VANL-CARFAC
Visual Artists Newfoundland & Labrador

November 30, 2010

(St. John’s, NL): Yesterday morning, Visual Artists Newfoundland and Labrador (VANL-CARFAC), announced a new award for visual art writers as part of the 2011 Excellence in Visual Art Awards (EVAs). This award, The Critical Eye Award, was initiated by an anonymous donor who wanted to encourage more critical writing about this province’s artists – a crucial part of growing a visual artists’ career.

By early afternoon, a second anonymous donor came forward to double the prize money from $500 to $1000, with a guaranteed commitment for four years. This puts the prize amount at the same level as the other EVA awards, which celebrate senior artists, established artists, emerging artists and art patrons in several different award categories.

“The immediate response from the second anonymous individual was an incredible surprise”, says VANL-CARFAC’s Executive Director, Sara Tilley. “This person told us that they felt this award filled a necessary gap in the visual arts sector, and they wanted us to congratulate the first anonymous donor for initiating it. The fact that both donors have committed to the award for four years is a sign that critical writing is viewed by the community as a necessary part of an artists’ growth and longevity – it helps artists secure exhibitions and grants, and increases their profile both within the art community and the general public. Both donors are hopeful that The Critical Eye Award will encourage more art criticism to be written about the wealth of visual art we are blessed with in this province.”

The Excellence in Visual Arts Awards (EVAs) are the province’s only awards program for visual artists, and are part of the programming for Visual Artists Newfoundland and Labrador. Applications for The Critical Eye Award will be accepted along with applications to the Large Year Award, Long Haul Award, Emerging Artist Award and Kippy Goins Award until April 1^st, 2011. The jury will be comprised of a member of the EVA Committee, a provincial visual arts professional and a national visual arts professional. The winners will be announced in a ceremony at The Rooms on May 27^th, 2011.

To be eligible for The Critical Eye Award, the writer may reside in any province of Canada or any country worldwide, as long as they have written about a Newfoundland Labrador artist within the preceding calendar year, from January 1 to December 31, in a recognized print or online publication.

For more information, contact VANL-CARFAC’s Program Coordinator Dave Andrews at 1-877-738-7303, or vanl-carfac@nf.aibn.com.

To read The Telegram article on the award in today’s paper, visit http://www.thetelegram.com/Arts—Life/Entertainment/2010-11-30/article-2004094/Anonymous-donor-doubles-award-for-critical-art-writing/1

(St. John’s, NL): The Excellence in Visual Arts Awards (EVAs) are the province’s only awards program for visual artists, and this year the EVAs will see another award category added to the existing four prizes. The Critical Eye Award recognizes the impact that critical art writing can have on a visual artists’ career. Any writer worldwide who has written about a NL artist in any recognized print or online publication during the past calendar year is eligible for consideration. The winner will receive $500, courtesy of an anonymous donor.

The EVA Awards are part of the programming for Visual Artists Newfoundland and Labrador (VANL-CARFAC).

“We were thrilled when an anonymous donor came forward the day before the 2010 EVA Awards, to suggest starting an award for critical art writing”, says VANL-CARFAC’s Executive Director, Sara Tilley. “This individual’s enthusiasm for this new award is a wonderful sign of how much community support there is for the EVAs in the province. The donor felt that critical writing was crucial to the growth of artists’ careers, and that an award celebrating excellence in art writing would be a great way to encourage more dialogue about the art being created in our province.” The donor has committed to funding the award for four years.

Applications for the Critical Eye Award will be accepted along with applications to the Large Year Award, Long Haul Award, Emerging Artist Award and Kippy Goins Award until April 1^st, 2011. The jury will be comprised of a member of the EVA Committee, a provincial visual arts professional and a national visual arts professional.

To be eligible for the Critical Eye Award, the writer may reside in any province of Canada or any country worldwide, as long as they have written about a Newfoundland Labrador artist within the preceding calendar year, from January 1 to December 31, in a recognized print or online publication.

For more information, contact VANL-CARFAC’s Program Coordinator Dave Andrews at 1-877-738-7303, or vanl-carfac@nf.aibn.com.

VANL-CARFAC is looking for an editor for the spring/summer edition of the VANL-CARFAC News. The successful candidate will be responsible for the the generation/solicitation of content, editing and working with the communications committee on layout and design issues. Have ideas for articles and features that would be of interest to your fellow artists? Want to build up experience writing and editing for newsletters and journals? Want to get more involved with VANL?

If you’re energetic, self-motivated and have an interest in a volunteer editorial position (with a possibility of a paid contract for future editions), please contact Dave Andrews, Program Coordinator, at 1-877-738-7303 or vanl-carfac@nf.aibn.com.

Last fall we contacted over sixty public galleries, artist-run centres, commercial galleries, alternative spaces, art training programs and residencies across the province with the goal of creating a comprehensive resource for artists in this province. This was inspired by similar work done by CARFAC BC and CARFAC SASK, as well as CARFAC AB/VAAA. Similar surveys are now being conducted in the Maritimes and Ontario.

We are delighted to announce that the results of this NL Visual Sector survey are now on our website – check it out under Programs and Services – Visual Sector Survey. We hope that artists will bookmark this Survey as a great place to get familiar with the current deadlines, opportunities etc available, and that gallery and residency owners and others will use this listing as a way to promote their spaces and programs to artists. We have listed those who did not respond to the survey as did not respond. If you know of any space or organization which is not listed and should be, please contact us at vanl-carfac@nf.aibn.com with their contact information.

We will update the listings as necessary, so check back for the most current information!

Thank you to all of the participants in the survey for contributing to a clearer picture of all of the opportunities our province has to offer its artists.