Award Donors
Award Donors
The Society of Canadian Artists would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to those who sponsor awards presented in our exhibitions.
Mary Pratt Crystal Award
The Annual Mary Pratt Crystal Award is organized and administered by The Society of Canadian Artists and is awarded at the Elected Members Juried Exhibition.
Arthur, Sandra and Sarah Irving of Saint John New Brunswick are lifelong admirers of Mary Pratt and her art. Arthur Irving as Chairman of Irving Oil was a very good friend of Mary and over the years helped support exhibitions of her art in Ottawa, at the National Gallery of Canada and closer to home. “Jack Power’s Rooster” by Mary Pratt, acquired at a local gallery in 1971 at one of her first showings, is still one of his favourite Paintings. And so it is fitting to help support this award, the Mary Pratt Crystal Award named in her honour so as to encourage and inspire other young artists to pursue their dreams.
The Mary Pratt Award will be presented to an elected member at the Elected Members Exhibition for work which is of outstanding quality and which reveals a breath of emotion, skill of craftsmanship and maturity that the artists bring to their work.
A panel of three jurors will narrow the field of entries for this award from which Mary Pratt’s children, Barbara Pratt and Ned Pratt will select one finalist. The winner will receive a crystal bowl sponsored by the SCA and cash award of $5000.
The $5,000 cash award donated by the Irving Family will be presented to a Canadian artist at our Elected Members Exhibition for five years, starting 2021.
Mary was one of Canada’s most respected artists and has been an active member and Ambassador of the Canadian arts community for over 50 years. She served on the Canada Council for the Arts and was named Companion of the Order of Canada in 1996. In 1997 she was awarded the prestigious Molson Prize. Mary was an Honorary member of the Society of Canadian Artists. Although, she passed in August 2018, the award is still presented in her honor.
Biafarin Award
The Biafarin Inc. is a Canadian Online Artist management platform helping artists, promote their careers and sell their art. They have generously bestowed a total of $4,000 which will be allocated to 4 exhibitions within two years. The first award of $1,000 will be awarded for the 1st time at our 54th Open International Juried Exhibition at the Papermill Gallery, in Toronto.
SCA antoinette stevens art Education Award
Congratulations to Layla/Remy Gehmair who has been selected the Antoinette Stevens Art Education Award for 2022.
Remy is a creative young student at F.H. Collins Secondary School, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Remy has faced many personal, financial, and familial challenges with remarkable resiliance and determination. Remy has been accepted at the Yukon School of Visual Arts in Dawson City and will start in the Fall.
Congratulations to Michael Vachon who has been selected for Antoinette Stevens Art Education Award for 2022.
Michael is a promising young Drawing Major at Ishkaabatens Waasa Gaa Inaabateg Department of Visual Arts Brandon University in Manitoba. His art instructor describes Michael as dedicated, hardworking student with real skills who has produced strong work and shows great promise.
I would like to acknowledge the generosity of the Stevens Family who set up a trust in memory of former SCA elected member Toni Stevens. For over a decade, the trust has funded this Art Education Award as well as most of the SCA’s top exhibition awards.
Sadly, this is the final year for all these awards.
Thank you to the Stevens Family. The trust, in Toni’s name, was a wonderfully thoughtful legacy and certainly, the art education award has proven a most welcome financial boost and a source of joy, pride and encouragement for many young art students across Canada.
Each student was presented with an Award Certificate and cheque ($500).
It has been my privilege to Chair the Antoinette Stevens Art Education Award. To find deserving young artists couldn’t be done without the help of others. Thank you to everyone who has assisted in the search and review process and the preparation of the awards plus a special thanks to; Deborah Czernecky, Mohan Tenuwara, Dorothy Chisholm and Ann Kruzelecky.
— Mary Elizabeth Duggan SCA
2016 Antoinette Stevens SCA Art Education Award
Congratulations to Kiana Richards who has been selected the Antoinette Stevens Art Education Award honouree for 2016. Kiana (18) is a Visual Arts student who is just completing her first year at John Abbott College in Montreal, Quebec. Her nomination was fully endorsed by the faculty of John Abbott’s Visual Arts Department who have the knowledge that this Award would be a great financial benefit to enable Kiana to continue her art studies primarily by assisting with the high cost of materials. Following her second year her intent is to continue to study in the arts.
2015 Antoinette Stevens SCA Art Education Award
We extend our congratulations to Evan Obey and Mackenze Grad, University of Regina recipients of the 2015 Society of Canadian Artists Antoinette Stevens Art Education Awa
2014 Antoinette Stevens SCA Art Education Award Presented by Mary Elizabeth Duggan, SCA, Honours and Awards (Director)
Bravo, Josette Rosenzweig Issasi!
On Nov 7, the 2014 Antoinette Stevens SCA Art Education Award was presented to Josette Rosenzweig Issasi. This gifted young art student graduated in June from the full-time (grade 9-12) art programme offered by the Visual Arts Department of Central Technical School, in Toronto. For a century, this respected high school visual arts department has offered an intensive four-year foundation art programme. Admission into the art programme is tough requiring all applicants to present a portfolio, and that is during grade eight! Our honouree’s teachers praise her creativity, exploratory nature, determination and dedication. There is no doubt that the award money will prove to be helpful as she pursues her interest in printmaking as a first year student at OCAD.
Congratulations to ‘Antoinette Stevens’ SCA Education Award recipient, Josette Rosenzweig Issasi.
SCA/Antoinette Stevens Education Award 2012
In December, Cynthia Dunphy, a fourth-year visual arts student at Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook, Newfoundland was identified as a candidate for the 2012 Award.
On March 20, 2013, SCA president Josy Britton attended the presentation digitally via Skype to offer warm congratulations to Cynthia as the Dean of Fine Arts presented her with the actual Award certificate together with a cheque in the amount of $500. Judy Pringle (nee Stevens) kindly conveyed congratulations on behalf of the Stevens family.
Cynthia explores the impact of chance and experimentation with materials to all her work. Although she is a scholarship-standing student, due to the limited number of awards available she has not received much financial support and works three different part-time jobs in order to cover her costs. Her professors also noted that Cynthia has faced significant personal adversity but worked through those challenges with her attitude remaining positive and her focus forward.
Rather than graduate this year she has chosen to take an additional year of study and hopes to attend a course at the university’s satellite campus in England. In the words of the Head, division of Fine Arts, ‘The SCA/Antoinette Stevens Art Education Award would give [Cynthia] the ability to focus more time into her artistic practice while also allow her to purchase materials that she currently cannot afford.’ ‘…it would also provide her with the very significant psychological boon of knowing that her work is valued by your organization of professional artists from across Canada.’
SCA/Antoinette Stevens Art Education Award 2011
On May 30th, Andrea Pottyondy, SCA had the honour of presenting Joel Bezanson with the Stevens Family/Society of Canadian Artists Education Award for 2011. Joel, a grade 12 student with autism has been creating amazing art on an Ipad and SMARTboard. Joel’s pictures have been described as having a Maud Lewis folk style to it, starting with line drawing before adding vibrant colour. He is able to capture the true essence of a person’s physical appearance and spirit in portraiture that are instantly recognizable by others. All his work is done from memory. Recently Joel has begun to move into a new media of artistic expression using clay. The award money ($500) will allow him to take some sculpture classes in future.
Paul Peters, Child Community Support Worker, who had an integral part in coordinating the nomination of Joel for this award, says it best, “It is through relationships, built one at a time, that an inclusive community to support persons with autism is possible. The universality of art is one medium for these conversations to flourish.
These award funds, the recognition of his talents and more importantly the relationships he may develop with the art community down the road through this exposure, may help him to carve out a niche for his expression of a growing variety of artistic mediums and thereby serve to enhance his quality of life.”
In July 2010, 5 northern students were selected for last year’s Students On Ice Climate Change Expedition to win the SCA Award:
Dina Koonoo – Pond Inlet, Nunavut
Katherine Sittichinli – Inuvik,North West Territories
Danny Ishulutak – Pangnirtung, Nunavut
Alena Stevenson — Kuujjuaq, Northern Quebec
Anna Illauq – formerly Clyde River, Nunavut (now Saskatchewan)
In 2008, two Stevens Family SCA Education awards were presented by Bill Buchanan:
$500 to Kelsi Wilson, who has taken all the art courses offered in her visual arts program in the last four years. She has distinguished herself by maintaining high academic standards, while holding two jobs. She was accepted into all of her choices for post secondary education and will be attending Connestoga College in Graphic design.
$500 to Brianne Haney who attended Wexford College School for the Arts, where she completed twelve visual arts credits across a range of disciplines. She is now in her third year at OCAD, pursuing a BFA degree with a major in Drawing and Painting.
SCA Art Bursary
This year, (2022) the kind generosity of an anonymous sponsor has enabled the SCA to provide an Art Bursary. Last June, a certificate and cheque ($500) were presented to Daniela Astete-Martinez.
Daniela is 19 years old, and in her final year, marks the 99 percentile, with exceptional artistic talent.
She moved from Chile in 2019 and goes to Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. She is waiting patiently for her permanent residency. Daniela lives with her mother ( single parent household) and four siblings.
