Lacey Prize Recognizes Artist-run Centres in Canada
Hamilton Artists Inc. has won the Lacey Prize, first award recognizing artist-run centres in Canada. It will share $90,000 with two runners up, Gallery Gachet in Vancouver and the Untitled Art Society in Calgary
The prize was established earlier this year by John Lacey in association with the National Gallery of Canada.
The biennial prize recognizes the critical role artist-run centres and small arts organizations play in supporting artists and fostering emerging practices in Canada.
Hamilton Artists Inc., which celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2020, receives $50,000. The two runners-up receive $20,000 each.
A contemporary curator from the National Gallery will visit the winning organization in the coming year to conduct in-person meetings and studio visits.
“Hamilton Artists Inc. are doing vital and ground-breaking work, as are many other artist-run centres across the country,“ said Sasha Suda, director of the National Gallery. "The Lacey Prize recognizes this important work and brings the National Gallery of Canada into closer dialogue with artist-run spaces across the country."
A three-person, independent jury comprised of Governor General Award-winning curator Glenn Alteen, National Gallery of Canada assistant curator, contemporary art, Nicole Burisch, and artist Louise Lacey-Rokosh, selected the winners and runners-up from an impressive 51 submissions.
Jury members stressed the relevance of the new prize, observing that nominators repeatedly emphasized the often large or isolated areas serviced by organizations working tirelessly and inventively, typically with limited resources, to meet the diverse needs of their artistic communities.
The jurors identified four centres that merited honourable mentions: Struts Gallery (N.B.); this town is small (P.E.I.); Critical Distance (Ont.), and Blinkers (Man.).
Nominations for the second biennial Lacey Prize open in summer 2021.
For more information, visit: Lacey Prize.
Source: National Gallery of Canada
