2023 Endowment Award Recipients

2023 Endowment Award recipients

Ten artists receive annual awards.

Regina – February 2nd, 2024 – The Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) proudly announces the 2023 Endowment Award recipients in literary, multidisciplinary, performance (dance, music and theatre) and visual arts, with ten awards of $5000 each. Managed and administered by the SFFA Board of Trustees, each award is supported by the named endowment funds.

Gursh Barnard, Chair of the SFFA says, “The response to the 2023 call for submissions was a proud moment. Not only in the volume of applicants, but the diversity across artistic platforms was tremendous. The generosity of our donors has facilitated the growth of the Endowment Funds allowing the SFFA to support emerging and established artists from Saskatchewan who represent our province’s diverse cultures.”

THE 2023 ENDOWMENT AWARD FUNDS AND RECIPIENTS

LITERARY AWARD – Colleen Bailey Memorial Fund
IRENE TUSHABE (IRYN) a Ugandan Canadian writer and journalist: to write a collection of short stories tentatively titled ‘A Separation’.

INDIGENOUS LITERARY AWARD – Dick & Jane Fund
ELAINE MCARTHUR a Dakota/Nakota member of the Ocean Man First Nation on Treaty 4 territory: to develop a graphic novel about an Indigenous superhero who battles evil in the community.

INDIGENOUS TRADITIONAL CRAFT AWARD – Dick & Jane Fund
ANNIE BRASS: Anishinaabe/Neheyow comes from the people of many roads, Kawacatoose Cree Nation of Saskatchewan: to document a family journey creating Men’s Fancy Dance Regalia.

INDIGENOUS/ MULTIMEDIA LANGUAGE AWARD – Dick & Jane Fund
GEANNA DUNBAR: Cree Metis spoken word visual artist. Member of Metis Nation of Saskatchewan: A Metis written and illustrated children’s book about a wolf hybrid that doesn’t fit in with pure bred wolves or dogs. Book will be translated in English and Michif.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY 2SLGBTQ+ ARTIST/ART AWARD – Dick & Jane Fund
S.E. GRUMMETT (they/them) a queer, transgender theatre artist: Develop a performance piece ‘Nude Parade’. Using repurposed trash-puppets, non-linear narrative, and live music, the piece explores the collective body, its parts and the identities we cling to.

FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR AWARD – Dick & Jane Fund
GABRIELA GARCÍA-LUNA is a photo-based multimedia artist born in Mexico City: Access to Business tools to showcase, promote and market her substantial body of work. Invest in the creation of a professional website.

PRAIRIE FOLK ART AWARD – Dick & Jane Fund
KARLIE KING is a mixed media visual artist: Restore the doily to its traditional placement in our daily lives, in alignment with current aesthetic trends.

REGINA ARTIST AWARD – Harry Nick Kangles Fund
LANDON WALLISER is a queer and neurodiverse artist working as director and producer: to further the new jukebox musical “Annette is a Bimbo!” with The Women’s Company and Be Kind Rewind Productions.

VISUAL AWARD FOR FEMALE ARTIST – Jane Turnbull Evans Fund
NÉGAR DEVINE-TAJGARDAN visual artist with interest in sculpture, installation art and photography: for her visual work based on concepts of displacement through new approaches to textile and sound art.

VISUAL AWARD – Shurniak Fund
AUDIE MURRAY visual artist working with multimedia including sculpture, media, beadwork and drawing:Creation of two sculptures made of beadwork that resembles cake to be shown in a 2024 group exhibition.

The SFFA is committed to supporting and recognizing the work of Saskatchewan artists and actively seeks donations from arts patrons and supporters who celebrate the vibrancy and value of the arts and culture.

In 2023, the SFFA announced five new awards supported by ‘The Dick and Jane Fund’. The endowment fund was established by Richard Spafford and Jane Turnbull-Evans as a legacy gift in perpetuity honoring a lifelong commitment to supporting the arts and their drive in establishing the SFFA.

Barnard says, “Our province is recognized for creating world-class artists. Our donors and supporters have invested over 3 million dollars to secure private funding for the arts and artists of Saskatchewan. To date the SFFA has supported 76 artists with over $410,000 in awards. Visionaries have made this possible and we look forward to building the Endowment funds in support of our province’s arts and talented artists.”

About the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts

The Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts (SFFA) is a public Foundation dedicated solely to creating a legacy of financial support for the arts and artists of Saskatchewan, through the generous financial support of individuals, organizations and corporations. If interested in learning more about becoming a donor, or supporting the SFFA and Saskatchewan’s artists, please contact the SFFA for more information.

http://www.saskartsfoundation.com/

Gursh Barnard: Chair, Board of Trustees

Tel: 306-737-8980

E-mail: info@saskartsfoundation.com

2023 Glengarry Book Award Recipient

2023 Glengarry Book Award Prize recipient

Sharon Butala – ‘Leaving Wisdom’

Regina – January 27, 2024 – Launched by the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) 2021, the Glengarry Book Award Prize was created to support and foster Saskatchewan’s literary culture. The Glengarry Book Award Prize is an annual award for the first edition of an English language novel or book of short fiction. This award is the vision of donor and book lover Claire Kramer, a founding trustee of the SFFA.

The annual $20,000 (CAD) prize celebrates authors with Saskatchewan roots. In its third year, the SFFA is proud to announce Sharon Butala as this year’s recipient of the province’s largest literary prize.

“I am delighted to honour Sharon Butala with this award,” says Kramer. “Whether they began their career in Saskatchewan or were schooled in the province, the authors are connected to the land. We are proud of the continued momentum in our third year and look forward to continuing to support the creativity of Saskatchewan writers who share stories with readers far beyond our borders.”

Sharon Butala says, “In establishing Saskatchewan’s most important literary prize, Claire Kramer has not only assisted individual writers but is actively spreading the word across Canada about Saskatchewan’s rich literary culture and the talent of our writers. I am deeply honoured by this award.”

Leaving Wisdom, tells a thought-provoking story of life in small town Saskatchewan and the shock Judith, the protagonist experiences after the anonymity of a big city. Her story tells not only the suffering that comes from family secrets, but also unfolds one woman’s late life awakening to the complex shadows cast by World War Two and the Holocaust.

Managed and administered by the SFFA, The Glengarry Book Award Prize selects its jury from a pool of Canadian authors, literary publishers and organizations. The 2023 jury members were author Marina Endicott, Glenda MacFarlane, editor of Scirocco Books in Winnipeg and writer Maggie Siggins, and was chaired by Valerie Creighton, CEO of the Canada Media Fund.

Creighton says, “The Jury selected the novel Leaving Wisdom for its strong craft of writing. A powerful narrative – one that stays true to character from start to finish, and themes addressing the struggle of being true to one’s understanding of the world, that resonate across generations. It’s been an honour to work with Claire Kramer and the Foundation to establish this award and to chair the jury. The impact of this award is significant for our province.”

Shortlisted novels for the 2023 Glengarry Book Award Prize include Dee Hobsbawn-Smith’s Danceland Diary, andMichael Afenfia’s Leave My Bones in Saskatoon.

Kramer says, “Realising a dream to contribute to recognizing and encouraging Saskatchewan authors became a reality in partnership with the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts. My thanks to them, the juries and the creative storytellers.”

Butala has written over 22 novels and nonfiction books, including The Perfection of the Morning, Where I Live Now, Zara’s Dead, Fever and Wild Rose. Born in Nipawin in 1940, Butala resided in Saskatchewan for over 60 years. She began her education in a one-room eight-grade school and furthered her studies at The University of Saskatchewan campus as a student and teacher.

Her previous awards include the Marian Engel Award for Women Writers in Mid-Career, the 1986 Writers’ Choice Award, Saskatchewan Book Awards and Western Magazine Awards. She has also won a Saskatchewan Writers Guild Member’s Achievement Award, a Canadian Authors’ Award, Canada 125 Commemorative Medal, Queen’s Jubilee Medal and the Centennial Medal. She is a three-time Governor General’s Literary Award nominee. In 2002, she became an officer of the Order of Canada.

For her ninth novel, Leaving Wisdom, Butala joins previous Glengarry Book Award Prize recipients and award-winning authors Diane Warren for The Diamond House (2021 recipient), and GuyVanderhaeghe for August into Winter (2022 recipient.)

“The Glengarry Book Award Prize follows a long history of Saskatchewan arts patrons supporting and celebrating the arts. We are honoured to be a part of recognizing the literary artists who have made their mark on Saskatchewan,” says Gursh Barnard, Chair of the Board of Trustees.

About the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts

The Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) is a public Foundation dedicated solely to creating a legacy of financial support for the arts and artists in Saskatchewan, through the generous financial support of individuals, organizations, and corporations.

http://www.saskartsfoundation.com/

Gursh Barnard: Chair, Board of Trustees

Tel: 306-737-8980

E-mail: info@saskartsfoundation.com

Upholding the Voices of Artists

The Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts was pleased to collaborate with the Canadian Club of Regina and arranged for Senator Patricia Bovey to come to Regina.

SFFA Board Chair, Gursh Barnard, will be introducing her during the event.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEBRUARY 17, 2023

Senator Patricia Bovey will be the speaker at The Canadian Club of Regina on Thursday, March 2 at the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s Agra/Torchinsky Lounge.

Senator Bovey is the author of Bill S-208, an act respecting the Declaration on the Essential Role of Artists and Creative Expression in Canada. The Bill was passed by the Senate in October 2022.

As the first art historian and museologist to be appointed to the Senate, Senator Bovey has worked on issues from legislation to committee work, through the lens of arts and culture. She was appointed to the Senate in 2016 as an independent Senator from Manitoba.

The Canadian Club reception is at 3:30 p.m. with the talk at 4 p.m.

Admission is $15 for members, $20 for non-members, and $4 for students with a valid ID.

Register at canadianclubofregina@gmail.com by Monday, February 27.

In its 115th year in Regina, The Canadian Club of Regina provides a forum for speakers who are leaders in business, politics, academia and the arts.

The Canadian Club of Regina is a not-for-profit organization that has been bringing interesting and important speakers to the Queen City since 1908.

2023 Dick & Jane New Awards Announcement

January 25, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saskatchewan Foundation For The Arts announces five new endowment awards supported by Richard Spafford and Jane Turnbull Evans through the Dick and Jane Fund

Dick and Jane Endowment Fund to now include six annual awards including Indigenous Literary Award

Regina – January 25, 2023 – The Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) proudly announces five new awards to be presented in 2023, supported by ‘The Dick and Jane Fund’. The endowment fund was established by Richard Spafford and Jane Turnbull-Evans as a legacy gift in perpetuity honoring their lifelong commitment to supporting the arts and their drive in establishing the SFFA. The fund now is comprised of a total of six annual awards.

Gursh Barnard, Chair of the SFFA says, “Our province is recognized for creating world-class artists. The Foundation is committed to supporting and recognizing the work of Saskatchewan artists and actively seeks donations from arts patrons and supporters who celebrate the vibrancy and value of the arts and culture in our lives.”

DICK & JANE ENDOWMENT FUND AWARDS

INDIGENOUS TRADITIONAL CRAFT AWARD

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all Indigenous persons
PROJECT: includes beading, biting, leather, sculpture etc., with the focus on keeping traditional and cultural art forms alive.

INDIGENOUS MULTI-MEDIA LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all Indigenous persons
PROJECT: includes audio, visual, digital, literature with a focus on keeping Canadian Indigenous languages visible/alive.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY 2SLGBTQ+ ARTIST/ART AWARD

ELIGIBLE: Emerging Artists that self-declare / identify as 2SLGBTQ+, with priority given to artists with intersecting identities that have been historically underserved
PROJECT: Multidisciplinary artistic project is open to all creative disciplines that will help to showcase the recipients’ work to residents of the province and to people beyond our borders. This visibility should encourage artistic and economic well-being for the recipient and contribute to amplifying the presence of 2SLGBTQ+. artists of Saskatchewan.

FEMALE ARTS ENTREPRENEUR AWARD

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: self-declared, identify as female, mid-career or established artists
PROJECT ACTIVITY: Support for business development to enable growth as artists. Includes tools and or development of professional skills, business planning, strategic planning, marketing & social media.

PRAIRIE FOLK ARTS/CRAFT AWARD

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: Mid-career or established craftsperson (as defined by Saskatchewan Craft Council ‘Craftsperson’)
PROJECT ACTIVITY: includes historically and culturally traditional “Prairie” craft works in fiber, wood, pottery, glass, photography and jewelry. Artist must make argument for projects suitability regarding both the terms “Traditional” and “Prairie”.

For more information on eligibility and applications, visit https://saskartsfoundation.com

Barnard says, “On behalf of the SFFA board of trustees we thank Leah Spafford, owner of Spafford Books, for her diligence in establishing these awards to honour her father’s vision and commitment”. To learn more about Spafford books and its contribution to Saskatchewan’s literary landscape visit

http://spaffordbooks.ca/

“The new awards made possible by the Dick and Jane Fund are a proud moment for the Foundation. Our donors and supporters have invested over 3 million dollars to secure private funding for the arts and artists of Saskatchewan. To date the SFFA has supported 65 artists with over $330,000 in awards. Visionaries have made this possible and we look forward to continuing to build the Endowment funds in support of our province’s arts and talented artists.”

About the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts

The Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) is a public Foundation dedicated solely to creating a legacy of financial support for the arts and artists in Saskatchewan, through the generous financial support of individuals, organizations and corporations. https://saskartsfoundation.com/

Gursh Barnard: Chair, Board of Trustees
Tel: 306-737-8980
E-mail: info@saskartsfoundation.com

2022 Endowment Award Recipients

January 9, 2023

Six Saskatchewan artists receive annual awards to further their artistic pursuits

Regina – January 9, 2023 – The Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) proudly announces the 2022 Endowment Award recipients in literary, multidisciplinary, performance (dance, music and theatre) and visual arts, with awards of $5000 each.

Gursh Barnard, Chair of the SFFA says, “Our province is recognized for creating world-class artists. The Foundation is committed to supporting and recognizing the work of Saskatchewan artists and actively seeks donations from arts patrons and supporters who celebrate the vibrancy and value of the arts and culture in our lives.”

The endowment funds are managed and administered by the SFFA Board of Trustees. Each award is in part supported by the following named funds:

The 2022 Endowment Awards recipients are:

TARA GAREAUX: Colleen Bailey Memorial Fund – Literary Award: for Wild People Quiet, a novel telling the journey of a woman living in small town Saskatchewan in 1940s, who denied her Metis identity for decades.

JOELY BIGEAGLE-KEQUAHTOOWAY: Dick and Jane Fund – Indigenous Literary Award: to write a full- length movie script tentatively titled Crazy, Rich Indigenous.

KRISTINE ALVAREZ: Harry Nick Kangles Fund – Regina Artist Award: for ‘acknowledgment’ creative response to her work Burnt Sienna.

BONNIE CONLY: Jane Turnbull Evans Fund – Visual Award for Female Artist: to develop sculpture, video, and photographic artworks honouring the resolve of Ukrainian women during the Russian invasion.

STACEY FAYANT: Shurniak Endowment Fund– Visual Award: to photograph face tattoos given to Indigenous people for a group exhibition in 2023, with an accompanying catalogue.

LORNE KEQUAHTOOWAY: Cameco Endowment for Indigenous Artists – Indigenous Artist Award: to create two grass dance outfits, including adult head roach using porcupine hair, beaded headband, eye cover, wrist cuff, armband and beaded cape.

Stacey Fayant says, “I am incredibly grateful and honoured to be chosen as a recipient of a Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts Endowment Award. This award tells me that the path I am on in my creative endeavors is a good, important and meaningful path for myself, my community, and the larger arts community. Thank you to the jurors for taking the time to think about my project, thank you to SFFA staff for all the work you do and for the help and encouragement you offer and a big thank you to the Shurniak family for your commitment to funding artists and the arts. Your support both financially and through this award recognition drives me and my commitment to finding a means of reconciliation through my art practice.”

“I am very honored to receive the Jane Turnbull Evans award for an emerging women artist. Thank you to the SFFA and all the donors for this recognition, allowing me the opportunity to be part of Jane’s great dream and legacy. This support will be instrumental in facilitating my creative work” says Bonnie Conly, recipient of the 2022 Jane Turnbull Evans Award.

The SFFA is excited to announce five new awards for 2023 thanks to Richard Spafford and Jane Turnbull- Evans’ generosity in supporting the growth of the Dick and Jane Fund. A legacy gift in perpetuity honoring their lifelong commitment to supporting the arts and their drive in establishing the SFFA.
The 2023 Dick and Jane Endowment Fund will now include awards for: Indigenous Traditional Craft Award, Indigenous Multi-media Language Arts Award, Multidisciplinary 2SLGBTQ+ Artist/Art Award, Female Arts Entrepreneur Award, and Prairie Folk Arts/Craft Award. Watch for news in the upcoming days.

Barnard says, “Our donors and supporters have invested over 3 million dollars to secure private funding for the arts and artists of Saskatchewan. To date the SFFA has supported 65 artists with over $330,000 in awards. Visionaries have made this possible and we look forward to building the Endowment funds in support of our province’s arts and talented artists.”

About the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts

The Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) is a public Foundation dedicated solely to creating a legacy of financial support for the arts and artists in Saskatchewan, through the generous financial support of individuals, organizations and corporations. https://saskartsfoundation.com/

Gursh Barnard: Chair, Board of Trustees Tel: 306-737-8980
E-mail: info@saskartsfoundation.com

2022 Glengarry Book Award Recipient

January 9, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

‘August Into Winter’ by Guy Vanderhaeghe awarded 2022 Glengarry Book Award

Three-time Governor General award-winning author to receive Saskatchewan’s largest literary prize of $20,000

Regina – January 9, 2023 – Launched by the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts (SFFA) in June of 2021, the Glengarry Book Award was created to support and foster Saskatchewan’s literary culture. The annual $20,000 (CAD) prize celebrates authors with Saskatchewan roots. In its second year, the SFFA is proud to celebrate one of Canada’s most recognized literary figures, Guy Vanderhaeghe.

The Glengarry Book Award is an annual award for the first edition of an English language novel or book of short fiction and the vision of donor and book lover Claire Kramer, a founding trustee of the SFFA.

“I am delighted to honour Guy Vanderhaeghe with this award,” says Kramer. “The response to our call for submissions was tremendous, including the caliber and variety of entries. Whether they started their career here or were raised here, the authors are connected to this land and our province. We are proud of the momentum in our second year and look forward to continuing to support the creativity of Saskatchewan writers who share stories to readers far beyond our borders.”

Vanderhaeghe says, “I am enormously pleased and deeply honoured to have received the Glengarry Book Award for my novel, August Into Winter. This is a distinction that means a great deal to me since it is given to writers whose roots are in Saskatchewan, the province where I was born, raised, educated, and whose people, landscape, and history have provided the inspiration for my work. I am profoundly grateful to Claire Kramer for her generosity in establishing and funding the Glengarry Book Award and to the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts for their work in assisting the province’s artists.”

Born in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, Vanderhaeghe’s previously acclaimed work includes A Good Man, The Last Crossing, The Englishman’s Boy, Things as They Are, Homesick, My Present Age, Man Descending, and Daddy Lenin and Other Writers. He has received the Writer’s Trust Timothy Findley Award, the Harbourfront Literary Prize, and many additional honours, including the Order of Canada.

Already a national bestseller, August Into Winter tells an epic story of crime and retribution, of war and its long shadow, and the redemptive possibilities of love. Impressing the jury with its compelling language and narrative sweep, August into Winterwas commended as disciplined and innovative work by a writer at the height of his powers—an intimate, intricately-fashioned but authentic view of life on the prairies, and a splendid accomplishment in Canadian literature.

Shortlisted novels were Lee Gowan’s The Beautiful Place, praised by the jury for its original and compelling writing, engaging characters, breadth of literary imagination, as well as its subtle humour; and Anne Lazurko’s What Is Written on the Tongue for its solid writing, diligent research, and ambitious transitions through the historical periods of the main character’s lived experience.

Valerie Creighton, President and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, chaired the jury. Creighton says, “It’s been an honor to work with Claire Kramer and the Foundation to establish this award and to chair the jury. The impact of this award is significant for our province’s writers.”

Managed and administered by the SFFA, The Glengarry Book Award selects its jury from a pool of Canadian authors and Canadian literary publishers and organizations. The 2022 jury included award-winning author Marina Endicott, Freehand Books Submissions Co-ordinator Debbie Willis, and published writer, Senator Patricia Bovey.

“The Glengarry Book Award follows a long history of Saskatchewan arts patrons supporting and celebrating the arts. This year was a proud moment for the Foundation, as the funds provided to previous Endowment Fund award recipient Anne Lazurko (2017) supported her in writing this year’s shortlisted novel What Is Written on the Tongue. We are honored to be a part of recognizing the literary artists who have made their mark on Saskatchewan,” says Gursh Barnard, Chair of the Board of Trustees.

About the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts

The Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts (SFFA) is a public Foundation dedicated solely to creating a legacy of financial support for the arts and artists in Saskatchewan, through the generous financial support of individuals, organizations, and corporations.

https://saskartsfoundation.com/

Gursh Barnard: Chair, Board of Trustees

Tel: 306-737-8980

E-mail: info@saskartsfoundation.com