Art Bank Expands Collection with 72 New Works

Ottawa, January 18, 2023―The Canada Council Art Bank is thrilled to announce that with a dedicated purchase budget of $600,000, it has acquired 72 works by emerging and established artists from Canada. Introduced as part of the Art Bank’s 50th anniversary celebrations, this milestone purchase of permanent pieces by artists who are predominantly new to the collection has enabled the changing face of contemporary art in Canada to be celebrated.

The Art Bank received an impressive 1,748 eligible submissions in response to the call for purchases that it launched as part of commemorating this milestone anniversary. Priority was given to artists who self-identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, Deaf or having a disability, from official language minority communities, youth, 2SLGBTQI+, gender-diverse and women. In addition, the Art Bank also prioritized acquisitions of artwork by artists whose works are not currently in the Art Bank collection. This decision was based on the Council’s current strategic direction to build a more inclusive and equitable collection.

Quick stats about the 72 works of art selected:

• 56 are created by artists who are new to the collection.
• Artists from every province and territory are represented.
• Each priority group is represented.
• Almost half of the works are created by artists who self-identify as women.
• A quarter of the artists are 35 years old and under.
• The works include photographs, paintings, fine crafts, sculptures, prints, drawings, mixed media and textile.

The 2022 acquisitions have far-reaching implications for the future of the Art Bank, including how it can impact and influence the art scene in Canada and around the globe.

Based on artistic merit and relevance, submissions were assessed by a committee of artistic peers, all of whom are professional artists and experts in their fields. Committee members were selected with consideration given for fair representation of artistic specializations, Canada’s official languages, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, the Deaf and disability communities, gender, age and the cultural and regional diversity of Canada.

The members of the peer assessment committee are: Eunice Bélidor, Curator, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Simon M. Benedict, Artist and translator; Mark Igloliorte, Artist; Sean Lee, Director of Programming, Tangled Art + Disability; Sanaz Mazinani, Artist; Samuel Roy-Bois, Artist; Howie Tsui, Artist; Larry Weyand, Artist and Visiting Assistant Professor, Memorial University; Allison Yearwood, Executive Director, Plug-In.

Mark your calendars

To celebrate this new purchase, an exhibition with some of the newly acquired works will be presented in the Âjagemô Exhibition Space in June 2023. It will come after the current exhibition, Looking the World in the Face, which has been extended to May.

As the Art Bank celebrations continue to unfold, the public is encouraged to follow and use #ArtBank50 on social media. 

These new additions to the collection will be available for rental as of April 2023.

Canada Council Art Bank New Acquisitions (alphabetical order)

• Barry Ace (Ottawa, Ontario) – Poignant, 2018 
• Eldred Allen (Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Newfoundland and Labrador) – Boxed, 2022 
• Siku Allooloo (Bowser, British Columbia) – Akia, 2019 
• Judy Anderson (Calgary, Alberta) – A Square is Not a Circle (South), 2020, A Square is Not a Circle (West), 2020, A Square is Not a Circle (North), 2020, A Square is Not a Circle (East), 2020 
• Ning Ashoona (Cape Dorset, Nunavut) – Computer Desk, 2022 
• Sonny Assu (Campbell River, British Columbia) – Landline #8, 2020 
• Rémi Belliveau (Memramcook, New Brunswick) – Land of Evangeline Route, 1930, 2021 
• Deanna Bowen (Montréal, Québec) – Donna (Afterimage), 2020 
• Nicole Brabant (Toronto, Ontario) – astum (come here), 2019 
• Sandra Brewster (Toronto, Ontario) – Blur 21, 2017 
• Annie Briard (Vancouver, British Columbia) – In Possible Lands I, 2020 
• Rydel Cerezo (Surrey, British Columbia) – Penny Loafers, 2021 
• Jorian Charlton (Mississauga, Ontario) – Susie, 2021 
• Kelli Clifton (Prince Rupert, British Columbia) – Gaksdanaa (Behold!), 2020 
• Ruth Cuthand (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) – Surviving: Measles, 2022 
• Dayna Danger (Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal, Québec) – End of the World, 2018 
• Wally Dion (Binghamton, New York) – Braids (pencil crayon), 2022 
• Louis-Charles Dionne (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) – Manila Legal Folder, 2021 
• Melissa Doherty (Kitchener, Ontario) – The Green and the Grey, 2019 
• Chun Hua Catherine Dong (Montréal, Québec) – Skin Deep, 2014-2020 
• David Elliott (Montréal, Québec) – Studio w Typewriter & Squirrels, 2021 
• Nicolas Fleming (Gatineau, Québec), Darren Rigo (Toronto, Ontario) and Waard Ward (Toronto, Ontario) – Flowers for, 2021 
• Michelle Forsyth (Toronto, Ontario) – Pink Floral Stack, 2020 
• Anthony Gebrehiwot (Scarborough, Ontario) – The Power of A Hug, 2020 
• Jonathan S. Green (Winnipeg, Manitoba) – Preserving Old Geologies, 2018 
• Jude Griebel (Bergen, Alberta / Brooklyn, New York) – Portent, 2022 
• Maureen Gruben (Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories) – Moving with joy across the ice while my face turns brown from the sun, 2019 
• Julya Hajnoczky (Calgary, Alberta) – Monotropa uniflora 2, 2021 
• Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka (Toronto, Ontario) – Crossing the Current (map), 2021 
• Brandon Hoax (Halifax, Nova Scotia) – MOVEMARROW Full Suite, 2022 
• Jessica Houston (Montréal, Québec) – Letters to the Future – Antarctica, 3019, 2020 
• Ji Hyang Ryu (Riverview, New Brunswick) – SUGAR CAMP, 2022 
• Tanea Hynes (Montréal, Québec) – Club, 2022 
• Duane Isaac (Listuguj, Québec) – Land/Body, 2020 
• Hua Jin (Montréal, Québec) – ECHO, 2022 
• Ursula Johnson (South Brookfield, Nova Scotia) – ITHA Label, 2020. 
• Anique Jordan (Toronto, Ontario) – These Times, 2019 
• Bushra Junaid (Toronto, Ontario) – Sweet Childhood, 2017 
• Kablusiak (Mohkinstsis / Calgary, Alberta) – Akunnirun Kuupak: Duck Lake Street, 2018
• Fariba Kalantari (Ottawa, Ontario) – The unknown future, 2022 
• Wy Joung Kou (Toronto, Ontario) – Mycelium: Interdependence in the Undergrowth, 2022 
• Jim Logan (Ottawa, Ontario) – The One The Elders Kept From the School, 2018 
• Levi MacDonald (Fort Smith, Northwest Territories) – Eagle fishing, 2022 
• Ruth Marsh (Halifax, Nova Scotia) – Cyberhive Triptych Set 6, 2020 
• Laïla Mestari (Montréal, Québec) – Monabamqueb, 2022 
• Azadeh Monzavi (St. Catharines, Ontario) – Namesake, 2022 
• José Andrés Mora (Toronto, Ontario) – Arrival, 2022 
• Calvin Morberg and Brian Walker (Whitehorse, Yukon) – Daughter of the Creeks, 2022 
• Kriss Munsya (Burnaby, British Columbia) – Dream On, 2020 
• Zinnia Naqvi (Toronto, Ontario) – The Wanderers - Niagara Falls, 1988, 2019
• David Neel (North Vancouver, British Columbia) – The Great Transformer, 2022 
• Kosisochukwu Nnebe (Ottawa, Ontario / Montréal, Québec) – Black Woman #6 (Hyper/in/visibility), 2017 
• Raoul Olou (Toronto, Ontario) – Nap, 2021 
• Emmanuel Osahor (Toronto, Ontario) – A Chair Outside (An artist book - folio of 7 prints), 2022 
• Lionel Peyachew (Buena Vista, Saskatchewan) – tahto awasis kihceyihtakosiw (Cree for "Every Child Matters"), 2020 
• Annie Pillaktuaq (Richmond Hill, Ontario) – A Bird's-eye View, 2018 
• Bertrand R. Pitt (Montréal, Québec) – Écho : d’après Refus Global, lu par Françoise Sullivan, 2017-18 
• Yann Pocreau (Montréal, Québec) – Archipel, 2021 
• Sarah Pupo (Montréal, Québec) – burning through the body, 2021 
• Frank Shebageget (Ottawa, Ontario) – Free Ride, 2022 
• Krystle Silverfox (Whitehorse, Yukon) – tth’í’ yáw nan (thread beads land), 2018 
• Skawennati (Montréal, Québec) – On The Occasion of The Three Sisters Accompanying xox on Her Visit to The Queen, 2022
• Marika St. Rose Yeo (Burnaby, British Columbia) – Shifting Conversations, 2021 
• Janet Wang (North Vancouver, British Columbia) – Looking for Gold Mountain: Joss House, Lytton and Altar, Barkerville, 2021 
• Stanley Wany (Montréal, Québec) – Ancestry, 2019-2020 
• Tobaron Waxman (Toronto, Ontario) – Chimera Project: Riis Beach, September 1, 2012, 1:46:42 AM, 2019 
• Nelson White (St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador) – Grandfather, 2022 
• Jane Meredith Whitten (Summerside, Prince Edward Island) – Consumed, 2021-22 
• Jessica Winters (Makkovik, Newfoundland and Labrador) – Hair Braiding Booth, 2022 
• Timothy Yanick Hunter (Toronto, Ontario) – Untitled (Shimmering), 2022 
• Lan "Florence" Yee (Toronto, Ontario) – Finding Myself at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts IV, 2018
• Wang Zi (Toronto, Ontario) – Yi Hua Li, 2018 

About the Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder. The mandate of the Canada Council is to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”

The Canada Council’s Art Bank operates art rental programs and helps further public engagement with contemporary arts through exhibition and outreach activities.

The Canada Council’s investments foster greater engagement in the arts among international audiences and within Canada. This contributes to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and supports the presence of this scene across Canada and around the world.

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