
Grace Nickel with Bob Archambeau at her first solo exhibition that took place at Ace Art in 1987.
The Manitoba Craft Council has announced the winners of its 2025 Craft Awards.
Fifteen local craft artists have received this year's honours.
Grace Nickel, professor at the University of Manitoba's School of Art and 2023 recipient of the prestigious Saidye Bronfman/Governor General's Medal for Visual and Media Arts, has become the first recipient of the new Robert and Meridel Archambeau Award of Distinction.
The award celebrates "a Manitoba-based craftsperson who has demonstrated an outstanding dedication to studio-based professional practice in their medium. This award recognizes the recipient’s career of achievements, esteemed reputation, and exceptional advancement in their craft area."
Maureen Winnicki Lyons has been named as the 2025 winner of the Judith Ryan Award for Fibre Arts. A self-taught mixed media artist, she works in feltmaking, weaving, handspinning, rug-making and more, and she has taught across Manitoba in addition to organizing a fibre festival in Carberry, Man.
And Jennifer Johnson is the winner of the Marilyn Levitt Award for Functional Ceramics. She holds a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Manitoba and has been an instructor at Stoneware Studio in Winnipeg for the past 17 years.
Source: Manitoba Craft Council