Toronto, October 29, 2024 – Héritier Bilaka is this year’s recipient of the Laura Ciruls Painting Award. The $7,000 award is given annually to recognize an Ontario based mid-career painter.
About Héritier Bilaka
Héritier Bilaka is a Congolese / Canadian painter based in Ottawa. He obtained his first diploma in visual arts in 2007 from Academy of Fine Arts of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a Bachelor of Visual Arts Magna Cum Laude from the University of Ottawa in 2023. He is also the recipient of a scholarship and a certificate of recognition for the quality of body work from the Dean of Faculty of Arts at University of Ottawa. He has participated in numerous physical and virtual group exhibitions in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, London UK, Cannes, France and New York.
Some of Héritier’s works are in the permanent collection of Maron’Ages Art Gallery in Lyon, France and in private collections. He was artist-in-residence in 2023 at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in New Brunswick. He is currently conducting artistic research with the support of the Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, with whom he has signed a two-year research agreement. Heritier Bilaka was among winners of the City of Ottawa’s Equity and Inclusion in the Arts Fund – Seed Award 2023.
His works and television interviews have been published in articles and magazines in Canada and abroad, including a documentary film entitled Les couleurs de ma ville produced by Netherline Films.
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 Emmanuel Osahor (2023), Miguel Hernandez Autorino (2022), and Roberto Rosenman (2021). See the full list of previous recipients.
###
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 2023-2024, the OAF paid over $4.6 million in endowment income and $500,000 in awards and grants.
For 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. The OAC reached 27.4 million people through events and arts education activities across the province in 2021-22. In 2023-2024, OAC invested its grants program budget of $53.3 million in 219 communities across all 124 Ontario ridings, providing 2,149 grants to individual artists and 1,043 grants to organizations.
Ce document existe également en français.