2022 AWARD WINNERS
Congratulations to this year's award winners!
Why do you create? awards are sponsored by Visual Arts Mississauga and DeSerres.
Why do you create? Jurors
Kim-Lee Kho – A popular and experienced art educator, speaker, and juror, Kim-Lee is a Canadian, Brampton-based multidisciplinary artist, exploring personal experience as a gateway to broader human concerns. She has participated nationally in exhibitions, residencies, and mentorships; and won awards including grants from the Ontario Arts Council.
Annis Karpenko, MFA, MEd – Since 2014, Annis has been the executive director of Visual Arts Mississauga. In her private life, she is a photographer, writer and artist whose current focus is printmaking and mixed media.
First Place Award
Bogdan Luca
I am thrilled to have been awarded this prize and to be part of such a vibrant exhibition of local artists! Thank you jurors and Visual Arts Mississauga!
Second Place Award
Matthew Ferguson
When I applied to the show I was just hoping to have my work accepted and didn’t even entertain the idea of placing; so now I can’t even express how overjoyed I am at being awarded second place. It’s truly an honour to not only have my work shown in the exhibition along with all these amazingly talented artists, but to also receive such positive feedback from the jurors is something I never expected. This is the first art award I have ever won and it’s more encouraging and empowering than I could have imagined. I truly want to thank everyone involved in this show and I know this positivity will keep me motivated for a very long time to come. Thank you again to everyone!
Third Place Award
Eunice Sim
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the judges who gave me the prize.
For me, it's great, comforting and happy news in this difficult time.
And thank you to the Visual Arts Mississauga for this beautiful opportunity.
Honourable Mention
Bob Phillips
Being chosen among the winners is gratifying as these digital collage prints are new
territory for me. This artform accommodates my penchant for ambiguity, complexity & visual contraction.
Honourable Mention
Tatiana Fryntov
I am surprised and excited to learn my work has been included in the Honourable Mention Category!
Thank you so much Visual Arts Mississauga!
A LETTER FROM VAM'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
After much consideration, VAM decided to combine its annual Juried Show with the annual Why Do You Create exhibition. I had the great pleasure of jurying the show with fellow artist Kim-Lee Kho, and the hours we spent considering each work were wonderful.
People often ask how artworks are juried into a show. First, the photograph submitted must be clear, crisp and uncluttered by extraneous items, e.g. frames that are not an integral part of the work. The quality of this photo-documentation is crucial when artworks are entered digitally.
Next up is the execution of the work: skillful handling of the medium, is there a concept or message behind the work, or can we feel the artist’s point of view? How well do those come across? And then, the jurors discuss the works they feel strongly about, that have moved them or made a strong impression in some other way.
It is never easy, the same work can be included in one show and excluded in another. The one thing Kim and I agreed on was the excellent array of works we had to choose from. In this exhibit why we create becomes what we create. We are so pleased to share these works with you.