Toronto – February 9, 2015 – Toronto artist Sasha Pierce is the 2015 recipient of the Laura Ciruls Painting Award. The $4,500 award is given annually to recognize an Ontario based mid-career painter.
Sasha Pierce received her MFA from the University of Waterloo were she was awarded the Sylvia Knight Graduate Award in Fine Arts. She was also awarded Honorable Mention Award in the 2009 RBC Canadian Painting Competition.
Sasha Pierce has had solo exhibitions at ACME (Los Angeles, CA), CTRL Gallery (Houston, TX), and Greener Pastures Contemporary Art (Toronto).
Sasha Pierce’s work has also been included in exhibitions at Ballhaus Ost (Berlin), Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina, Saskatchewan), Cambridge Galleries (Cambridge, ON), Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (Guelph), Mercer Union and Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Toronto). Sasha’s work will be featured in an upcoming two person show at
Open Studio and a solo exhibition at Jessica Bradley Gallery (Toronto). Sasha is represented by Jessica Bradley Gallery.
The jury members were unanimous in their selection and stated, “The formal strength of Sasha Pierce’s painting is exciting. Her reference to textile, craft and ‘women’s work’ creates an interesting tension drawing the viewer into the dialogue. Sasha Pierce’s unique paintings speak to the future.”
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 administers the nomination and selection process. The award was selected by a jury of visual artists comprised of Susan Blight (Toronto), Melissa Doherty (Kitchener), Chantal Rousseau (Kingston), Jon Sasaki (Toronto) and Carl Taçon (East Garafraxa).
Previous recipients of the Laura Ciruls Painting Award include: Jinny Yu (2012), Andrew Rucklidge (2013), and Melissa Doherty (2014).
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For more information, please contact:
Alan Walker, Executive Director
Ontario Arts Foundaiton
416-969-7413 | awalker@arts.on.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2013-2014, the OAF paid over $2.7 million in endowment income and $200,000 in awards and scholarships.
For more than 50 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 2013-2014, the OAC funded 1,737 individual artists and 1,095 organizations in 223 communities across Ontario for a total of $52.1 million.
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