Matthew O’Reilly Receives 2022 Winifred Shantz Award

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Matthew O'Reilly, "Piles Of Barbarism," 2022 (photo by Leandra Brandson)

Matthew O'Reilly, of Medicine Hat, Alta., has received the 2022 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics. The $10,000 prize will help develop the emerging artist's career through a residency and exhibitions nationally and in the United States.

The five finalists for the prize were Rebecca Ramsey, of Montreal; Daumante Stirbyte, of London, Ont.; Katie Lemieux, of Thunder Bay, Ont.; Alana MacDougall, of Winnipeg; and Heidi McKenzie, of Toronto.

The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery will showcase O'Reilly and the finalists in Emergence, an exhibition this fall that will also include work by the RBC Award for Glass winner and finalists.

Inaugurated in 2001, the Shantz award is the sole national prize for emerging ceramic artists in Canada and has bolstered the careers of more than 20 emerging ceramic artists. It was juried this year by Robin DuPont, Kevin Andrew Morris and Susan Surette. They spoke of O'Reilly’s contributions to ceramic arts in Canada and praised the strength of his material, technical and conceptual foundations, which he has built through residencies, a graduate degree and a consistent practice.

To learn about O'Reilly's work, read his artist statement for his recent show, Humbly Heroic.

The award is supported by the Keith and Winifred Shantz Fund for the Arts, housed at the Waterloo Region Community Foundation.

To learn more, visit the award site.

Source: Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery