BMO 1st Art! Competition Recognizes Fresh Perspectives from Emerging Canadian Artists.
BMO Financial Group announces one national winner and 12 regional winners of their annual BMO 1st Art! competition
$15,000 is awarded to the national winner; $7,500 is awarded to each regional winner
All selected works will be showcased from November 21 to December 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 158 Sterling Rd, Toronto
National Winner from Manitoba
Figure as Index (Triptych) by Luther Konadu
TORONTO, August 12, 2019 – BMO Financial Group today announced the winners of its 17th annual BMO 1st Art! competition, recognizing visual arts excellence among undergraduate artists across Canada.
The invitational competition presents emerging artists with cash awards of $15,000 to one national winner and $7,500 to 12 regional winners from coast to coast. An esteemed panel of jurors selected the 13 outstanding works from a pool of 291 submissions. All winning pieces will be showcased from November 21 to December 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 158 Sterling Rd, Toronto, following a private exhibition opening on Wednesday, November 20.
“I’m proud of all of the work that BMO does to support emerging artists through its various projects year-round,” said Cameron Fowler, President, North American Personal & Business Banking, BMO Financial Group. “It’s an honour to be part of an initiative that recognizes the wealth of Canadian talent from coast to coast. Congratulations to the 2019 winners on their accomplishment.”
“It’s wonderful to see such inventive and complex projects from a group of graduates, knowing that their generation is the future of art in Canada,” said Dawn Cain, Curator, BMO Corporate Art Collection. “We applaud this year’s honourees and look forward to celebrating their well-deserved recognition in November.”
Once again, Deans and instructors of 110 undergraduate student art programs were invited to select three graduating students from each of their studio specialties to submit a recent work.
For the first time in the competition’s history, the 2019 submission guidelines allowed for time-based media including video, film, slide, audio and computer technologies, in addition to the previously accepted mediums of drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, sculpture, glass, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, and installation works.