Mid-Career Awards
The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Visual Arts of $30,000 (formerly $25,000), is awarded annually to a Canadian mid-career artist who has demonstrated excellence and innovation in their body of work and who shows promise of outstanding artistic achievement in the years ahead.
The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Curatorial Excellence of $20,000 (formerly $15,000), is awarded to a Canadian mid-career curator of contemporary visual art in recognition of their contribution to the advancement of the contemporary visual arts in Canada.
Both prizes are awarded annually and can only be received once. The eligible disciplines for the visual arts prize include painting, drawing, engraving, sculpture, photography, sculptural installations, and multimedia installations.
Artists and curators cannot apply for these awards. A selection committee of arts professionals from across the country draws up the list of candidates and chooses the award recipients. Candidates must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
Notable Laureates
Among the many recipients of The Hnatyshyn Foundation’s Mid-Career Awards are Curtis Talwst Santiago and Wanda Nanibush (2024), Bridget Moser and Sharon Fortney (2023), Hajra Waheed and Michelle Jacques (2022), Isabelle Hayeur and Heather Igloliorte (2021), Marianne Nicolson and Emelie Chhangur (2020), Dana Claxton and Catherine Bédard (2019), and many more.
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Candidates for the artists’ award are identified on the basis of excellence in a substantial body of work as reflected in peer group assessments, significant acquisitions and solo exhibitions in professional exhibition facilities.
Candidates for the curators’ award will have demonstrated exceptional support for innovative artistic expression through the creation of a significant number of important exhibitions which, through their vision, presentation and documentation advance Canadians’ awareness and appreciation of contemporary visual art. Independent curators, as well as those working within an institutional context, are eligible.
The Hnatyshyn Foundation defines a mid-career artist or curator as an artist or curator of any age who began working professionally or began gaining peer recognition in the last 8-20 years, who has demonstrated excellence and innovation in their body of work, and who shows promise of outstanding artistic or curatorial achievement in the years ahead. If there is ambiguity about an artist or curator’s eligibility for a mid-career award, the Foundation defers the decision to the selection committee responsible for determining the prize winner.
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2024
The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Visual Arts
Curtis Talwst Santiago (he/him)
Artist in his Munich studio photographed by Constantin Mirbach. April 24, 2024.
CURTIS SANTIAGO was born in the winter of 1979 to Trinidadian parents who emigrated to Alberta. Living in suburbia, his influences were his older brothers. One an athlete and motivator, who encouraged his stage performance as soon as he could sing. The other, an artist and actor who cultivated Curtis’ interest and love of art and music. Here he was in the middle of pickup trucks and hockey, learning about Basquiat and black artistry under the tutelage of his brothers.
He was a nocturnal kid, never wanting to sleep and finding inspiration on the walls of his bedroom. His mom would bring home newsprint rolls from her job at the journal and put large sheets of paper up by his bed for him to draw on until he fell asleep.
On the weekends his family’s basement was home to Saturday night Socas. Calypso and dancing transported them back to the island for a few hours of merriment. He would sneak to the top of the stairs and imbibe the music and energy. Music led his early artistry and continues to transfigure his practice. It was the vessel that propelled him to Vancouver in his early 20s. That rainy season drove him to paint away the persistent grey and prompted his boldness to knock on the door of Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun to ask him to be his mentor. A simple yes was the pathway to the genius, techniques, and authenticity inherent in Lawrence’s work. His own practice evolved to prompt his first solo show in Vancouver in 2008 and that evolution continued to expand his experience past Vancouver beyond Canada. He studied at New York Studio School and was an artist in Residence at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn then went further.
His quest to discover his own ancestry took him to Portugal to study the Moors and African influence in art. He spent time in residence in South Africa where he learned to bead with the Beaders’ Guild and experienced a beautiful interconnectedness with local families and artists. He was also in residence at Black Rock in Senegal, further expanding his African experience. Curtis currently resides in Munich with his son and partner and has created a supportive network of world-wide galleries and collectors. His works are in the permanent collections of the National Art Gallery of Canada, Lenbachhaus-Munich, Studio Museum-Harlem, Nevada Museum of Art among numerous others.
A man not in the mood for salsa, 2024. Charcoal and soft pastel on Arches Paper, 64 × 84 cm. Photo courtesy the artist and Martina Simeti
Culture in the Key of Kerry, Sung by my Aunties on a Saturday afternoon, 2024. Reclaimed jewellery box, Paper, leather, plastic, wood, acrylic paint, oil paint, human hair, gold leaf, Epoxy putty. 4 x 3 x 2 1/2 in (10.6 x 7.6 x 6.3 cm). Photo courtesy the artist and Rachel Uffner Gallery.
“Wow, what a way to end the day! I was absolutely shocked to read The Hnatyshyn Foundation’s email. I did not believe it initially and had to read it multiple times. It's an honor to receive this award and join the long list of esteemed laureates. To have my name with the likes of Rebecca Belmore, Stan Douglas and Janet Cardiff is a source of great pride. I mention specifically these three artists. Early on in my journey, I encountered their work at critical moments of my development, which profoundly expanded my perception of what a practice could look like. This award reminds me to put my head down and do the work. Especially when it feels like no one is watching, I would like to dedicate this award to Monica and Frank Santiago for their countless sacrifices and brave decision to immigrate to Canada, enabling their children to pursue their dreams. I also want to express my appreciation to the curators and fellow artists for acknowledging my contribution to the dynamic Canadian artistic landscape.”
Selection committee decision
Lindsey Sharman described Santiago’s work as follows: “Santiago’s practice is layered, technically precise, conceptually rich and is a play of overlapping historical and contemporary narratives. The work points to difficult and uncomfortable histories and peels back layers of complex contemporary realities while finding space for joy, pleasure, play, safety and belonging. Best known for his miniature dioramas staged within antique jewelry boxes, Santiago is also an accomplished painter, drawer and incorporates these elements into immersive installation-based projects that expand on elements of the smaller works to literally bring viewers into the artist’s world. His work often seeks out ancestors. Not stymied by the unknowability of his ancestral past, he instead plays with the ways history, archaeology or museology present uncertainty with assured authority. Santiago’s work expands and collapses scale—time scales and size scales—to rework and rethink monumentality, reality, authority, and control.”
Tairone Bastien added: “Santiago's work explores cultural identity, diasporic imagination, and memory through an ever-expanding range of media. His skillful blending of personal and historical narratives with contemporary issues creates speculative worlds that challenge colonial frameworks and honour forgotten forms of knowledge. Santiago is reshaping the Canadian art landscape while asserting a powerful voice in the global conversation on art and identity. His work deserves to be celebrated and recognized at the highest levels.”
The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Curatorial Excellence
Wanda Nanibush (she/her)
Wanda Nanibush photographed by Nadya Kwandibens of Red Works Studio.
WANDA NANIBUSH is an Anishinaabe-kwe image and word warrior, curator and community organizer from Beausoleil First Nation, Canada. Based in Toronto, she is the founding director of aabaakwad (aabaakwad.ca), an international yearly gathering of Indigenous curators, writers and artists that last took place at Venice Biennale. She recently won the Toronto Book Award for her coauthored book Moving the Museum which chronicles some of her groundbreaking work at the Art Gallery of Ontario as the Inaugural curator of Indigenous Art. She has curated survey, group, and retrospective exhibitions including: Robert Houle Red is Beautiful (NMAI, Smithsonian, Washington); Rebecca Belmore, Facing the Monumental (2019), (Canada and the U.S) and Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971 – 1989 (AGO).
Nanibush will be the Helen Frankenthaler Visiting Professor in Curating in the Ph.D. Program in Art History at CUNY in the Graduate Department of Art History in 2025. She is also part of the curatorial team for Counterpublic 2026, the triennial in St. Louis. She received her M.A. in Visual Studies from University of Toronto where she has also taught graduate courses. She is Adjunct Faculty at York University. Nanibush has published widely on Indigenous art, politics, history, feminism and sexuality.
Rebecca Belmore Facing the Monumental performance in Queen's Park, Toronto curated by Wanda Nanibush in her exhibition House of Wayward Spirits, 2014. Photo by Wanda Nanibush
Entrance to Robert Houle Red is Beautiful at the NMAI Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., 2023, curated by Wanda Nanibush, tour organized by AGO. Photo by Wanda Nanibush
"I am deeply honoured to receive this recognition from the Hnatyshyn Foundation and a jury of esteemed curators and artists. My work as a curator is really for artists and communities so I share this recognition with them for their transformative work. I have learned philosophy, politics, alternative embodiment, dreaming and more from artists works and curating is my way of giving back to them while sharing new ways of being with audiences. This award gives me the courage to continue.”
Selection committee decision
Riva Symko summarized the jury’s decision as follows: “If we're talking about curatorial work this year at all, we're talking about Wanda. If we're talking about sticking to your guns, fierceness, courage, challenging the institution, we're talking about Wanda.”
Sylvette Babin affirmed that “this award not only highlights the quality of Wanda Nanibush's curatorial projects, but also salutes this curator's stances in favor of the representation of Indigenous peoples and the foregrounding of restorative justice.”
Divya Mehra added: “As a curator, writer, and community advocate, Wanda has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to her values. It is this kind of dedication, vision, and thoughtful work that should be uplifted and celebrated.”
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2024
Mid-Career Artist Award
Tairone Bastien, Independent Curator; Assistant Professor, OCAD University
Lori Blondeau, Assistant Professor, University of Manitoba; Artist; 2021 laureate of a Governor General’s Visual and Media Arts Award
Stanley Février, Artist; Curator and Director of the Musée d'art actuel / Département des invisibles (MAADI)
Lindsey Sharman, Curator, Art Gallery of Alberta
Scott Watson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, University of British Columbia
Mid-Career Curator Award
Sylvette Babin, Director of Esse arts + opinions)
Michael Belmore, Artist
Brandy Dahrouge, Arts Consultant
Divya Mehra, Artist; 2022 Sobey Art Award laureate)
Riva Symko, Head of Collections & Exhibitions and Curator of Canadian Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
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For the first time in The Hnatyshyn Foundation's history, we are pleased to reveal the short list of artists and curators considered for mid-career awards.
2024
The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Visual Arts
Nadia Belerique
Howie Tsui
Skeena Reece
Marigold Santos
The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Curatorial Excellence
Jason St-Laurent
Crystal Mowry
Anne-Marie St-Jean Aubre
