The Audain Foundation is sharing out money it usually awards to one of British Columbia's most prominent artists to 12 artist-run centres across the province.
The $100,000 Audain Prize has been awarded for the last 16 years to luminaries like last year's winner, Stan Douglas.
“Artist-run centres are places where emerging artists often get their start," says Michael Audain, the foundation's chair. "They serve as vital hubs for a range of cultural activities in their various communities.
"Given the challenges being faced by artists throughout the province in this pandemic year, we thought that rather than just focusing the attention on a single artist, we would like to support as many artists as possible."
Each of the following Vancouver centres will receive $10,000: 221A, Access Gallery, Artspeak Gallery, Grunt Gallery, Malaspina Printmakers Society, Or Gallery, Other Sights for Artists’ Projects, UNIT/PITT Society for Art & Critical Awareness, VIVO Media Arts Centre and Western Front.
Other recipients are the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art in Kelowna and the Open Space Arts Society in Victoria.
The foundation’s also announced this year's travel awards for post-secondary students. The winners are Esteban Pérez (Emily Carr University of Art and Design), Katayoon Yousefbigloo (Simon Fraser University), Graham Wiebe (University of Victoria), Xan Shian (University of British Columbia Vancouver), and Brittany Reitzel (University of British Columbia Okanagan).
This $7,500 award, established in 2019, allows five full-time B.C. students to travel to study art that will assist their careers.
“Hopefully, travel will open up again next year and, in the meantime, the students will be encouraged to pursue art projects in their communities”, says Audain.
The foundation, established in 1997 to support the visual arts mainly in British Columbia and Quebec, has provided more than $125 million in grants.
Previous Audain Prize recipients include Ann Kipling (2004), Edward J. Hughes (2005), Eric Metcalfe (2006), Gordon Smith (2007), Jeff Wall (2008), Liz Magor (2009), Robert Davidson (2010), Rodney Graham (2011), Marian Penner Bancroft (2012), Gathie Falk and Takao Tanabe (2013), Fred Herzog (2014), Michael Morris (2015), Paul Wong (2016), Carole Itter (2017), Susan Point (2018), and Stan Douglas (2019).
Source: Audain Foundation