As part of its plans to increase support for Indigenous arts practice, The Hnatyshyn Foundation is launching REVEAL Indigenous Art Awards to honour Indigenous Canadian artists working in all artistic disciplines. The comprehensive program of awards and promotional activities, including 150 cash awards of $10,000 each to be awarded in 2017, will fuel the creation of new artistic works and leave a lasting cultural legacy.
The Awards are intended to recognize emerging and established Indigenous artists working in traditional or contemporary practices. The awards will be given in six artistic categories including dance, music, theatre, literature, film/video (media arts), and visual arts/fine craft.
If you plan to apply, please read the guidelines first.
Honorary Patrons
The Honorary Patrons embody the values and aspirations of the community they represent and join in supporting this unique initiative.
James Bartleman
A member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation and best-selling author of As Long as the Rivers Flow and The Redemption of Oscar Wolf, James Bartleman grew up in the Muskoka town of Port Carling. Following a distinguished 35-year career in the Canadian Foreign Service, he served as Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 2002 to 2007. A key initiative during his tenure was the creation of the Lieutenant-Governor’s Book Program, which saw more than a million used books collected and donated to First Nations schools. In 2008, the Ontario Government established the James Bartleman Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing Award to recognize Aboriginal youth for their creative writing talent.
Joseph Boyden
Joseph Boyden’s first novel, Three Day Road, won numerous awards including the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year. His second novel, Through Black Spruce, was awarded the Scotiabank Giller Prize and named the Canadian Booksellers Association Book of the Year; it also earned Boyden the CBA’s Author of the Year Award. The Orenda was a finalist for the Governor General’s English Language Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Award, and won the Libris Book of the Year Award. In 2012, Boyden received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to Canadian art and culture. Boyden is a member of the creative writing faculty at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He divides his time between Northern Ontario and Louisiana.
Rosalie Favell
Rosalie Favell is an award-winning photo-based artist, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Drawing inspiration from her family history and Métis (Cree/English) heritage, she uses a variety of sources, from family albums to popular culture, to present a complex self-portrait of her experiences as a contemporary aboriginal woman. Her work has appeared in exhibitions in Canada, the US, the United Kingdom, France, and Taiwan and has been acquired by the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, among others. She has worked with grassroots organizations in Winnipeg, with Inuit educational groups in Ottawa, and with Nepalese women’s groups in Kathmandu.
James Hart
James Hart is one of the Northwest Coast’s most renowned artists. In addition to his mastery in carving monumental sculptures and totem poles, he is a skilled jeweller and printer and is considered a pioneer in the use of bronze among the Northwest Coast Artists. He is represented in major collections around the world including in the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of History, and the Smithsonian Museum, and has had numerous solo exhibitions. Commissioned for the new Michael Audain Museum in Whistler, The Dance Screen is James Hart’s most ambitious project to date. As Chief of the Sangaahl Stastas Eagle Clan since 1999, he holds the name and hereditary title of his great-great-grandfather, Charles Edenshaw.
Waubgeshig Rice
An author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation, Waubgeshig Rice developed a strong passion for storytelling as a child while learning about being Anishinaabe. The stories his elders shared and his unique experiences growing up in his community inspired him to write creatively. Stories he wrote as a teenager were published as Midnight Sweatlodgein 2011. His debut novel, Legacy, was published in 2014. He graduated from Ryerson University’s journalism program in 2002, and has worked in a variety of media across Canada. Along with reporting the news, he has produced television and radio documentaries and features, and currently works as a video journalist for CBC News Ottawa. In 2014, he received the Anishinabek Nation’s Debwewin Citation for Excellence in First Nation Storytelling.
Learn More:
www.rjhf.com/programs/indigenousawards
