The MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie is pleased to announce that the 2017 recipient of the John Hartman Award is Kristie MacDonald. MacDonald lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Her art practice engages notions of the archive and the collection, as well as their roles in the evolving meanings and contextual histories of images and artifacts. MacDonald is a recipient of awards from the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts. Her work has recently been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, the MacLaren Art Centre (Barrie ON), BABEL Visningsrom for Kunst (Trondheim NO), Reed College (Portland OR), The International Print Center (New York NY), Open Studio Contemporary Printmaking Centre (Toronto ON), and Gallery 44 (Toronto ON). She has been invited to work as an artist in residence at the Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation (Helsinki, FI), Skaftfell Center for Visual Art (Seyðisfjörður, IS), and Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder (Trondheim, NO). MacDonald is currently a PhD candidate in the department of Visual Art at York University, and an Instructor in the Department of Visual Studies at the University of Toronto.
The John Hartman Award is made possible with the generous support of MacLaren patron and regional artist John Hartman. This annual award of $4000 is granted to an emerging artist who is producing strong work and who could truly benefit by more time in the studio for research, experimentation and the development of new work. The artist is selected based on a recommendation from the MacLaren’s curatorial team and the award is administered by the MacLaren Art Centre. Past recipients include visual artists Richard Watts (2010); Duane Linklater (2011); Matt Bahen (2012); Julia Vandepolder (2013); Matt Macintosh (2014); Tanya Cunnington (2015); and Erika DeFreitas (2016). As Executive Director Carolyn Bell Farrell comments, “The MacLaren is committed to fostering artistic talent. Through John Hartman’s generous support, an opportunity is provided annually for an emerging artist to explore and develop their creative potential with confidence, building a solid platform for future success.”
John Hartman was born in Midland, Ontario in 1950 and studied fine art at McMaster University in Hamilton. A leading Canadian artist, he has exhibited internationally and his works are found in numerous important public, corporate and private collections. His national touring exhibition Cities (presented at the MacLaren Art Centre in the fall of 2008) focused on aerial views of cities and harbours; shores, coastlines and bodies of water remain a major element in his practice. Hartman lives and works in Lafontaine, Ontario and is represented by Nicholas Metivier Gallery in Toronto.
Image: John Hartman and Kristie MacDonald. Photo: Andre Beneteau
