Alanis Obomsawin at the opening of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibition “Alanis Obomsawin, Printmaker. An Artist and her Nation: The Waban-Aki Basketmakers of Odanak” in June 2019. Photo: MBAM/Facebook.
Recently, Governor General Julie Payette announced dozens of new appointments to the Order of Canada, and among them were artists, curators, culture workers and arts-related philanthropists.
Filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, musician and artist Buffy Sainte-Marie and artist Iain Baxter& were all made Companions of the Order of Canada. This level recognizes national pre-eminence or international service or achievement.
Obomsawin had a retrospective of her iconic films at MoMA, New York, in 2008 and she recently opened a show of prints at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Sainte-Marie has been making visual art since 1984 and has exhibited at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, the Tucson Art Museum and the Glenbow Museum, among other institutions. She won the Polaris Music Prize in 2015.
Puppeteer Ronnie Burkett was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, as was Ian E. Wilson, formerly the chief librarian and archivist of Canada; both are are recognized for national service or achievement.
OCAD University president Sara Diamond was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Among other achievements, Diamond is also known as the founder of the Banff New Media Institute in the 1990s.
Architect Donald Schmitt, whose firm created the new Emily Carr University of Art and Design campus in Vancouver and is overseeing the rejuvenation of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, was also made a member of the order.
Matthew Teitelbaum, former director of the Art Gallery of Ontario and current director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was also made a member—with the award release noting his role in the transformation of the AGO in 2008.
Some arts-related individuals appointed as members of the Order of Canada include set and costume designer Susan Benson, philanthropist H. Roger Garland, portrait photographer V. Tony Hauser, contemporary war artist Gertrude Kearns and philanthropist C. Michael O’Brian.
The member level of the order recognizes outstanding contributions at the local or regional level or in a special field of activity.
A ceremony for these appointees will be held at a later date.
