Celebrating Manitoba makers in a well-crafted style

Winnipeg

West Broadway

Wildwood Park

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/05/2025 (191 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Craft Council and the local crafts community have plenty to celebrate.

The council recently held its inaugural Craft Awards event, which was celebrated at its Night of Excellence awards dinner at the East India Company restaurant on May 8, when 15 local craft were recognized with an award.

Tammy Sutherland, MCC’s executive director, said the Craft Awards event idea has evolved naturally, as the council has given out a number of different awards through the years, and organizers thought it made sense to create a community event featuring a dinner component.

“The feedback has been very positive,” said Sutherland, a West Broadway resident, noting the organization hopes to hold the event biennially moving forward. “Lots of people decided to come together and celebrate, which was great.”

Among the award winners is Grace Nickel, a professor at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art, who specializes in ceramics, and was the 2023 recipient of the prestigious Saidye Bronfman/Governor General’s Medal for Visual and Media Arts.

Nickel is the first recipient of the new Robert and Meridel Archambeau Award of Distinction, which recognizes a Manitoba-based craftsperson who, according to a release, “has demonstrated an outstanding dedication to studio-based professional practice in their medium … (recognizing) the recipient’s career of achievements, esteemed reputation, and exceptional advancement in their craft area.”

“I have to say it is an honour,” said Nickel, who lives in Wildwood Park. “It means a lot to me, as Robert Archambeau was my ceramics professor at the University of Manitoba. I never thought I’d be following in his footsteps — it’s a great honour, and these are very big shoes to fill.”

Nickel said Archambeau, who died in 2022, was influential during her time as a student, and beyond: “I was there to witness his dedication, and professionalism, and work ethic, and very high standards. He’s had a lasting impact on me as an artist.”

Nickel said she remains passionate about ceramics, in part because it can be a challenging and relentless medium, which adds to the richness of the adventure. She also emphasized the malleability factor of working with clay.

“You’re taking a lump of clay, and working directly with the earth. Working with clay gives you potentially unlimited possibilities,” Nickel said, noting she has studio spaces at the university and in the Exchange District.

“I think also, to a great degree, we’re subjecting our work to a very high heat … and at some point, you relinquish control, so there’s an unpredictability to it. Still, to this day, I can’t wait to get to my studios.”

Nickel said she’s grateful to Sutherland and the council for supporting her and her work; MCC has nominated Nickel for several awards through the years.

Sutherland, in turn, is thankful for Nickel’s continued contribution to the local crafts community.

“We’re very proud of her,” Sutherland said.

“Grace is someone who’s known for being so meticulous and so detail-focused.

“Some of her pieces literally have involved hundreds of steps in the creative process,” she added.

Other 2025 winners include: Maureen Winnicki Lyons (Judith Ryan Award for Fibre Arts); Jennifer Johnson (Marilyn Wolodarsky Levitt Award for Functional Ceramics); Matt Jenkins, Nichol Marsch, Charlotte Sigurdson, and Ash Alberg (Crafts Guild of Manitoba Bursary); and Tricia Wasney, Melanie Matheson, Margaret Firlotte, Shanelle St. Hilaire, Lee Ladell, Zoë LeBrun, and Rae Swan (Manitoba Craft Council Retreat).

Go online at c2centreforcraft.ca for more information.