The National Gallery of Canada unveils the winners of its teen contest So You Want To Be an Artist?

OTTAWA, Dec. 10, 2015 /CNW/ - The jury of the National Gallery of Canada (NGC)'s teen contest So You Want To Be an Artists? has deliberated. The prize winners of the of the 2015 edition are Haley Sweet, from Kanata, Ontario, first place for her work Glitter on the Pages (II); Natalia Beattie, from Bawlf, Alberta, second place for her work Erosion of Humanity, and Emmanuelle Boutin, from Montréal, Québec, who placed third for her work All Those Unsaid Things. The 15 finalist's artworks, including the top three prize winners, are exhibited in the Gallery's Artissimo Gallery until January 17, 2016. Images of the artworks can also be seen on the contest website.

"Once again, teenagers aged 16 to 19 from across Canada who participated in the contest this year have talent to spare," said NGC Education Officer and contest coordinator Katja Canini. "This year the top three are each in a different media, painting, drawing and photography. It's exciting to see the diversity of the media through which young people expressed their creativity and their rich and colourful imaginations."

The jury was tasked with determining the three prize winning works. Their criteria for selecting the top three works included clarity of theme or message, originality, inventiveness and ability to provoke thought and emotion in the viewer.

First-place winner Haley Sweet will spend a day at the NGC learning about careers in visual arts and having her portfolio reviewed by an NGC expert, and will also receive a $500 gift certificate for art supplies. Second-place winner Natalia Beattie will receive a $1,000 gift certificate for art supplies; third-place winner Emmanuelle Boutin will receive a $500 gift certificate, also for art supplies.

This year, works by 258 aspiring-artists from across Canada aged 16 to 19 years made it to the first phase of the contest. Among these, the 12 works that received the highest number of votes from the public became finalists, alongside three additional works selected by NGC associate curator of Canadian Modern Art, Adam Welch, for their artistic qualities. The jury was composed of Mr. Welch, artist Luke Siemens, artist Sandy Plotnikoff, and artist and Associate Professor of Painting at the University of Ottawa, Jinny Yu, who gathered earlier this week to select the three winners.

The names of the winners and the finalists whose works are exhibited at the Gallery until January 17, 2016 are:

1^st prize: Haley Sweet, from Kanata, ON
2^nd prize: Natalia Beattie, from Bawlf, AB
3^rd prize: Emmanuelle Boutin, from Montréal, QC

Finalists

Michelle Chung, form Stouffville, ON
Teresa Han, from Toronto, ON
Céline Hardy, from Brockville, ON
Ania Jarda, from Montréal, QC
Maria Jose, from Windsor, ON
Rana Jreidini, from Montréal, QC
Emelie Kanwischer, from Calgary, AB;
Petros Kapetanakis, from Russell, ON
Holly Macie, from North Bay, ON
Joanna-Maria Marianakis Belec, from Montréal, QC
David Garcia Sepulveda, from Bridgewater, NS
Rikka Yambao, from Winnipeg, MB

CBC/Radio-Canada and Colleges and Institutes Canada have collaborated with the contest by promoting it through their various digital platforms.

About the National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada is home to the most important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian art. The Gallery also maintains Canada's premier collection of European Art from the 14th to the 21st century, as well as important works of American, Asian and Indigenous Art and renowned international collections of prints, drawings and photographs. In 2015, the National Gallery of Canada established the Canadian Photography Institute, a global multidisciplinary research center dedicated to the history, evolution and future of photography. Created in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada has played a key role in Canadian culture for well over a century. Among its principal missions is to increase access to excellent works of art for all Canadians. For more information, visit gallery.ca and follow us on Twitter @gallerydotca.

SOURCE National Gallery of Canada

For further information: For media enquiries only, please contact: Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Media and Public Relations Officer, National Gallery of Canada, 613.990.6835 / [email protected]