Amy Luo, winner of the 2014 Canadian Art Foundation Writing Prize / photo © Melina Mehr
We are pleased to announce that Amy Luo of Toronto, Ontario, is the winner of the 2014 Canadian Art Foundation Writing Prize. Luo will be commissioned to write a feature story for a future issue of Canadian Art and will receive a $3,000 award. The two runners-up for this year’s prize are Noa Bronstein and Daniella E. Sanader, both from Toronto, Ontario. Each receives recognition in the magazine and a $1,000 award.
The Canadian Art Foundation Writing Prize is an annual juried prize designed to encourage new writers on contemporary art through the opportunity to write a feature story for our magazine. To apply, writers must have published no more than three pieces in national or international magazines. Submissions are reviewed by a national jury of curators, critics and other art professionals who are selected by the Canadian Art editorial team and invited to take part in this prize, now in its fifth year. The 2014 jury included Melanie O’Brian, director of the SFU Galleries; Jonathan Shaughnessy, associate curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Canada; François LeTourneux, associate curator at the Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal; and Richard Rhodes, editor of Canadian Art.
Amy Luo is an emerging writer currently completing her degree at the University of Toronto in the fields of art history, philosophy, and women and gender Studies. Having a keen interest in publishing, she holds an internship at C Magazine and served as this year’s art editor of the Hart House Review. She currently works at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery and previously held the position of exhibitions assistant at the University of Toronto Art Centre.
“I think that the Canadian Art Foundation Writing Prize and similar initiatives have a vital role in fostering new voices. To reward and support young writers is to give much needed acknowledgement to the value of thoughtful discourse within the arts. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to write for Canadian Art, and I hope this opens avenues for working with other arts and culture publications.” – Amy Luo
Noa Bronstein is a researcher and curator whose interests include hybridity and cross-disciplinary approaches within cultural institutions and alterative arts-based models. She is currently the head of exhibitions and publications at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography.
Daniella E. Sanader is an arts writer and researcher based in Toronto. In 2013, she completed her MA at McGill University, and currently works for the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery and the University of Toronto Art Centre. Her exhibition and book reviews have been published in C Magazine and KAPSULA.
Three of the jurors comment on the winner and the runners-up:
“Amy Luo’s intelligent and insightful look at Melanie Gilligan’s approach to this contemporary capitalist moment – specifically her recent work Deep Time at the ROM – frames urgent questions around art, late capitalism, collective action and alternative social and economic systems. The jury was unanimous that Amy’s well researched and stylistically strong writing stood out from all the submissions for her ability to bring together significant observations on contemporary art and larger topical issues.” – Melanie O’Brian, director of the SFU Galleries
“Bringing together an artwork and an experimental art exhibition and pin-pointing their common basis in the concept of “self-help,” Daniella E. Sanader presented a creative and insightful review of two otherwise disassociated moments in the recent landscape of contemporary art in Toronto. A pleasure to read, Sanader’s prose suggests a talented writer willing and capable of prodding critically yet conversationally into areas in which art and everyday life intersect and, at times, controversially overlap.” – Jonathan Shaughnessy, associate curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Canada
“The notable quality of Noa Bronstein’s subtle descriptions and insightful interpretation of Olivia Boudreau’s works made her a standout candidate. We look forward to seeing what’s next for this distinguished writer.” – Francois LeTourneux, associate curator at the Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal
For more information on the Writing Prize and some of its past winners, visit canadianart.ca/writingprize.
