Andrew Maize, Painting descending staircase, 2015.
Fifteen artists from across Canada have been selected as finalists in the RBC Canadian Painting Competition.
Chosen from a pool of 615 competitors, 5 finalists have been chosen from three sections of Canada—Western Canada, Central Canada and Eastern Canada—to contend for the winning cash prize of $25,000.
From Eastern Canada, Andrew Maize of Lunenburg, John Player of Montreal, Cindy Phenix of Montreal, Paul Hardy of Montreal and Hangama Amiri of Halifax are the contenders.
Claire Scherzinger of Toronto, Caroline Larsen of Toronto, Hanna Hur of Toronto, Jessica Bell of Ottawa and Patrick Cruz of Guelph represent the contingent from Central Canada.
From Western Canada, the finalists are Tristan Unrau of Vancouver, Robert Taite of Winnipeg, Russell Leng of Vancouver, Megan Hepburn of Vancouver and Simon de Brée of Vancouver.
Now in its 17th year, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition is an initiative developed by RBC with the support of the Canadian Art Foundation (publisher of Canadian Art). The initiative nurtures and supports promising new artists in the early stages of their careers, offering financial empowerment and professional mentorship.
This year, the competition will award $85,000 in prize money. In addition to the top prize of $25,000, two honourable mentions will receive $15,000 while the remaining finalists will receive $2,500. The winner and two honourable mentions will be announced on November 16, 2015.
Past winners include Tiziana La Melia, Colleen Heslin, Vanessa Maltese and Rebecca Brewer.
