Why Submit to APEX?

APEX is SPAO’s annual juried exhibition and awards, created to celebrate the work of our diverse part-time studies community.

APEX (formerly known as A+) is a great opportunity for emerging and seasoned artists and photographers to:

• Showcase their work in a professional gallery setting

• Be eligible for 1 of 9 award packages valued at $5000 total

• Have their work accessed by visual arts community leaders

• Receive $25 off any summer part-time class (paid submissions only)

• Be entered into a raffle for simply submitting

• Receive one APEX submission for free if they’re a Monthly Donor

• And more! (see below)

The SPAO Centre Gallery is the region’s only critical and independent art gallery dedicated to lens-based media.

Monthly donations help to stabilize our revenue, ensuring the continuity of our year-round programming. Monthly donors receive a number of benefits:

• 1 free submission to SPAO's annual APEX Exhibition

• A bonus entry into the APEX Raffle 

• A complimentary copy of the next SPAO Annual 

• Advanced registration to part-time classes

• A tax receipt for their total annual donations

Monthly donations are incredibly easy to set up and a single tax receipt for the full annual amount donated is automatically generated at the end of the year. If you are already a monthly donor and have submitted to APEX, please email us at part-time@spao.ca.

Are you on the fence about applying to the APEX Exhibition (formerly the A+ Exhibition)? Have you submitted in the past but want to improve your submission for the future? Are you in need of a submission refresher?

Our video tutorial goes through the process of applying to the APEX Exhibition and highlights the positive impact that applying to APEX can have on your photographic journey.

YANAMINAH THULLAH

Yanaminah Thullah is a multidisciplinary creative who aims to amplify the liberation of marginalized peoples within arts and culture spaces. She’s a host, spoken word artist, and recently, had her curatorial debut “We do not dream of labour” at the OAG. Yanaminah grounds her art in storytelling in digital and physical spaces.

This year's APEX prizes include generous contributions from the National Arts Centre, Patrick Gordon Framing Studio, National Gallery of Canada, Wallack's Art Supplies, PhotoED Magazine, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Photo Service [Créer L'histoire], Mann Lawyers, and Ritchie Feed & Seed Inc.

EUIJUNG MCGILLIS

Euijung McGillis is a curator, educator, and art historian. She is currently Assistant Curator of Photographs at the National Gallery of Canada. Her curatorial works and research focus include studio photography, contemporary Asian Photography within a broader context of Asian diaspora, and contemporary Asian art. As a curator and educator, she has worked with Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa Art Gallery, Korean Cultural Centre, Art Gallery at Evergreen, Kamloops Art Gallery, and Vancouver Art Gallery. As a committee member of Centre for Transnational Cultural Analysis (CTCA) at Carleton University, she has co-organized numerous conferences facilitating dialogues on the issues of settler-colonial, diasporic, transnational, and transcultural histories in the arts and culture.

ROBERT STEVEN

Robert Steven (he/him) is the Executive Director of the Portrait Gallery of Canada, an emerging organization that seeks to collect and share the stories of Canadians from every walk of life. He is also the current Vice President of Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries. He has previously served as President and CEO of the Art Gallery of Burlington, Culture and Heritage Manager at the City of Grande Prairie, Alberta, and Executive Director and Curator of the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie. Robert holds a Master of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts Studio from the University of Waterloo; he also completed the Getty Leadership Institute’s Museum Leadership Institute in 2009. His leadership practice is guided by empathy and is informed by his lived experience of neurodivergence and mental illness.

JODY SURETTE

Jody Surette is Associate Director at Galerie St-Laurent + Hill since 2001.  Over this time he has worked with a wide range of visual artists, as well as guiding artwork acquisitions for private, corporate, and institutional collections.

JONATHAN BROWNS

Jonathan Browns manages the City of Ottawa Art Collection. His experiences include curating and writing scholarly publications, managing art conservation projects, and art acquisitions. Previous positions included Curator and Registrar at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Paper Conservator at McWilliams Conservation, and Morgan Library (New York City), as well as Art Preparator at the Canada Council Art Bank. He has utilized his experiences as a board and committee member at local artist-run spaces; Enriched Bread Artists, CKCU-FM, Guerilla Magazine, Nuit Blanche Ottawa, and Ottawa School of Art.

TAM-CA VO-VAN

Tam-Ca Vo-Van is a curator and film programmer based in Ottawa and is currently the director of SAW, where she has curated many exhibitions, including International Geographic, The Winter Life and Culture Crash among many others. She is also a founder of the Electric Fields Electronic Music and Media Forum. She currently serves on the boards of the Association des groupes en arts visuels francophones (AGAVF) and the Artist-Run Centres and Collectives of Ontario (ARCCO).

SYLVIA DREAVER ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ

Sylvia Dreaver ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ is Nēhiyaw and a member of Mistawasis First Nation in Saskatchewan. As an Arts Administrator Sylvia has worked with organizations such as Mentoring Artists for Women’s Arts (MAWA) and with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). Currently, Dreaver is the Emerging Curator of Indigenous Art at the Canadian Museum of History and was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Art Gallery. Dreaver is passionate about Indigenous art as well as Indigenous research methodologies and is committed to the advancement of curatorial research and museological practices related to Indigenous art collections and their associated histories.

JOI T. ARCAND

Joi T. Arcand is a nehiyaw photo-based artist and curator from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, Treaty 6 Territory, currently residing in Ottawa. Arcand is also the co-founder of the Red Shift Gallery in Saskatoon and founding editor of the Indigenous art magazine kimiwan. Arcand has been shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award and her work has been exhibited in numerous prestigious institutions including the Winnipeg Art Gallery, McMaster Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Canada.

SIMON LABELLE

Simon Labelle is a self-taught musician, sound artist and Artistic Director of artist-run centre DAÏMÔN. Simon has been working with digital audio for two decades, having played festivals such a Mutek in Montréal and crafting sonic environments for theatre productions in Ottawa. Simon has been involved with DAÏMÔN for over six years, having been a board member and project advisor prior to taking on his current role.

LAURA MARGITA

Laura Margita is an interdisciplinary artist and the current Director/Curator at the artist-run centre, Gallery 101. Margita has 20+ years of experience, serving numerous Canadian art organizations in leadership and advisory roles. Margita has held positions at the University of Ottawa’s Visual Art Department, SAW Gallery and the Ottawa School of Art. She is also the founder of Ottawa’s Enriched Bread Artist co-op and was the Executive Director at PAVED Arts in Saskatoon.