

NATIONAL WINNER

Xiao Xue, University of Victoria

Alberta

Dylan Cameron, Alberta College of Art & Design

British Columbia

James Fermor, University of Victoria

Manitoba

Chelsey Thiessen, University of Manitoba

New Brunswick

Emily Blair, New Brunswick College of Craft & Design

Newfoundland and Labrador

Lauren Brinson, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Nova Scotia

Annabel Biro, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University

Nunavut

Anne Qammaniq-Hellwig, Nunavut Arctic College

Ontario

Jessica Peterson, Queen’s University

Prince Edward Island

Aidan Searle, Holland College

Quebec

Laure Bourgault, Université du Québec à Montréal

Saskatchewan

Audie Murray, University of Regina

Yukon

Kayza DeGraff-Ford, Yukon School of Visual Arts

Source: BMO 1ST ART