The first awards were made in 2007, and historically were made in years when funds had been available from the growing endowments, or been donated for specific annual awards.
Annual awards are made possible because of the generosity of our endowment donors. We thank them for their vision, commitment and support of Saskatchewan Artists.
We acknowledge the current and past volunteer Board of Trustees for their efforts in supporting the work of the Foundation.
CHAD COOMBS
Visual Arts Award (Shurniak Endowment Fund)
Saskatoon, SK
Chad Coombs is a Saskatoon-based artist whose practice spans photography, collage, and hand-drawn works. His art is deeply personal, shaped by living with autism, anxiety, and depression, and by a lifelong search for belonging in a world that often feels overwhelming.
Through his work, Chad explores themes of identity, fear, religion, sexuality, and the landscapes that have defined him. Whether photographing the vast openness of the prairies, reworking found images into haunting collages, or drawing single-line abstractions that mirror the chaos of his thoughts, his practice is less about perfection than about honesty.
For Chad, art is not escape, it is survival. It is the place where fear can soften, where isolation becomes clarity, and where the human body, the animal world, and the spaces we inhabit are revealed without disguise. His work invites viewers to step into these moments of rawness and see not only the subject, but the fragile and unbroken line of the artist himself.
“Thank you to the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts for supporting artists and creative practices across the province. Your commitment to nurturing artistic growth, risk-taking, and meaningful cultural contribution makes a lasting impact on both individual artists and the wider community. This support allows me to continue developing work, and I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity and trust placed in my practice.”
*Featured Artist
VERA SALTZMAN
Female Arts Entrepreneur Award (Dick & Jane Endowment Fund)
Fort Qu’Appelle, SK
Vera Saltzman (she/her) is a photographer based on Treaty 4 territory near Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan. Vera grew up on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and her vision is shaped by her experiences of relocation, belonging, and personal history. Her work explores the Saskatchewan landscape, its people, and the vernacular of place. Most recently, she has examined what it is to have a meaningful relationship with the land itself.
In 2024, SK Arts recognized Vera for her contribution to the arts in Saskatchewan. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and included in the permanent collections of SK Arts, the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery, the City of Ottawa, TD Bank and private collections. She graduated from the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) and is represented by Slate Fine Art Gallery in Regina.
“Thank you to the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts for not only providing generous financial support but also the confidence to bring my photography to new markets. This award will enable me to acquire new skills and materials to create unique handbound books for presenting my work. I look forward to sharing my book with you.”
*Featured Artist
MIGUEL FENRICH
Tony and Herb Rainbow Award (Non-Endowed Donor Advised Fund)
Saskatoon, SK
Miguel Fenrich (he/him) is a queer, black professional artist living and playing on Treaty 6 Territory in Saskatoon. As a Truthteller, and Future Historian, his artistic work often explores community/culture/care and their messy relationships with truth through an intersectional, anti-racist, and decolonial lens.
He is the author of Blue: A Novel and What Lies in the Valley and is the owner of Treaty 6 Territory-based consulting company, House of Fenrich. He is the 43rd President of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, and a 2025 CBC Saskatchewan Future 40 winner.
Miguel is working on his third novel with the support of SK Arts and the Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts.
“With deep gratitude, I must acknowledge the generosity of both Anthony Bidulka and Herb McFaull who’ve made this award possible. The Tony and Herb Rainbow Award offers me something that is critical to my practice today: time.”
*Featured Artist
TONIA LAIRD
Indigenous Literary Award (Dick & Jane Endowment Fund)
Saskatoon, SK
Tonia Laird is a Michif author hailing from Treaty 6 territory, Canada. A writer who contributes to multiple mediums, her work includes the fantasy novel, Seventhblade, credits on AAA video games, Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, mobile game, Everlove: Rose, and the interactive novel, Poster Girl. Her writing can also be found in multiple literary magazines and anthologies.
In their spare time, Tonia and her teen son volunteer as land stewards, clearing invasive species to aid in the revival of native prairie plant life.
She is currently working on a supernatural climate-dystopia YA trilogy set in the Canadian prairies, with publishing rights sold to Simon & Schuster Canada.
“I want to thank the late Richard Spafford and Jane Turnbull Evans for not only their generosity in funding this award for emerging Indigenous writers, but also for all their amazing work to ensure creators in Saskatchewan are supported and celebrated. Maarsii.”
*Featured Artist
LAIRD GOULET
Indigenous Artist Award (Cameco Endowment Fund)
Prince Albert, SK
Laird Goulet is a contemporary artist whose work is guided by intuition, emotion, and lived experience. Working primarily in abstract and modern forms, he creates layered compositions that explore memory, resilience, and personal transformation. His process is fluid and exploratory, allowing color, movement, and texture to lead each piece as it develops naturally over time.
Goulet believes art should feel approachable and human—something to live with rather than simply observe. Rather than offering fixed narratives, his work invites viewers to slow down, reflect, and form their own connections.
Drawing inspiration from life on the Trapline to working as a mechanic including everyday moments and deeper emotional currents, his practice balances expressive freedom with thoughtful composition. Goulet continues to expand his work across fine art, mixed media, and applied formats, blending contemporary expression with daily life while staying rooted in honesty, curiosity, and creative exploration.
“I would like to sincerely thank the Cameco Endowment for Indigenous Artists for their generosity and continued commitment to supporting Indigenous artists in Saskatchewan and across Canada. This support makes it possible for artists like me to focus on meaningful creative work and long-term growth. I am grateful for the investment in artists, communities, and cultural expression, and for helping create opportunities that allow creativity to thrive.”
*Featured Artist
DANICA LORER
Literary Award (The Bailey Memorial Endowment Fund)
Saskatoon, SK
Over more than twenty-five years as a professional storyteller, Danica Lorer has delighted audiences of all ages. She has been struck by lightning, a moose, a rogue semi-tire, vehicles, and the odd strange idea. Danica believes in the power of story, listening and telling.
She has had stories and poems published in untethered, Poetry All Over the Floor, Grain, release any words stuck inside of you, antiLang, and Spring. Danica has presented hundreds of writing and storytelling workshops to people from 0 – 103 years old with organizations including Sask Culture, Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Society, Global Gathering Place, Saskatoon Open Door Society, Saskatchewan Writer’s Guild, Spark Your Pride, Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society, Creative Nonfiction Collective Society, and Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada.
In the last two years, she has been performing and writing music with her partner Jay Semko. Danica’s work has been supported by the Canada Council and SK Arts.
“Thank you so much to the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts for the energy and care you put into encouraging artists and helping us to grow and thrive in a time when not everyone believes that the arts matter. Thank you for believing in me and my stories. I hope that in a very short time I will be delivering copies of ‘Out Loud, Softly’ to you.”
*Featured Artist
CINDY KELLEY SUNSHINE
Indigenous Traditional Craft Award (Dick & Jane Endowment Fund)
Wadena, SK
A Dakota-Irish designer based in Saskatchewan, Cindy Kelley Sunshine creates work that honours identity and personal sovereignty. From Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, she is not only a designer of clothing, but she also operates a traveling sewing school, teaching and knowledge sharing what she has learnt along her own journey.
Cindy’s artistic practice is defined by what she calls “jumble”—playful and cheeky. She stitches together unexpected materials and textures, forming geometric motifs that often transform into entirely new textiles. Rather than relying on traditional ideas of sustainability, she celebrates creating beauty from what is at hand. This ethos is inspired by childhood memories of dresses made from curtains and found fabrics, moments that shaped her understanding of adaptability and creative possibility.
Cindy’s work is a living dialogue between tradition and innovation.
“I am deeply honoured to be the recipient of the Indigenous Traditional Craft Award from the Dick & Jane Endowment. This recognition has been invaluable in supporting my work. It is my hope that, as I share my story and travel with my creations, others will be inspired to continue or collaborate in showcasing wearable art. Your support encourages me to further engage with my community and pursue this meaningful path.”
*Featured Artist
ALEXA HAINSWORTH
Prairie Folk Arts/Craft Award (Dick & Jane Endowment Fund)
Alexa Hainsworth is a Canadian artist who works in fiber-based sculpture, immersive installation, and costume. She received her MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. Hainsworth enjoys playing with textiles and other fibre-based materials, finding ways to manipulate and stretch them to behave in new and unexpected ways. The larger-than-life characters in their menagerie each take on their own personality. Often inspired by nature, both plant and animal forms, Hainsworth plays with colour, pattern, and scale, animating her sculptures and installations with a unique life force.
Alexa Hainsworth has exhibited her work locally, nationally, and internationally, including Saskatoon, Regina, Toronto, Halifax, and Croatia. Her award-winning work was recently acquired by the Saskatchewan Arts Board and can also be found in private collections throughout Canada.
“Thank you to the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts and its generous donors for financial assistance towards the realization of Interdimensional Craft. I am excited to be able to take risks, experiment, and explore new territory and collaboration in the production of this work as a direct result of your support.”
*Featured Artist
MAIA STARK
Visual Arts Award for Women (Jane Turnbull Evans Fund)
Saskatoon, SK
Maia Stark is a Saskatoon-based artist whose practice bridges painting, drawing, and ceramics with deep engagements in narrative and identity. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Saskatchewan (2015) and heritage, personal memories, and her experience as an identical twin to explore concepts of the grotesque and the uncanny as they appear in folktales and fairytales.
Stark’s work often features duplicated figures and evocative imagery that confronts body politics, psychological complexity, and anxieties around mortality and health. She is represented by Slate Gallery in Regina. Stark’s work has been highlighted in national art coverage for its eerie storytelling and vivid symbolism.
Stark has been recognized through awards such as the Outstanding Entry for Dimensions 2025 from the Saskatchewan Craft Council, nominations such as the RBC Emerging Artist Award (2021), and holds several academic awards, underscoring her growing presence in the Canadian contemporary art scene.
“Being named a Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts Endowment Award recipient is a meaningful affirmation of my practice at a pivotal moment in my development as an artist. This support allows me to approach the next phase of my work with intention and confidence. I am grateful for the opportunity to explore this new path, and the confidence expressed that I will honour the legacy of this award.”
*Featured Artist
FLOYD FAVEL
Indigenous Multi-Media Language Arts Award (Dick & Jane Endowment Fund)
Paynton, SK
Floyd Favel works from the Poundmaker Cree Nation, grounded in Indigenous structures he has built and sustained, and through which he engages both his community and the wider world in artistic and cultural activity. His work is rooted in Indigenous law, language, and relational responsibility.
He has formulated a theory of Indigenous performance that identifies it as a distinct artistic genre—one that transcends colonial identity categories and is grounded in its own methodologies, written body of knowledge, and Indigenous languages. As noted by Eugenia Sojka, Mr. Favel has developed “the first documented Indigenous system of theatre creation” (Review of International American Studies, Vol. 17, Fall–Winter 2024).
Favel studied theatre in Denmark and Italy and has since worked, taught, and published internationally. Despite this global reach, his practice remains firmly centred in his Indigenous culture and language. Each year, he hosts storytelling and performance gatherings in his community, contributing to the revitalization of Plains Indian Sign Language and developing Indigenous-language learning methodologies rooted in performance and oral tradition.
“This award brings meaning to years of local and international travel, research, hardship, and blessing—to time spent sitting by fires listening to Elders, to moments of solitude remembering my parents and ancestors. It gathers those experiences into coherence. This award feels like a form of healing.”
*Featured Artist
TARA DAWN SOLHEIM
Regina Artist Award (Harry Nick Kangles Endowment Fund)
Regina, SK
Tara Dawn Solheim is an interdisciplinary artist who explores language, poetry, and melody. Her artistic practice combines music creation, a cappella singing, performance poetry, and somatic exploration. Tara Dawn has performed in many contexts throughout Canada & Japan. She lived for five years in Tokyo where she performed extensively with several collectives. She also spins music as a DJ.
For over a decade, Tara Dawn was the producer and host of The Vertigo Series, a monthly performance event series featuring writers and musicians. She served as Executive Director of Sage Hill Writing, a non-profit organization providing writing retreats for professional and emerging writers for nearly ten years. Tara Dawn continues to create new work through residencies at Banff Centre, St. Peter’s, Wallace Stegner House and upcoming at Can Serrat International Artist Residency in Spain.
“Thank you to the Harry Nick Kangles Fund for offering the Regina Artist Award to support performing artists in Regina. As a poet who performs and sings my work, I am often outside the usual framework and must create my own path. It means so much to be supported in the city where I choose to live.”
*Featured Artist
MARCUS MERASTY
Multidisciplinary LGBTQ2S+ Artist Award (Dick & Jane Endowment Fund)
Regina, SK
Marcus Merasty (He/They) is a Nēhithaw/Cree performer, choreographer, and multidisciplinary artist with ancestral roots in Wapâwikoscikanihk/Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan. They are a graduate of The School of Contemporary Dancers and past Artist-in-Residence at New Dance Horizons. Merasty’s practice is rooted in the intertwining of traditional and contemporary Indigenous dance forms, ideologies, and practices. His multidisciplinary approach combines choreography with visual imagery, storytelling, poetry, film, and object-based performance. De-colonial practices and land-based research inform his process, while somatic movement exploration remains central to his artistic expression. Marcus is currently based in Treaty 4 Territory.
“I am deeply grateful to the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts for this meaningful support. This award affirms the value of my artistic practice and the importance of LGBTQ2S+ voices within contemporary performance. Your investment allows me to continue creating work grounded in cultural knowledge, care, and experimentation. Thank you for supporting artists and creative growth across Saskatchewan.”
*Featured Artist