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Vancouver visual artist Ian Wallace wins Audain Prize

Prestigious $100,000 award handed out in Vancouver on Sept. 29
Ian Wallace
Ian Wallace is the winner of this year's Audain Prize.

Ian Wallace is this year’s Audain Prize recipient.

The longtime Vancouver visual artist received the prestigious $100,000 honour for British Columbia’s most distinguished artist during an event at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver on Friday, Sept. 29.

“It is a great honour to make this award to one of B.C.’s greatest living artists—Ian Wallace,” said Michael Audain, chairman of the Audain Foundation, which hands out the award, in a press release. “Besides having an outstanding international reputation, Mr. Wallace has had a considerable influence on younger artists.”

The Whistler-based Audain Art Museum manages the award, which is selected by a jury of artists and curators.

“The Audain Art Museum is proud to be the managing institution for this prestigious visual arts award, as our permanent collection is exclusively focused on noteworthy historic and contemporary art production in British Columbia,” said director and chief curator Curtis Collins, in the release. “Selected by an independent jury composed of curators and artists, such a prize speaks to the ongoing vitality of creativity across the province.”

On top of the prize, the Audain Foundation also announced funding of $7,500 for five travel grants, awarded to students in university-level visual arts programs.

They include: Nasim Pirhadi: University of British Columbia Okanagan; Kosar Movahedi: University of Victoria; Khim Hipol: Emily Carr University of Art and Design; Lauren Crazybull: Simon Fraser University; and Sarvenaz Iraji: University of British Columbia.

Established in 2004, past Audain Prize recipients include Ann Kipling, Edward J. Hughes, Eric Metcalfe, Gordon Smith and Jeff Wall, to name a few. 

“The Audain Foundation wants to see our leading artists become better known,” Audain added. “After all, British Columbia has many important visual artists who are not as widely recognized as they should be. With some of the world’s best contemporary artists, we believe they should be better known by all British Columbians.”