A+ 2020 DIGITAL EXHIBITION
SPAO’s annual A+ Exhibition is a celebration of its part-time community! Each year SPAO invites members of its community who have completed one of SPAO’s part-time studies to submit up to 10 images for review by an independent jury.
This year, we will be awarding 9 prize packages, including 7 selected by our Jury as well as a raffle prize and the People's Choice Award. Prizes include a brand new iPad, Google Home assistants, Beats headphones, and gift certificates to our favourite businesses; every winner will also receive a gift certificate for SPAO part-time classes and new merchandise items from our store!
The People's Choice Award is an opportunity for guests to select their favourite piece; a raffle prize will also be awarded to one lucky A+ participant just for submitting! Stay tuned top our newsletter and social media for upcoming prize announcements.
The 2020 A+ exhibition will open Monday June 22 from 12pm - 5pm and conclude on Friday August 28. SPAO is committed to following health and safety best practices during this time. Stay tuned for news regarding this year’s awards announcement!
2020 AWARD RECIPIENTS
DIGITAL PRINT FINALISTS
ANALOGUE/ALTERNATIVE PROCESSES FINALISTS
PHOTO BOOK FINALISTS
2020 PRIZES
This year, we will be awarding 9 prize packages, including 7 selected by our Jury as well as a raffle prize and the People's Choice Award. Prizes include a brand new iPad, Google Home assistants, Beats headphones, and gift certificates to our favourite businesses; every winner will also receive a gift certificate for SPAO part-time classes and new merchandise items from our store!
Prize packages will include items from SPAO's partners and sponsors, including the National Gallery of Canada, the National Arts Centre, the Ottawa Art Gallery, Galaxy Camera, Wallack's, Patrick Gordon Framing, and Black Squirrel Books. We are so thankful to these organizations and businesses and can't wait to distribute the amazing prizes they've provided to us!!
2020 JURY
SARAH E.K. SMITH
Sarah E.K. Smith is an Assistant Professor in Communication and Media Studies at Carleton University. A scholar of contemporary art and visual culture, she has an independent curatorial practice with a forthcoming show at Museum London in 2020. Previously, Sarah was the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston. In 2016, her monograph General Idea: Life & Work was published by the Art Canada Institute.
CHANTAL GERVAIS
Chantal Gervais’ photo and video works deal with representation, identity, human condition and mortality. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions in Canada and abroad. In 2014, she was awarded the Karsh Award by the City of Ottawa and the Canada Council for the Arts’ Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography in 2002. Gervais’ photographs are part of the collections of the Global Affairs Canada and the Ottawa Art Gallery. She has been a board member at local artist-run centres including Daimon and Gallery 101 as well as teaching at University of Ottawa and Ottawa School of Art.
JEFF THOMAS
Jeff Thomas is an urban-based Iroquois, self-taught photo-based story teller, writer, public speaker, and curator, living in Ottawa, Ontario. He has works in major collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Jeff's most recent solo shows were Birdman Rising at University of Southern Illinois, and A Necessary Fiction: My Conversation with Edward S. Curtis at the Art Gallery of Mississauga In 1998, he was awarded the Canada Council's Duke and Duchess of York Award in Photography, Royal Canadian Academy of Art (2008), The Karsh Award in photography (2008), the REVAL Indigenous Art Award (2017), and the Canada Council Governor General Award in the Visual and Digital Arts (2019).