Call for Nominations
The William and Meredith Saunderson Prizes for Emerging Artists
The Hnatyshyn Foundation is pleased to be launching its first ever call for nominations for the William and Meredith Saunderson Prizes for Emerging Artists.
The William and Meredith Saunderson Prizes consist of three awards of $5,000 dollars each to support young emerging visual artists whose practice shows potential and is deemed to have the determination and talent to contribute to the legacy of art in Canada.
Representatives of public and private galleries, fine arts training institutions previously attended by the nominees, and artist-run-centres are invited to submit their nominations by April 24, 2023. Nominees will then be asked to upload their submission materials by May 15, 2023.
Eligibility
- The prizes are awarded each year and a person may receive the award only once.
- Eligible categories in the visual arts include painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, three-dimensional installations and multi-media installations.
- Candidates are identified on the basis of the jury’s estimation that they have the determination and talent to contribute to the legacy of art in Canada.
- Candidates must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada under 30 years of age as of December 31 of the current year.
- The candidate must be an emerging professional artist (3 to 7 years of practice) whose body of work incorporates specialized training (not necessarily gained at an academic institution), a public presence and peer recognition.
- The artist must demonstrate that their work has been featured in/acquired by at least 2 curated shows or 2 public collections in Canada in the last 5 years.
- Undergraduate and college students are not eligible to apply.
Process
Artists cannot apply for these awards. They must be nominated by a public or private gallery, a fine arts training institution they have attended, or an artist-run-centre.
An institution may only nominate one candidate per year.
Representatives from qualified institutions are invited to send a letter of nomination to the Foundation’s Director at director@rjhf.com with the subject line Saunderson Prize nomination.
Nominations must include:
- A letter of nomination on behalf of the nominating institution
- The nominator’s title within their institution
- The nominator’s phone number
- The candidate’s current city of residence and/or work
- The candidate’s email address and phone number
- A brief bio of the artist and/or a web link where their bio may be found.
Candidate submissions: April 24 – May 15, 2023
Once they are nominated, candidates will be invited by the foundation’s director to upload the following documents to
SlideRoom:
- Artistic work: 10-15 digital images/videos of completed work, at least 8 of which must be self-initiated (meaning: they cannot be projects completed in the context of training at an artistic training institution)
- An artistic CV highlighting their exhibition history, education, publications, acquisitions, arts-related employment, grants received, awards received, commissions, residency programs, and any other relevant professional experience as an artist
- Links to an artist website and/or social media (optional)
- 1 – 5 installation images from exhibitions featuring artist work
- A letter of recommendation (optional)
- An artist statement (300 – 800 words)
- A short bio (300 – 500 words)
- Submissions may be in English or French.
A jury of one mid-career curator and one mid-career artist living in different areas of Canada will review portfolios and propose three winners. We anticipate that results of the process will be communicated in the summer of 2023.
Further information about The Hnatyshyn Foundation’s William and Meredith Saunderson Prizes for Emerging Artists, please visit our website at: rjhf.com.
