Clockwise from top left: director Tarin Hughes outside of AKA Artist-Run in Saskatoon. Photo: Greg Pender, Saskatoon StarPhoenix; Simon Brault, director and CEO of the Canada Council. Photo: Maxime Côté; Cedric Bomford, one the artists longlisted for the 2015 Sobey Art Award, in collaboration with Nathan and Jim Bamford, Deadhead, 2014; Jeffrey Spalding, newly appointed chief curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton.
Our editors’ weekly roundup of Canadian art news.
This Wednesday, the Sobey Art Award released its 2015 longlist, which named 25 Canadian artists under the age of 40. The award will bestow $100,000 in prize monies in November; the winner receives a prize of $50,000, while shortlisted artists each receive $10,000 and longlisted artists receive $500.
As discussions surrounding the transition from Saskatoon’s Mendel Art Gallery to the Remai Modern continue, the city’s smaller galleries and artist-run centres—including AKA Artist-Run, Tribe Inc., BAM, PAVED Arts, U of S Art Galleries and more—have countered claims that the city will be without a gallery for a year, pointing to their ongoing work.
At the Canadian Arts Summit last weekend, Canada Council for the Arts CEO Simon Brault revealed details of the organization’s new funding model, which will reduce the number of CCA grant programs from its previous 146 discipline-specific programs to fewer than 10 broader, non-disciplinary programs. Brault stressed again that the overhaul does not entail a reduction in funding.
On Tuesday, Jeffrey Spalding was announced as the new senior curator at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton. The appointment comes at a pivotal time, according to director Terry Graff, as the gallery has plans for “an improved and expanded facility.” Most recently, Spalding was artistic director and chief curator at Contemporary Calgary, and he was previously director of the Glenbow Museum.
