York Wilson Endowment Award

Diorama depicting scenes from a hair salon: stylists work on people’s hair as clients browse products and occupy a waiting area.

Culture in the Key of Kerry, Sung by my Aunties on a Saturday Afternoon (2024), by Curtis Talwst Santiago.

Photographer(s): Photo courtesy of Curtis Talwst Santiago and the Rachel Uffner Gallery, in New York City.

Latest Winner

The Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA), in Edmonton, Alberta, received the 2024 York Wilson Endowment Award, which funded the acquisition of Culture in the Key of Kerry, Sung by my Aunties on a Saturday Afternoon (2024), by Curtis Talwst Santiago.

Curtis Talwst Santiago is a visual artist born in Edmonton, Alberta, who studied as an apprentice of Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his artwork is held in permanent collections in Canada, the US and Europe. His work consists of paintings, large-scale installations and sculptures, and miniature scenes (dioramas) depicting memories from Santiago’s upbringing in Caribbean-Canadian culture. Santiago considers himself decentralized and lives and works in Munich, Germany, New York City, USA, Lisbon, Portugal, and Toronto, Canada.

The AGA is the oldest cultural institution in Alberta and the province’s only solely dedicated art museum. The AGA offers a wide range of programs for diverse audiences, including school children, young people, adults, families and seniors, as well as the local and national arts communities.

To learn more about the AGA, visit its website.

Acquisition

Culture in the Key of Kerry, Sung by my Aunties on a Saturday Afternoon, Curtis Talwst Santiago. Reclaimed jewellery box, paper, leather, plastic, wood, acrylic paint, oil paint, human hair. Dimensions: 4 x 3 x 2 1/2 in (10.6 x 7.6 x 6.3 cm)

The award

The York Wilson Endowment Award enables non-profit art museums and public art galleries to purchase original works by living, contemporary artists from Canada working in painting or sculpture.

Eligibility

For eligibility criteria and further information on this award, please consult the guidelines.

Background

This award is provided thanks to investment proceeds from the York Wilson Endowment. The endowment was established at the Canada Council for the Arts in 1997 by a generous donation from the late Lela Wilson and the late Maxwell Henderson to honour the contribution of painter York Wilson (1907–1984) to the field of visual art by encouraging and promoting works of art created by painters or sculptors from Canada.