2025 GGArts Winners Revealed
The Canada Council for the Arts announces the 2025 Winners of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts
Ottawa, March 5, 2025 ― The Canada Council for the Arts today revealed the names of the 2025 winners of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts (GGArts). This year, eight individuals are being honoured in recognition of their exceptional careers and remarkable contributions to visual arts, media arts and fine crafts.
Each of the winners, chosen by peer assessment committees, will receive a $25,000 prize and a bronze medallion. In addition, artistic video portraits of the winners have been created by professional filmmakers from Canada.
“In discovering the latest winners of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, we get a glimpse into the tremendous and diverse talent that exists in Canada. The common thread among the exceptional artists that are being recognized, is how deeply connected they are—socially, artistically and geographically—to their respective communities. In their own way, each one of these eight winners is building, advocating, supporting and representing their experiences through art; their work connects us to each other, sparks conversations and gives us new perspectives on the impact and relevance of art and culture to society.”
— Michelle Chawla, Director and CEO, Canada Council for the Arts
2025 GGArts winners
Saidye Bronfman Award
- Peter Pierobon, furniture designer (Salt Spring Island, British Columbia)
Outstanding Contribution Award
- Daina Augaitis, curator (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Artistic Achievement Awards
- Thaddeus Hołownia, visual artist (Jolicure, New Brunswick)
- Bruce LaBruce, filmmaker, writer, artist, photographer (Toronto, Ontario)
- Kent Monkman, visual artist (Toronto, Ontario)
- Clive Robertson, visual and media artist, cultural critic, historian (Kingston, Ontario)
- Sandra Rodriguez, multidisciplinary artist, emerging arts (Montréal, Quebec)
- Jin-me Yoon, visual artist (Vancouver, British Columbia)
2025 Peer assessment committee members
Saidye Bronfman Award
- Corrine Hunt, multimedia artist (T’sakis (Fort Rupert), British Columbia)
- Chung-Im Kim, textile artist, professor emeritus (Toronto, Ontario)
- Marko Savard, ceramic artist (Montréal, Quebec)
Artistic Achievement Award and Outstanding Contribution Award
- Lori Blondeau, interdisciplinary artist, educator (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
- Monika Kin Gagnon, writer, professor emeritus (Montréal, Quebec)
- Dana Inkster, media artist (Lethbridge, Alberta)
- Hans Wendt, visual artist (Millvale, Prince Edward Island)
- Alex Williams, filmmaker and theatre artist (Toronto, Ontario)
About the Awards
Saidye Bronfman Award
Established by the Bronfman family in 1977, the Saidye Bronfman Award is the most prestigious distinction in fine crafts in Canada. Every year, the Canadian Museum of History acquires either a single work or a series of works by the winner.
Outstanding Contribution Award
The Outstanding Contribution Award is given to an individual or a group of individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to visual arts, media arts or fine crafts in a volunteer or professional capacity.
Artistic Achievement Awards
The Artistic Achievement Awards are given to artists in recognition of their body of work. It honours their contribution to contemporary visual or media arts.
Partners
- Canadian Museum of History
- National Gallery of Canada
- Royal Canadian Mint
- Air Canada
- Independent Media Arts Alliance
Video portraits
You can now watch original video portraits of each of the winners. The short portraits were commissioned by the Canada Council for the Arts in partnership with the Independent Media Arts Alliance and created by filmmakers from Canada. The films will also be available online as well as on Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment system during the coming months.
2025 filmmakers
- Matthew Brown (Bloomfield, New Brunswick) |Video portrait of Thaddeus Hołownia
- Alixandra Buck (Hamilton, Ontario) |Video portrait of Clive Robertson
- David Hartman (Guelph, Ontario) |Video portrait of Kent Monkman
- Darcy Hennessy (Gibsons, British Columbia) |Video portrait of Peter Pierobon
- Aude Leroux-Lévesque and Sébastien Rist (Montréal, Quebec) |Video portrait of Sandra Rodriguez
- Anushay Sheikh and David Willem Boot (Toronto, Ontario) |Video portrait of Bruce LaBruce
- Dallas Soonias (Calgary, Alberta) |Video portrait of Daina Augaitis
- Latif Ullah (Vancouver, British Columbia) |Video portrait of Jin-me Yoon
About the Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts is the national public arts funder in Canada, with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.” The grants, services, initiatives, prizes and payments that are awarded by the Canada Council contribute to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene; these activities support and have an economic impact on the arts in communities across Canada. The Council’s investments foster greater engagement in the arts among audiences from coast to coast to coast, as well as contributing to the international recognition of Canada’s artists and arts organizations.
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Media relations contacts
For media requests including interviews with artists, please contact:
Canada Council for the Arts
Communications and Engagement
613-239-3958 | 1-800-263-5588, extension 5151