APPLY TO BECOME A SPAO ASSESSOR
SPAO is now accepting applications for photographic art jury assessors! If you believe you’d be a good fit for one of SPAO's assessment juries, please complete the application form below.
Photo by 2021 Project X Award recipient, Joyce Crago
The Project X Award provides recognition for mid-career and emerging photo-based artist projects. Originally created in 2012 by the organizers of the former Festival X and the Ottawa Arts Council, the new Project X Photography Award was re-envisioned to better acknowledge, promote and foster photographic excellence in Ottawa.
The new Project X award is a partnership between the Ottawa Arts Council, the SPAO Centre, and the Ottawa Art Gallery as well as our supporting sponsor, DAÏMÔN. This partnership has enhanced the award’s impact and extended its longevity. The award is determined by an independent jury comprised of senior members from the visual art and photographic community. The award recognizes the merits of a previously completed and publicly presented photographic project by an Ottawa-based artist or artist whose practice shares a strong connection to Ottawa.
This recipient of the Project X Award will be publicly acknowledged at the Ottawa Arts Council’s annual awards ceremony where they will be presented with an awards package valued at over $3000. The award package includes an exhibition opportunity in the Ottawa Art Gallery’s Sky Lounge, along with the associated CARFAC Fee. In addition, the award recipient will receive a prize of $1,000, a bursary of $1,000 towards SPAO classes or residency program, and a $500 credit at DAÏMÔN.
The jury considers an applicant’s completed project submission based on innovation, technical achievement and artistic excellence. The jury is also looking for artists with a distinct connection to Ottawa and an applicant with a clear desire to further their artistic career.
Presenting Partners
Supporting Partner
APPLICATION DETAILS
Applications for the Project X Award can be made through the Ottawa Arts Council website. Please email the Ottawa Arts Council for any questions. Watch our Project X Announcement video to learn more.
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Applicants for this award must nominate their own project for consideration or have their project nominated by an individual or group who may only endorse one applicant in each category per year.
Demonstrate an ongoing connection to Ottawa which may include an Ottawa based artistic practice or residing in the National Capital Region (defined as 75 km from Parliament Hill).
Be recognized by artists working in the same artistic discipline and have a history of public presentations or publications.
Not have previously received this award.
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The artistic or innovative merit of the project.
The applicant demonstrates involvement in Ottawa’s arts community.
The applicant demonstrates a commitment to further artistic career development.
2024
PROJECT X AWARD RECIPIENT
OLIVIA JOHNSTON
“My series Saints and Madonnas expresses ideas about how holiness exists in our increasingly secular society. These works represent an attempt to reconcile my secular understanding of the world with my culturally Catholic upbringing, and engage with questions about gender, beauty, disability, race and ethnicity, and what it means to be human. With this work, I hope to engage my viewers in those same questions within a larger conversation about art history, photographic portraiture, trauma, the sacred, and symbology.” - Olivia Johnston
Project X, Photography Award recognizes the merits of a publicly presented photographic project by an Ottawa-based artist. This award is presented by SPAO, the Ottawa Art Gallery and the Ottawa Arts Council, and our supporting sponsor, DAÏMÔN.
Olivia will receive a prize of $1,000, a bursary of $1,000 towards SPAO classes or residency program, the opportunity to exhibit at the Ottawa Art Gallery and receive an associated CARFAC exhibition fee, and a $500 credit at DAÏMÔN.
SHORTLIST
JURY
Each year, submissions to the Project X Award are adjudicated by a jury composed of representatives from the Ottawa Art Gallery and SPAO, as well as 3 independent experts from the visual art and photographic community.
The jury for the 2024 edition of the Project X Award includes: Meghan Ho - Assistant Curator at the OAG, Jonathan Hobin - Creative Director at SPAO (non-voting juror), Erica Chi - Public Art Officer with the City of Ottawa Art Collection, Brendan De Montigny - Director of Studio Sixty Six, and Yanaminah Thullah - Freelance Curator, debuting at the OAG.
Skin Deep #1 by Karina Kraenzle
2023
PROJECT X AWARD RECIPIENT
KARINA KRAENZLE
The last couple of years of living through a pandemic have forced us to think differently about the body. In fits and starts, we have begun to reconsider the nature of shared space – and how best to protect our bodies from one another; Covid 19 has created a major shift in our attitudes toward distance and proximity.
This body of work reflects an interest in the aesthetic, cultural, material and symbolic history of the classically-inspired body, re-organized through processes of assembly and disassembly.
The photographs employ found images of the body and of classical sculpture to create a landscape for the re-imagination of space. Using various collage strategies, the source imagery is employed as historical artifact as well as the building material for “sculpting” new images – repositioned for contemporary ends. For better or worse, these hybridized forms lean into each other, caressing, inviting, possibly transgressive.
Moreover, these works investigate the ways in which images become objects, and then return to images - bridging the gap between lens-based practices and sculptural concerns with the imaginative dimension of materiality. It is this particular line of inquiry that I hope to continue in my upcoming work.” - Karina Kraenzle
Project X, Photography Award recognizes the merits of a publicly presented photographic project by an Ottawa-based artist. This award is presented by SPAO, the Ottawa Art Gallery and the Ottawa Arts Council, and our supporting sponsor, DAÏMÔN.
Karina will receive a prize of $1,000, a bursary of $1,000 towards SPAO classes or residency program, the opportunity to exhibit at the Ottawa Art Gallery and receive an associated CARFAC exhibition fee, and a $500 credit at DAÏMÔN.
SHORTLIST
KARINA KRAENZLE
JOY KARDISH
AM DUMOUCHEL
JURY
Each year, submissions to the Project X Award are adjudicated by a jury composed of representatives from the Ottawa Art Gallery and SPAO, as well as 3 independent experts from the visual art and photographic community.
The jury for the 2023 edition of the Project X Award includes: Rebecca Basciano - Curator at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Jonathan Hobin - Creative Director at SPAO (non-voting juror), Euijung McGillis - Assistant Curator of Photographs at the National Gallery of Canada, Robert Steven - Executive Director of the Portrait Gallery of Canada, and Jody Surette - Associate Director at Galerie St-Laurent + Hill.
Detail of Portraits in a Time of Social Distancing by Angelina Barrucco
2022
PROJECT X AWARD RECIPIENT
ANGELINA BARRUCCO
“Portraits in a Time of Social Distancing is an investigation into my portraiture practice during a time of isolation and restrictions. With Provincial COVID-19 restrictions in place and my own fear of the virus, I made the decision to take on portraiture with the tool of the moment: ZOOM a video communication platform.
I created a diptych to represent both the sitter and the virtual space of the photographer in the portrait session. My sitters’ rooms - where they would have the virtual meetings - became my studio set and the screen capture function on my laptop became my camera. On the left side of the diptych I present the portrait of my sitter looking at their present self on the screen of their device. On the right side of the diptych I present the capture directly behind the lens of their device representing the place where I (the photographer) would have been standing if I was present to take their portrait.
I would like to acknowledge that this body of work could not have been achieved without the support of the many sitters who gave of their time to support my creative inquiry.” - Angelina Barrucco
Project X, Photography Award recognizes the merits of a publicly presented photographic project by an Ottawa-based artist. This award is presented by SPAO, the Ottawa Art Gallery and the Ottawa Arts Council, and our supporting sponsor, DAÏMÔN.
Angelina will receive a prize of $1,000, a bursary of $1,000 towards SPAO classes or residency program, the opportunity to exhibit at the Ottawa Art Gallery and receive an associated CARFAC exhibition fee, and a $500 credit at DAÏMÔN.
SHORTLIST
Angelina Barrucco’s art practice uses repetition, ritual and endurance as a way to entangle them into the artwork. They draw from their lived and viewed experiences to work with their subject and to create a visual relationship that exceeds the usual expectations of the medium and/or of portraiture.
“Portraits in a Time of Social Distancing” is an investigation into my portraiture practice during a time of isolation and restrictions. With Provincial COVID-19 restrictions in place and my own fear of the virus, I made the decision to take on portraiture with the tool of the moment: ZOOM a video communication platform. I created a diptych to represent both the sitter and the virtual space of the photographer in the portrait session.” - Angelina Barrucco
STÉPHANE ALEXIS
Stéphane Alexis is an artist based in Ottawa, Canada. His work stems from his personal experiences, demographics, and sub demographics in which he belongs, focusing his attention both on conceptual design with aesthetic quality. His desire is to bring attention, focus, and transparency to people and communities that are tucked away due to the hardships they face and the unwillingness we have as people to acknowledge those hardships. He uses these qualities as a bridge to give insight on issues and circumstances facing these communities both locally and globally through subject matter.
”For each project focus, I employ a large amount of research that is conducted using both lived experiences and external sources to guide project direction. This research with primary and secondary sources is often incorporated with the visual work. I also work closely with community collaborators, including experts in the field of my focused demographic. My photo-based work combines both conceptual research-driven design with aesthetic quality.” - Stéphane Alexis
AVA MARGUERITTE
Ava Margueritte is a neurodiverse multidisciplinary artist, primarily focused on photo-based works and drawing, painting, and writing. Margueritte has a BFA from OCAD University in Fine Arts Photography and a Diploma from School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa. Using various photographic mediums including, but not limited to, medium format, large format film, and digital, she explores different narratives to document physical reactions to other emotional states. By absorbing her surroundings, she evaluates the connection between body and mind.
“One Mile is a form of visual poetry that allows her to connect authentically and vulnerably with others through darkness that we often ignore. I am obsessed with light, and film allows me to capture it adequately. The richness of colour lighting, alongside my subject matter, alludes to my struggle with romanticism in relation to my lived experiences regarding trauma and mental health.” - Ava Margueritte
JURY
Each year, submissions to the Project X Award are adjudicated by a jury composed of representatives from the Ottawa Art Gallery and SPAO, as well as 3 independent experts from the visual art and photographic community.
The jury for the 2022 edition of the Project X Award includes: Rachelle Dickinson - Senior Curator at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Jonathan Hobin - Creative Director at SPAO (non-voting juror), Tam-Ca Vo-Van - Director, SAW Gallery, Jonathan Browns - Public Art Officer, City of Ottawa Art Collection, and Sylvia Dreaver ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ - Emerging Curator of Indigenous Art at the Canadian Museum of History.
Image of Casting Off, one of the 5 inter-related pieces from
Joyce Crago’s series, Playing Dead.
2021
PROJECT X AWARD RECIPIENT
JOYCE CRAGO
Joyce Crago’s project, Playing Dead, emerges from her ongoing investigation of death, mourning, and sorrow. Turning the camera on her aging body and the objects and void left in the wake of a loved one’s death, this work explores the vulnerable intimacies of death. It questions our impulse to hold onto each other and reconstitute ourselves through remnant traces.
“Casting Off (pictured to the left), a sculpture, is a textile piece comprised of fabric with multiple neutral coloured prints of my body which have been deconstructed and reconstituted into an amorphous tubular shape with openings that leak out colourful bursts of Hazel’s clothes.
The process of mourning someone’s death often leaves us to contend with the logistical challenge of having to deal with the deceased’s belongings – the things that lived within the orbit of the loved one. Far from being neutral objects, they are emotionally charged often even carrying the scent of the departed – they are the agents of connectivity that we hold on to and try to make sense of amidst the turmoil of loss. Clothing in particular holds an emotionally charged position within this constellation of bodily effects. They are the outer coating, an extension of the body, evoking closeness to the skin, identity formation – the inner and the outer.” - Joyce Crago
Project X, Photography Award recognizes the merits of a publicly presented photographic project by an Ottawa-based artist. This award is presented by SPAO, the Ottawa Art Gallery and the Ottawa Arts Council. The 2021 edition of the Project X Award is pleased to welcome supporting sponsor, DAÏMÔN.
Joyce will receive a prize of $1,000, a bursary of $1,000 towards SPAO classes or residency program, the opportunity to exhibit at the Ottawa Art Gallery and receive an associated CARFAC exhibition fee, and a $500 credit at DAÏMÔN.
SHORTLIST
Raised on a farm in Ontario, Joyce Crago’s art practice has evolved over her career. Following a varied career from textiles to law, Joyce returned to her creative roots with photography and later expanding her practice to include performance, video, sculpture, and installation.
Her project Playing Dead is selected as a finalist for the Project X, Photography Award. A project that emerges from her ongoing investigation of death, mourning, and sorrow. Turning the camera on her aging body and the objects and void left in the wake of a loved one’s death, this work explores the vulnerable intimacies of death. It questions our impulse to hold onto each other and reconstitute ourselves through remnant traces.
Elizabeth Raymer Griffin is a former adjunct instructor at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon for a decade before moving to Ottawa with her husband and son. She is an active member of Ottawa’s art community and co-founder of 44.4 Mothers/Artists Collective.
Orange Ad/verse is informed by her incredible breadth of knowledge and tutelage in experimental, Bauhaus-inspired self-portraiture, in which she explores image concepts on both the visual and spatial level. Her project challenges the inherent limitations of film photography by inventing backlit frames behind colour positives, activating each piece and returning the viewer to the artists’ tradition of looking at images on a lightbox.
Katherine Takpannie is an urban Inuk whose family is originally from Apex Hill, Nunavut. However, she was born in Montreal, QC. Takpannie is a self-taught, emerging photographer who wants to reveal the complexities and nuances of urban Inuit life. Having lived most of her life in Ottawa, her work speaks to the Ottawa that she sees. Her visual language expands out from lifestyle portraiture to include lush landscapes and gritty urban scenes.
Katherine aims to help raise awareness and bring forth important conversations through her work by capturing performative and political gestures reflecting issues that Canadians face daily.
JURY
Each year, submissions to the Project X Award are adjudicated by a jury composed of representatives from the Ottawa Art Gallery and SPAO, as well as 3 independent experts from the visual art and photographic community. This year we are also pleased to include a representative from our 2021 supporting sponsor, artist-run centre DAÏMÔN.
The jury for the 2021 edition of the Project X Award includes Joi Arcand (Photographer and curator), Rebecca Basciano (Curator at Ottawa Art Gallery), Jonathan Hobin (Creative Director at SPAO), Simon Labelle (Artistic Director at DAÏMÔN) and Laura Margita (Director and curator at G101).
2020
PROJECT X AWARD RECIPIENT
JOHN HEALEY
“Plastic Beach is a collection of images depicting discovered refuse collected from the shores of each of the Great Lakes and key locations along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Plastic bottles, rubber gloves, milk jugs, six-pack rings and hard plastic fragments that have become prevalent along the beaches of this fresh water source are extracted and presented in a dramatic light. The overall project consists of images of these individual items collected from carefully considered locations. Targeted raw material collection locations include: lake Superior Provincial Park,; Lake Superior, SIlver Lake State Park; Lake Michigan, Pine Tree Point Provincial Park; Lake Huron, Lakeview Park West Beach; Lake St Clair, Long Point National Wildlife Area; Lake Erie, Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, and Refuge Faunique Marguerite-D’Youville; St. Lawrence River.
Plastic Beach strives to illustrate the effects of human influence on this important freshwater source that is home for millions of plants, animals and humans alike. By utilizing an accessible photographic aesthetic Plastic Beach extracts our unwanted objects from the place where thy are found and depicts them in an unanticipated way. This work magnifies the evidence of human polluting of freshwater resources by showing us the stuff right under our own feet. It confronts us with the beauty of the very thing with which we are unwittingly poisoning the environment and ultimately ourselves.” - John Healey
Project X, Photography Award recognizes the merits of a publicly presented photographic project by an Ottawa-based artist. This award is presented by SPAO, the Ottawa Art Gallery and the Ottawa Arts Council.
John will receive a prize of $1,000, a bursary of $1,000 towards SPAO classes or residency program, and the opportunity to exhibit at the Ottawa Art Gallery and receive an associated CARFAC exhibition fee.
SHORTLIST
Deanna Pizzitelli is a Canadian photo-based artist and educator residing between Ottawa, Canada and Bratislava, Slovakia. She is one of the inaugural winners of the Scotiabank New Generation Photography Award, which culminated in an exhibition at the Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada and at the OCADU Onsite Gallery in Toronto. She is currently a finalist for Rencontres d’Arles: Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2020, and was recently awarded the Beth Block Membership Honoraria from the Houston Center for Photography in Texas.
Deanna has attended residencies in Canada, Iceland, Portugal and Finland. She is represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery (CA) and her work is in the collections of the Archive of Modern Conflict (UK) and the Center for Creative Photography (US).
John Healey grew up along the St. Lawrence River in Brockville, Ontario. John’s images have been exhibited in galleries across Ontario and his work, HEAD-ON, has shown nationally at Scotiabank CONTACT 2017. His image “Jug Top” from Plastic Beach was selected as an Honourable Mention in the 2019 Optic Nerve competition held by BlackFlash. Plastic Beach images were also included in the 2019 exhibition Common Waters presented by Cambridge Art Galleries. Also from this series, “Michigan Man after Arcimboldo” won Grand Prize at Figureworks 2019. John is a past artist-in-resident at the School of The Photographic Arts: Ottawa and is an upcoming artists-in-residence at the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC).
Christine Fitzgerald is a photo-based artist who sees photography as a medium for creating unique physical objects. She explores the possibilities of using antiquated methods of image and photographic print making as a means of expression.
Christine is the recipient of numerous awards, honours and accolades, including the International Fine Art Photographer of the Year award in 2016 and an International Julia Margaret Cameron Award for women photographers in 2017. Christine was selected as a visual artist for the Canada C3 Expedition on Canada’s 150th anniversary and in 2018; she had the privilege of creating a portrait of Dr. Jane Goodall on the occasion of her 85th birthday. Her work has been featured by numerous media including the CBC, The Washington Post and the National Geographic.
JURY
Each year, submissions to the Project X Award are adjudicated by a jury composed of representatives from SPAO, the Ottawa Art Gallery as well as 3 independent experts from the visual art and photographic community. The jury for the 2020 editions of project X included Sarah E.L. Smith, Chantal Gervais, Jeff Thomas, Michele Gewurtz and Jonathan Hobin.
2019
Gary Franks — Paralanguage is a print exhibition of long-exposure Polaroid portraits, capturing and celebrating the transitory voices that make up Ottawa’s vibrant arts communities.
2018
Neeko Paluzzi — in support of photographic project PLANETS which will pair seven 3D-printed sculptures with seven Viewmaster reels.
2017
Peter Coffman — in support of his photographic project Gloss which re-imagines the historical practice of commenting or critiquing manuscripts in the margins of the original text.
2016
Jamie Kronick - support towards producing limited edition photography books and an exhibition in fall/winter 2016 at Exposure Gallery