Ontario culture minister Michael Chan (left) and premier Kathleen Wynne (right) with Definitely Superior director David Karasiewicz, development administrator Renee Terpstra and youth outreach administrator Lora Northway
Incorporated in 1988, the gallery is distinguished partly by its youth art collective program, Die Active.
Aimed at mentoring and supporting emerging artists from the age of 14 to 30, Die Active currently has some 370 members and involves youth outreach, the formation of a summer art collective, workshops, community arts projects, public art interventions, exhibitions, and the creation of a zine that is disseminated through zine fairs across Canada and the US.
In its other operations, Definitely Superior has presented more than 800 exhibitions and events and supported almost 12,000 multi-disciplinary artists.
The gallery won in the arts organization category; other finalists in this category included Sketch Working Arts and the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Contemporary artists Iain Baxter&, Micah Lexier and Shelley Niro were finalists in the individual category, won by choral conductor Lydia Adams. As finalists, Baxter&, Lexier and Niro each received $2,000.
The Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts are administered by the Ontario Arts Council.
