Quebec artist Myre finally gets her due

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/11/2014 (4324 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

QUEBECER Nadia Myre was named the winner of the 2014 Sobey Art Award Wednesday at an awards gala at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

The $50,000 award recognizes contemporary Canadian artists 40 and younger. Myre had been on the Sobey long list the past three years and wondered if the recognition would ever arrive.

“This is my last year to do it, I’m 40,” she said after the award ceremony. “I’m just really excited, happy and proud.

“It takes a certain kind of grit to be an artist.”

A five-member jury deliberated for five hours Tuesday to decide the winner.

“Her artwork creates a symbolic image of wounding and resilience that conveys something deeply human while addressing urgent social concerns,” the award jury said in a new release.

Myre is a member of the Algonquin Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, near Maniwaki, Que. A master’s graduate of Concordia University, Myre has made the Sobey long list the last three years. Her works have been shown at the National Gallery of Canada and the National Museum of the American Indian in New York and will appear in the 2014 Shanghai Bienniale.

The Winnipeg team of Neil Farber and Michael Dumontier were among the five finalists, which earned them a $10,000 prize.

An exhibit that includes submissions from all five finalists is on display at the WAG.