Toronto, November 12, 2026 – Toronto-based Venezuelan artist Diego de la Rosa is this year’s recipient of the Laura Ciruls Painting Award. In now its 15th year, this $10,000 award is given annually to recognize an Ontario based mid-career painter.
About Diego de la Rosa
Diego de la Rosa is a fine artist born in Venezuela, currently living and working in Toronto. He graduated from OCAD University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Drawing and Painting. His work has been shown in exhibitions, art fairs and auctions in Canada, the United States and South America and has been featured in international publications such as Colossal and Terremoto. His practice, focused on the Venezuelan experience, has received funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, as well received nominations from the Kingston Prize and CIBC 2 Art Program.
De la Rosa’s paintings explores the psychological and cultural impact of the socio-political realities in his native country through symbolic narratives that combine fantasy and realism to examine the ideas and sentiments shaped by these circumstances.
His process involves the collection of found imagery of people and places from Venezuela that are rearranged into painted narratives infused with imaginative elements such as anthropomorphic animals, surreal environments, theatrical atmosphere, and otherworldly characters. The source imagery represents the perceived reality, while the painterly interventions embody the values and ideas that are employed to create a reading for these circumstances.
Through his work, De la Rosa creates images that universalize issues of identity, resilience, and social struggle, evoking empathy in societies so distant from his own.
About the Award
The Laura Ciruls Painting Award was established by Laura Ciruls, a professional graphic and web designer, as well as an acrylic and watercolour painter. Through a bequest, Laura set up the Laura Ciruls Painting Award, to recognize artists like herself, who were contributing to the development of painting in Ontario.
The Ontario Arts Foundation manages the endowment that funds the award. The Ontario Arts Council is responsible for the selection process. The award recipient is selected through the Ontario Arts Council’s peer assessment process from the applicants to one of the two annual Ontario Arts Council Visual Artists Creation Projects (Mid-career category) program deadlines.
Previous award winners include Ibrahim Abusitta (2025), Héritier Bilaka (2024), and Emmanuel Osahor (2023). See the full list of previous recipients.
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For information, please contact:
Bruce Bennett, Executive Director
Ontario Arts Foundation
Tel: (416) 969-7413 bbennett@oafdn.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2025-2026, the OAF paid over $5.7 million in endowment income and $630,000 in awards and grants.
For more than 60 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2024-2025, OAC invested its grants program budget of $52.2 million in 204 communities across 123 Ontario ridings, providing 1,960 grants to individual artists and 1,030 grants to organizations.
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