Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts

Guidelines

The Canada Council is committed to equity and inclusion, and encourages applications and nominations from individuals, groups and organizations from culturally diverse, Deaf, disability and official language minority communities. The Canada Council is committed to reaffirming and revitalizing its relationship with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada. Measures are in place in all programs to support these commitments

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The Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts (GGArts) are Canada’s foremost distinctions in visual and media arts. The awards were created in 1999 by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Governor General of Canada. Since then, the awards have celebrated Canada’s vibrant arts community and recognized remarkable careers in the visual and media arts. The Canada Council funds and administers the awards.

Up to 8 awards are given annually:

• 6 awards for Artistic Achievement in the visual (including architecture) and/or media arts
• 1 Saidye Bronfman Award in fine craft
• 1 award for Outstanding Contribution in the visual arts (including architecture), media arts or fine craft, by an individual or group in a volunteer or professional capacity. This contribution can be through philanthropy, board governance, community outreach activities, as the director of an organization, or as a curator, programmer, educator, critic or dealer/distributor.

The Saidye Bronfman Award is Canada’s foremost distinction in fine crafts. Created in 1977 by the Bronfman family to honour their mother on her 80th birthday, the prize is awarded annually to a fine craft artist. As a result of a $1.5 million donation to the Canada Council from The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation, the Saidye Bronfman Award became a Governor General’s Award, reserved for fine craft artists as of March 2007. The name “Saidye Bronfman Award” is retained under the overall banner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Works by the Saidye Bronfman winners are acquired by the Canadian Museum of History for its permanent collection.

Deadline – 1 June 2024

If this date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

*NEW*

Your completed identification form, nomination form, required documents, and support material must be submitted on or before the deadline date by 11:59 pm (local time) using the Prizes – Submission Portal. Incomplete or late nominations will not be assessed.

Award limits

Individuals may only receive 1 award in a lifetime from each of the GGArts categories.

Notification of results – approximately 5 months after the deadline date

All nominators and winners will be notified in writing. Except for the notification of the prize winners, the Canada Council does not contact candidates.

Prize amounts – up to 8 awards of $25,000 each

Eligibility

Eligible nominators (for all categories):

Nominators can be an individual, a group of co-nominators (up to 3 people), or the representative of an organization. All nominators must be:

• Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, as defined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. They do not need to be living in Canada.
• a recognized Canadian specialist in visual arts, media arts or fine craft.

Nominators may be from a different province, territory or field of practice than the candidate.

Restrictions

• Nominators may submit 1 nomination per category.
• Candidates may only be nominated in 1 category per year.
• Candidates may not self-nominate.
• Canada Council board members are not eligible during their term as members and for 6 months following the end of their term.

Eligible candidates

All candidates must:

• be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada as defined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. They do not need to be living in Canada.
• be living as of the nomination deadline date.

Artistic Achievement and Saidye Bronfman Awards

These awards are intended to honour individual achievement rather than the work of an organization, but it may also recognize artistic partnerships or small collectives in which each artist meets the eligibility requirements for the prize.

Candidates must be professional artists in visual arts, media arts or fine craft who:

• have maintained a practice in their field over a significant period of time
• have received national and/or international recognition
• have made a substantial contribution to both the historical development and contemporary practice of their field in Canada
• have created an outstanding and distinguished body of work in visual arts, media arts, or fine craft.

Outstanding Contribution Award

An individual or a group of individuals may be nominated for this award. Candidates must have made an outstanding contribution to contemporary Canadian art in visual arts (including architecture), media arts or fine craft, in a volunteer or professional capacity.

Ineligible candidates

Professionals working in the field of design, including graphic, industrial or fashion design, are not eligible.

Application/Nomination Assistance

Application/Nomination Assistance contributes to costs for services to help with a prize application or nomination for individuals who self-identify as: 

• Deaf, hard of hearing, having a disability or living with a mental illness
• First Nations, Inuit or Métis facing language, geographic and/or cultural barriers.

To submit a request, contact the Prizes team 1 to 4 weeks prior to the deadline.

Assessment – How are decisions made?

Peer evaluation is fundamental to the Canada Council’s decision-making process. A peer assessment committee, will assess the eligible nominations. The committee will be composed of experienced professionals selected for their expertise in their field of practice. Committee members will also be selected with consideration to fair representation of artistic specializations, Canada’s 2 official languages, First Nations, Inuit and Metis people, Deaf and disability communities, gender, age and the cultural and regional diversity of Canada.

The peer assessment committee may decide not to award the prize in any one of the categories in a given competition.

All peer assessment committee decisions are final.

Assessment criteria

Nominations will be evaluated based on the following weighted criteria:

Artistic Achievement and Saidye Bronfman Awards

Merit (60%)

• The artistic quality of the candidate’s work over a significant period of time
• The candidate’s overall career achievements including national and/or international recognition

Impact (40%)

• The candidate’s contribution to the development and advancement of the contemporary practices of visual arts, media arts or fine craft in Canada
• The candidate’s contributions towards a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive artistic ecosystem

Outstanding Contribution Award

Impact (60%)

• The impact and extent of the candidate’s significant contribution to contemporary visual or media arts or fine craft over an extended period
• The candidate’s contributions towards a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive artistic ecosystem

Merit (40%)

• The quality of the candidate’s contribution to contemporary visual or media arts or fine craft over an extended period

Required information and support material – What you need to submit

Please refer to the “Instructions” document and the nomination form for more details.

• Nomination statement (2 pages maximum)
• Curriculum vitae of candidate
• Written support material (as applicable)
• Digital support material (images, audio-visual, as applicable)

Nomination preparation

• The nominator is responsible for providing all the information and support material requested.
• The Canada Council will make eligibility decisions based on the information provided in the nomination.
• Submit only the material requested. Extra material will not be shown to the peer assessment committee.
• Carefully choose your support material as committee members have limited time in which to review each nomination.
• In addition to filling out your contact information in the nomination form, if you have an account on the Canada Council’s portal, please ensure that the information is up to date.

Resubmissions

• Nominators may submit a nomination for a specific candidate as many times as desired; resubmissions of nomination packages are encouraged.
• A nominator may use the same nomination package for up to 3 consecutive deadlines.

Personal information

Personal information collected in this nomination shall be used for purposes related to the program, service or activity of the Canada Council.

The Canada Council may share personal information from applications and nominations for awards with officials in other arts and cultural industry funding agencies and government institutions on a confidential basis. Shared information is limited to your name, contact information and field of practice and is provided to assist with research, reporting, program planning and evaluation, to present networking or economic opportunities, or to respond to federal reviews. For more information on how your personal information is protected, see our Privacy Notice.

Prize terms and conditions

Once the prize winners have been contacted, they must confirm acceptance of the prize and agree to keep the results of the competition confidential until the Canada Council makes its official announcement. If successful, the terms and conditions will be outlined in a notification letter.

Prize payment

Winners cannot receive the prize money until all overdue final reports for Canada Council grants and prizes have been submitted and approved.

Participation in promotional activities

The winners must agree to allow their photographs and public information to be used for promotion of the prize and in other Canada Council promotional initiatives. They must also agree to participate fully in all prize-related activities. .

Copyright

If the winner owns the copyright and distribution rights to their work, they agree to the use of reproductions or excerpts of their work in all Canada Council collateral material, such as on the Canada Council and partner websites, at associated venues, on social media channels, in the commissioned video portraits, and for distribution for media and promotional purposes. Winners will receive a flat fee for use of this material. If the winner does not own the copyright and/or distribution rights to their work, they must provide the appropriate contact information to the Canada Council, and compensation will be provided directly to the specified third party.

Previous winners

Visit the GGArts web page to download a list of past winners.

Instructions – How to submit a nomination

Upload your completed identification form, nomination form, required documents and support material on or before the deadline date by 11:59 pm (local time) using the Prizes – Submission Portal. You must read the instructions and have all your documents ready before you can submit your nomination in the Prizes – Submission Portal.

Contact information

ggarts@canadacouncil.ca

1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 5268

 

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Nomination: Artistic Achievement

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Nomination: Saidye Bronfman Award 

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Nomination: Outstanding Contribution