Awards from the Foundation were first made in 2007. Awards have been made in years when funds have been available from the growing endowments, or when funds have been donated for specific annual awards.
These awards are made possible because of the generosity of our endowment donors. Thank you for your 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.
In 2014, the designated endowment funds provided 5 awards of $6000 each and an award of merit of $3000 (Legris).
The Foundation gratefully acknowledges the expertise of the Saskatchewan Arts Board for the facilitation of the adjudication process.
HEATHER BENNING (Swift Current) – Visual Arts
Heather Benning uses site-specific installations and sculpture to create anchors for our journeys; anchors that remind us of where we came from, of why we can never go back. She has explored issues of identity, displacement/reclamation, heritage, and nostalgia. Her site-specific installations rely on surrounding landscape and architecture to create a mise en scène for the viewer, thus making the works a multi-sensorial experience. Her goal is to make viewers question their relationship to their surroundings and their placement within these environments.
Her current sculptural practice also draws from the human figure, as a site of exploration to investigate the reciprocal relationship she feels exists between humans and their environments. She recently completed the site-specific component of a project titled Kil(n) Hand in Norfolk County, Ontario. The project involves transforming traditional (abandoned) tobacco Kiln and was featured in Canadian Art Magazine (Online). The Foundation’s award will be used to continue this project. There are 2 solo gallery shows confirmed at Norfolk Arts Centre and Woodstock Art Gallery. A catalog will accompany the show. The gallery show will consist of 2-D (16 prints of photographic documentation) and new 3-D work.
* Archival biography; no update available at this time.
CATHERINE BLACKBURN (Leask) – Visual Arts
Catherine Blackburn was born in Patuanak, Saskatchewan, of Dene and European ancestry and is a member of the English River First Nation.
She is a multidisciplinary artist and jeweller, whose common themes address Canada’s colonial past that are often prompted by personal narratives. Her work merges mixed media and fashion to create dialogue between historical art forms and new interpretations of them. Through utilizing beadwork and other historical adornment techniques in her practice she explores Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and representation.
Her work has exhibited in notable national and international exhibitions and fashion runways including; BorderLINE: 2020 Biennial of Contemporary Art, Àbadakone: National Gallery of Canada, and Santa Fe Haute Couture Fashion Show, New Mexico. She has received numerous grants and awards for her work, including the Saskatchewan RBC Emerging Artist Award, the Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award, a publication in Vogue online magazine, her inclusion on the 2019 Sobey Art Award longlist, and most recently, she was one of five artists selected for the prestigious Eitlejorg Contemporary Art Fellowship.
* Featured Artist
ADAM POTTLE (Saskatoon) – Writing
Adam Pottle’s writing spans numerous genres, from poetry and fiction to drama and memoir. His work has been recognized by the Saskatchewan Book Awards and has been listed for other awards. His books include the novels The Bus and Mantis Dreams, the memoir Voice, and the poetry collection Beautiful Mutants. His plays include Ultrasound and the groundbreaking deaf musical The Black Drum.
Born deaf, Pottle seeks to portray deaf and disabled people as complex, dynamic, and effervescent beings while expanding the possibilities of narrative and demonstrating disability’s enormous impact on literature. Disability is a veritable storehouse of literary opportunity, an evocative subject that allows us to explore humanity’s strengths and weaknesses.
The Foundation’s award supported the development of The Bus, a historical novel that portrays the devastating effects of the Nazis’ euthanasia program and draws readers’ attention to the various attitudes surrounding disability.
* Featured Artist
MICHELE SEREDA (Regina) – Performing Arts
Michele Sereda was an award-winning artist and artistic director. In 2013 she received the Mayor’s Arts and Business Award for Living the Arts. She has worked with First Nation communities in Saskatchewan and across Canada since 1989 in community performances, filmmaking, performance art with professional artists, and theatre performances. The Foundation award was to support a collaboration with emerging multi-disciplinary artist Julianne Beaudry-Henry. It was to illustrate the personal exploration of how women’s traditional roles have been shaped by treaties, residential schools, and colonial constructs. * In Feb. 2015, Michelle passed away tragically and is remembered fondly by the artistic community.
SEAN WEISGERBER (Saskatoon) – Visual Arts
Sean Weisgerber is a visual artist. He has recently exhibited work at the Mendel Art Gallery as a part of the Artists by Artists program with Marie Lannoo. In addition, he has had a solo exhibition at WilAballe Art Projects (Vancouver), a group exhibition with Toronto-based artist, Niall McClelland, at 330G (Saskatoon), and has been part of a group exhibition curated by Michael Hosaluk at Lightbox (New York). He will also be included in a group show at AKA artist-run gallery in January, 2016.
* Archival biography; no update available at this time.