YVR Art Foundation Announces 2016 Scholarship Winners. Nine B.C. & Yukon First Nations artists recognized for creative excellence

Press Release

Richmond, B.C. (May 3, 2016): Today, YVR Art Foundation (YVRAF) announced the nine British Columbia and Yukon First Nations recipients of the 2016 YVR Art Foundation scholarship awards. The winners will be recognized at the annual YVRAF awards reception held at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on May 27, 2016. In addition, the 2015 scholarship recipients’ art works will be unveiled.

“The YVR Art Foundation is proud to recognize this extraordinary group of talented First Nations artists who have been selected as our 2016 scholarship recipients,” said Susan Jackson, Executive Director, YVR Art Foundation. “The 2016 YVR Art Foundation Scholarship recipients represent some of the best emerging and mid-career First Nations artists in British Columbia and the Yukon. We are pleased to support their vision and provide an opportunity to pursue their art education.”

YVRAF art scholarships are given annually to artists of British Columbia and Yukon First Nations ancestry in two categories: Youth (under age 27) and Mid-Career (aged 27 and up). Selected by a jury of three senior First Nations artists and curators, the recipients receive a $5,000 scholarship to attend a formal art institution or study with a mentor over the course of one year. Mid-Career recipients work with a master artist, attend an art institution or undertake a special project.

The winners of the 2016 YVR Art Foundation Youth Artist Scholarships are:

• Jay Bellis, age 23, Haida/Kootenae, from Masset
• Violet Gatensby, age 22, Tlingit, from Whitehorse
• Jamie Nole, age 23, Tahltan/Nisga’a, from Terrace
• Erik Prytula, age 24, Haida, from Kamloops
• Clayton Ses Saunders, age 18, Nuxalk, from Bella Coola
• Teresa Vander Meer-Chasse, age 23, White River First Nation, from Whitehorse
• Asia Youngman, age 24, Cree/Carrier/Iroquois from Vancouver

The winners of the 2016 YVR Art Foundation Mid-Career Artist Scholarships are:

• Corey Moreas, Tsimshian, from Surrey
• Lou-ann Neel, Kwakwaka’wakw, from Victoria

In addition to the monetary award, YVRAF brings the Youth Scholarship recipients to Vancouver for a weekend that includes the annual YVRAF Scholarship Awards

Reception and a day touring Vancouver museums, galleries and art studios. At the conclusion of the scholarship year, the recipients are brought to Vancouver again to display their art work at the Awards reception, followed by an exhibition of their work at YVR for one year.

Since 2005, the YVR Art Foundation has awarded over 80 scholarships, grants and awards to BC and Yukon First Nations artists totaling $350,000.

About the YVR Art Foundation

The YVR Art Foundation (YVRAF) is a nonprofit, charitable organization founded in 1993 by Vancouver Airport Authority to support the development and advancement of BC and Yukon First Nations art and artists by providing scholarships, grants and exhibition opportunities. The YVR Art Foundation receives funding from Vancouver Airport Authority and from individual, foundation and corporate donors. For more information about the YVR Art Foundation, visit www.yvraf.com.

– YVR –

For further information: YVR Media Relations 604.880.9815 media_relations@yvr.ca www.yvr.ca; @yvrairport

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