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Salt Spring Island calls to artists in Greater Victoria

Artist exposure will be extensive as Salt Spring Island is known as one of Canada’s premier art communities.
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Salt Spring Artist Bill Brownridge.

Can an unknown artist win a national art prize and contend with the best?

A brilliant opportunity for artists across the country is being launched by the community of Salt Spring Island with The Salt Spring National Art Prize (SSNAP) launching its inaugural year in a unique fashion. Calling out to Canadian artists across the nation, this small island, known for its creative passion in arts and sustainability, is honouring Canadian artists by providing them with the opportunity to earn up to $25,000 in prize money, with the first artist taking $10,000 and a one-month artist residency on this little gem of a Canadian island.

The best part, jurors will not know who the artist is, so it does not matter who you are, what matters is the artist’s creative skills that demonstrate originality, quality and integrity, resulting in a significant work that holds a visual impact and a depth of meaning.

"This is a good moment for Canadian art,” says Newfoundland and Labrador juror Vicky Chainey Gagnon. “I’ll be looking for art with rigour that is interesting, that is technically sound and is fluid and dynamic that brings context to global, cultural and local issues."

Holger Kalberg, a Manitoba juror agrees: "An art prize like this that is national in scope is a good thing allowing for a bigger audience to participate. The work I might champion will be challenging and current; art that pushes the boundaries of the medium."

Artist exposure will be extensive as Salt Spring Island is known as one of Canada’s premier art communities. In total, 50 final works will be selected and displayed in SSNAP’s artist collective show catalogue. Original works will be exhibited and for sale at historic Mahon Hall on Salt Spring Island, from Sept. 25 through to Oct. 26.

The list of finalists will be announced Sept. 25 with winners announced at an awards gala Oct. 24. SSNAP welcomes artists Canada-wide to submit original, two-dimensional and three-dimensional works, with the call for submissions now open to May 31.

For more information about SSNAP, including artist submission and selection process, jury bios and event dates, click here.