The Awards for Excellence in Arts and Culture reward 12 artists

Yesterday evening, the Saint-Charles-de-Limoilou church welcomed the 38^e Awards for Excellence in Arts and Culture Gala. On this occasion, twelve winners received prizes, accompanied by scholarships totaling nearly $45,000.

By Estelle Lévêque

The Awards of Excellence in Arts and Culture Gala highlighted the talent of twelve artists and organizations. Indeed, the ceremony held last night revealed the winners of the twelve categories, chosen by the following structures.

• The Center for training and consultation in artistic professions
• The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ)
• Art demonstration
• The City of Lévis
• Quebec City
• Culture Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches (CCNCA)

Founded in 1987, the Awards for Excellence in Arts and Culture aim to reward professional artists, organizations and businesses whose work and work “have contributed in an exceptional way to the growth and development of cultural influence of the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions.”

Quebec City

To begin, the City of Quebec awarded two prizes, to the Antitube organization and to the artist duo Pierre&Marie. The first, accompanied by a $5,000 grant, congratulates the establishment of Cinéma Beaumont in Quebec. This recognition aims in particular to highlight the major turning point in the life of the Antitude organization, and its anchoring in the local independent cinema sector.

As for the Ville de Québec – Public Art Prize, accompanied by a $1,000 grant, it congratulates the Pierre&Marie collective for the work The outline of our memoriesinstalled at the Lebourgneuf Seniors and Alternative Center.

“With two sculptures in the interior courtyards and a photograph in the entrance hall, the duo presents a coherent, poetic and very sensitive ensemble towards customers through its accessibility, its tactile side and its reference to memory in its own narrative dimension to their artistic approach. »

Comment from the City of Quebec

On the south shore, the Ville de Lévis Prize and its $1,000 grant were awarded to the SOLIDARTIS School, to highlight its professionalization efforts with a view to the sustainability of the organization, the unique and diversified course offering and the overhaul of its brand image.

Art and Culture Manifesto Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches

The Manif d’art organization awarded three prizes as well as three $1,000 scholarships. Thus, the Videre Relève Prize in visual arts goes to Danielle Cormier for the exhibition What’s leftpresented at the Visual Arts Gallery at the end of 2023. The Videre Creation Prize in Visual Arts congratulated Bill Vincent for the exhibition Dried uppresented at the Louise-Carrier Exhibition Center in spring 2024. Finally, the Videre Reconnaissance Prize in visual arts honored the work of the artist Richard Baillargeon, for “his commitment to the development of his practice around text and the image that he has been leading for more than 40 years, as well as for the important contribution of his photographic works exploring displacement and narrative. »

In addition, two emerging artists received arts and excellence awards. In particular, the Culture Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches organization highlighted the work of Geneviève Dufour, with the Prix Relève Pratique en Capitale-Nationale. The organization thus congratulates the author and cultural worker for her active participation “in the cultural life of Quebec, for her embodied and assertive creations, which reshape the boundaries of her discipline while remaining accessible to the general public. » In Chaudière-Appalaches, Sandra Giasson-Cloutier received the Professional Succession Prize.

CALQ and Center for training and consultation in artistic professions

Then, the Art Crafts Training and Consultation Center presented the Emergence Prize in crafts to Catherine Valois, ceramist. “For his gentle and poetic work which presents a remarkable coherence, both in the sculptural and functional pieces,” specifies the center.

The Distinction in Crafts Prize honored Véronique Martel, a ceramic artist who has distinguished herself, for more than twenty years, through the exploration of new forms and the integration of unexpected technologies and materials.

Finally, the CALQ Prize was awarded to Charles-Frédérick Ouellet. The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec offered him a $10,000 grant and a video capsule produced by La Fabrique culturelle. The members of the jury highlighted his extraordinary ability to create powerful poetic atmospheres in his photographic projects, which demonstrate his in-depth exploration of subjects. In Chaudière-Appalaches, the CALQ prize honors the literary work, at once accessible, profound and touching, of Vincent Lambert.