Lacey Prize – 2019
2019 Winner
Congratulations to Hamilton Artists Inc., winner of the 2019 Lacey Prize!
Hamilton Artists Inc.
Founded in 1975 and committed to providing artists with unique opportunities for critical engagement, exploration, and risk-taking, the Inc. (as it is known locally) is one of Canada’s oldest artist-run centres, offering its 250 members an accessible and inclusive forum to address the social and professional needs of artists.
Cole Swanson, Devil’s Colony, 2019. Digital prints, mixed media, & time based installation in the Inc.’s Cannon Gallery. Photo: courtesy of the artist.
2019 Runners Up
Gallery Gachet
A unique artist-run centre located in Vancouver, Gallery Gachet provides cultural infrastructure for a resilient arts network in the Downtown Eastside of the city. The gallery is run by and for emerging and established artists whose artwork contends with mental health diversities, marginalization, dis/abilities, and mad arts.
Gallery Gachet Mad Honey. 2019. Photo: Gallery Gachet Staff. Jujube Jacinto (L) and Jackie Dives (R). Artwork by Edzy Edzed (2019).
Untitled Art Society
Founded as a studio collective in 1994, by recent graduates from the Alberta College of Art, Untitled Art Society (UAS) has been a steadfast cultural hub in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, providing not only much-needed affordable, physical space in which artists can work, but also the non-material structures of community within which such work thrives.
Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal, Mekinawewin, to give a gift. Workshop, pulp, natural materials, recycled paper, installation, 2019. Photo: Katy Whitt. Courtesy the artist and Untitled Art Society.
Honourable Mentions
The three-member independent jury comprised of Governor General Award-winning curator Glenn Alteen, National Gallery of Canada Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art, Nicole Burisch, and artist Louise Lacey-Rokosh were delighted with the number and quality of submissions for the inaugural prize, and identified four centres which they felt merited honourable mentions for the important work they are doing in their respective communities. Congratulations to:
Struts Gallery (NB);
this town is small (PEI);
Critical Distance (ON), and
Blinkers (MB).