SPAO (School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa) created A+ in 2007 as a way to celebrate the work of its part-time students, working in the evenings and on weekends in SPAO’s studio, darkroom, and digital lab. 

With the establishment of the SPAO Centre in 2017, the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa has been given a chance to reimagine this project. A+ is now a greater opportunity for emerging and seasoned artists to show their work in a professional and accessible gallery setting, to add to their visual arts resumés, to receive honours and awards for their work, and to be seen and considered by elevated visual arts community leaders. 

The 2013 showing featured 18 selected images and prize winners from to categories: digital and alternative processes. The judging panel included Peter Simpson (the Ottawa Citizen), Guy Bérubé (director of La Petite Mort Gallery) and Tony Martins, the new SPAO director of development.