Jury Named For 14th Annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition

Noted members of Canada's visual arts community named as jurors

TORONTO, May 23, 2012 /CNW/ - Nine well-respected members of the Canadian visual arts community have been named by RBC and the Canadian Art Foundation to jury the 2012 RBC Canadian Painting Competition, one of the largest competitions of its kind in Canada.

More than 500 works are submitted each year to this national competition, which was established in 1999 by RBC, with the support of the Canadian Art Foundation, to help nurture Canadian visual artists in the early stages of their careers.

"The national showcase this competition provides each year is a wonderful opportunity for Canada's emerging visual artists - we're honoured to work with RBC to give these up-and-coming artists this recognition," said Ann Webb, executive director, Canadian Art Foundation and publisher, Canadian Art Magazine.

The 2012 RBC Canadian Painting competition jury includes the following curators, gallery directors, senior artists and professors from regions across Canada:

Western Canada

• Sandra Meigs - Senior Artist and Professor of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, Victoria
• Mark Mullin - Senior Artist, Calgary
• Nigel Prince - Executive Director, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver

Central Canada

• Clint Roenisch - Founder, Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto
• Jonathan Shaughnessy - Associate Curator, Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Monica Tap - Senior Artist and Associate Professor, University of Guelph, Guelph

Eastern Canada

• Roger Bellemare - Gallery Director, Galerie Roger Bellemare, Montreal
• Robin Metcalfe - Director and Curator, Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, Halifax
• Janet Werner - Senior Artist, Montreal

The submitted works will be short-listed to 15 finalists by regional panels of the jury and announced late June. In November, all nine jurors will meet in Toronto to determine one national winner and two honourable mentions.

The 2012 winner and honourable mentions will be announced on November 29, 2012, with the national winner receiving $25,000 and two honourable mentions each receiving $15,000.  All 15 finalists' paintings will be on exhibit at the Power Plant in Toronto and also will be featured at rbc.com/paintingcompetition.

About the RBC Canadian Painting Competition Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition is a tribute to Canada's artistic talent. The goal of the competition is to support and nurture Canadian visual artists early in their career by providing them with a forum to display their artistic talent to the country and hopefully open doors to future opportunity. An investment in Canadian culture and the visual arts community, the competition will award one national prize of $25,000 and two honourable mentions will receive prizes of $15,000 each. Along with past winners, the winning paintings of 2012 will become part of RBC's Canadian art collection comprised of more than 4,000 works of distinguished art collected over the past 100 years.

SOURCE Canadian Art Foundation

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