Vancouver Art Gallery Presents BC's Most Prestigious Visual Arts Prizes of 2015

Three distinguished individuals in the field of visual arts in British Columbia will receive the most prestigious awards in this province: the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts, the VIVA Awards and the Alvin Balkind Curator’s Prize.

This year, Michael Morris is awarded the thirteenth Audain Prize, funded by the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts. The Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts has become one of Canada’s most prestigious honours, and grants $30,000 annually to a senior British Columbia artist selected by an independent jury.

Elizabeth Zvonar is the recipient of the 2015 VIVA Award, granted annually by the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation for the Visual Arts. Created to nurture the advancement of the visual arts in British Columbia and their appreciation by the public, the VIVA Awards celebrate exemplary achievement by British Columba artists in mid-career.

The Foundation will also present the second biannual Alvin Balkind Curator’s Prizes to Cate Rimmer and the Charles H. Scott Gallery, the institution where she works as Curator of Gallery + Exhibitions. Provided through the generosity of the estate of Abraham Rogatnick to honour the memory of renowned Vancouver curator Alvin Balkind, the prize is a biannual award that recognizes outstanding innovation, original research and critical engagement through curatorial work in the visual arts.

To mark this annual celebration with the visual arts community, a ceremony honouring the recipients will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 16 in The Great Hall of the BC Law Courts building in downtown Vancouver. This ceremony is free and open to the public.

Audain Prize honouree Michael Morris is a highly acclaimed painter, photographer, video and
performance artist, and curator. His work is often media-based and collaborative. Morris’ work is represented in private and public collections nationally and internationally, and he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities in 2005 by Emily Carr University of Art + Design. He currently lives and works in Victoria, British Columbia.

Elizabeth Zvonar is the recipient of this year’s VIVA Award, presented by the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation for the Visual Arts.  Zvonar graduated from Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design (now University) with a BFA in 2001. Zvonar received the 2009 Mayor’s Award for Emerging Visual Artist, and in 2011 she was presented with the Emily Award for outstanding achievement by an Emily Carr alumna. From 2012-15, Zvonar held the post of City of Vancouver Artist in Residence. She is represented by Daniel Faria Gallery in Toronto.

The recipient of the Alvin Balkind Curator’s Prize is Cate Rimmer, Curator of Gallery +
Exhibitions at the Charles H. Scott Gallery where she has curated numerous group and solo
exhibitions. She was the founding Director/Curator of Artspeak Gallery in Vancouver, served as Director of Truck Gallery in Calgary, and was a Curator in Residence at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal.

For event information, please phone 604.662.4747.