Open Studio Announces Shortlisted Artists and Jury for the Open Studio Print Awards

    Canada's best fine art printmakers come together in a celebration of art
    at Open Studio's 100 Prints

    TORONTO, May 2 /CNW/ - Open Studio, Canada's leading printmaking centre,
is pleased to announce the names of artists shortlisted for the first annual
Open Studio Print Awards, as well as the jury presiding over winner selection.
Award winners will be announced during 100 Prints, the highlight event of the
year for Canada's fine art printmaking community.
    Taking place on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 100 Prints combines the elements
of a fine art exhibition and a lottery. Each year one hundred prints are
curated for the event from prints donated by nationally and internationally
recognized Canadian artists. One hundred tickets are sold for the event
assuring each ticket holder an original fine art print. Throughout the evening
attendees' tickets are drawn at random, giving them a chance to choose one of
the 100 Prints donated to the event by Canadian artists.
    The event provides the art community a chance to come face to face with
works from celebrated Canadian visual artists and the most promising new
talents. It is also a major annual fundraiser for Open Studio. An artist-run,
Toronto-based organization, Open Studio is dedicated to the production,
preservation and promotion of contemporary original fine art prints.
    This year for the first time an Open Studio Print Award will be handed to
the best three artist submissions. The remaining artists will be eligible to
win an Honourable Mention at the awards.The artists shortlisted for the awards are:

    -  Libby Hague
    -  Emma Nishimura
    -  Penelope Stewart
    -  Daryl Vocat
    -  Amanda White
    -  Cybèle Young"We are thrilled to be able to leverage 100 Prints to continue providing
fine art printmakers with the tools they need to keep this important art form
vibrant and alive. We see poignant and relevant works of art created at Open
Studio time and again, so are particularly pleased to be able to award the top
three submissions to 100 Prints with an Open Studio Print Award," said Heather
Webb, Director of Open Studio. "We are honoured to support and promote
talented artists from across Canada and think all of the shortlisted artists
represent some of the best contemporary art that is being produced. We're also
very grateful for the invaluable insight and support of the Open Studio Print
Awards jury."
    The jury presiding over the Open Studio Print Awards selection included
Mary Sue Rankin who is the Owner and Director of the Edward Day Gallery. It
also included Ed Phillips, who is the Ernst & Young LLP Art Collection Manager
and Curator, and the Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings for the Art
Gallery of Ontario, Brenda Rix.What:   Open Studio Print Awards
            Part of 100 Prints 2008
    When:   May 21st, 2008
    Where:  Palais Royale, Toronto, OntarioOpen Studio gratefully acknowledges the support of The City of Toronto
through the Toronto Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts and the
Ontario Arts Council. Open Studio also acknowledges the generous support of
its members and numerous foundations, corporations and individuals.

For further information: Heather Webb, Director,
[e-mail] or Bridget Indelicato, Associate Director,
[e-mail]; Open Studio, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104,
Toronto, ON, M5V 3A8, Ph/F: [phone], E: [e-mail], W:
www.openstudio.on.ca