Images clockwise from left: Kendra Ainsworth, the new curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Mississauga; VSVSVS in their Toronto studio, March 2014. Photo: Markian Lozowchuk; visitors at the Rooms looking out over St. John’s Harbour. Photo: Kenny Louie (kennymatic) via Flickr.
Our editors’ weekly roundup of Canadian art news.
An austerity budget released by the Newfoundland and Labrador government on Thursday revealed deep cuts to the province’s arts organizations. In particular, the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council faces the elimination of the Labrador Cultural Outreach Office, and the cessation of the Labrador Cultural Travel Fund. The Rooms in St. John’s has also been affected, and will now be closed to the public on Tuesdays, in addition to Mondays, from September 15 to June 15 each year in an attempt to reduce operating costs.
The Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts announced the recipients of their 2016 awards on Thursday. Maia-Mari Sutnik, the first curator, emeritus, photography at the Art Gallery of Ontario, received the Founders’ Achievement Award, worth $10,000; the artist collective VSVSVS received the $15,000 artist prize; finalist artist prizes, worth $5,000 each, were awarded to Erika DeFreitas and Bridget Moser; Zun Lee, Erin Alexa Freedman and Lili Huston-Herterich were awarded $5,000 project-support prizes; and Vtape received $20,000 to assist with their production of a 7,400 square-foot, climate-controlled, barrier-free arts space.
Kendra Ainsworth, formerly the assistant curator of the Art Gallery of Mississauga, has been promoted to the curator of contemporary art at the institution. Before joining the AGM, Ainsworth worked as a program assistant at the Burlington Art Centre. She also serves on the board of directors of Gallery 44 in Toronto.
Hannah Keating has received the Dr. Shirley L. Thomson Young Curators Award, an annual legacy fund awarded by the Canadian Museums Association and the Museums Foundation of Canada that supports practical skills development for young curators. As a result of the award, which offers up to $15,000 in support, Keating will undertake a 15-week internship under the supervision of the curator of historical Canadian art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
This article was corrected on April 15, 2016. The original copy erroneously included Gina Badger’s appointment to the position of editor, exhibitions and publications at the Art Gallery of Ontario, which occurred in December, 2015.
