Deliver Your News to the World

Jury selects 16 talented artists in the eighth annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition


WEBWIRE

Wide range of painting styles represented by artists across the country

TORONTO, June 28, 2006 — RBC Financial Group, with the support of the Canadian Art Foundation, today announced the semi-finalists in the eighth annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition. The paintings were chosen from more than 1,500 works by 611 artists across the country.

Submissions were accepted from emerging professional, practicing, visual Canadian artists who are in the early stages (within first five years) of their professional careers.The RBC Canadian Painting Competition was judged by some of the most respected artists, gallery directors and curators in Canada. A complete list of jurors is available at http://www.rbc.com/paintingcompetition/pc-the-jurors.html.

One national winner and two honorable mentions will be selected from the semi-finalists and will be awarded $25,000 and $15,000 respectively. With a total of $55,000 in prizes, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition offers the highest total award of any painting competition in Canada, giving winners an opportunity to advance their careers.

“Selecting 15 pieces of work out of hundreds of incredible entries was a challenge,” said Melony Ward, executive director, Canadian Art Foundation. “However, these 15 paintings made a strong impression on the judges and we know we will see all these artists go far in their careers.”

The semi-finalists are:

Western Canada

* Abbas Akhavan of Vancouver
* Matthew Brown of Vancouver
* David Foy and Jennifer Saleik of Calgary
* Holger Kalberg of Vancouver
* Melanie Rocan of Winnipeg

Central Canada

* Adam Brickell of Niagara Falls
* Kim Dorland of Toronto
* Martin Golland of Guelph
* Dax Morrison of King City
* François Xavier Saint Pierre of Toronto

Eastern Canada

* Nicolas Grenier of Montreal
* Dil Hildebrand of Montreal
* Jonathan Johnson of Halifax
* Daniel Langevin of Montreal
* Luce Meunier of Montreal

“During the national tour, these artists will have an opportunity to exhibit their paintings in prominent galleries, which is not easily achieved at this point in their careers,” said Gay Mitchell, executive vice-president, RBC. “We hope the RBC Canadian Painting Competition not only brings these talented artists into the spotlight but also raises awareness about the Canadian art scene as a whole.”

The winners will be announced this September in Toronto, kicking off the national public touring exhibition at prominent galleries at the following locations:

National
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
952 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
September 9 - 24, 2006

Central Canada
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery
101 Queen Street North,
Kitchener, Ontario
September 26 - October 1, 2006

Eastern Canada
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
185 St. Catherine Street West
Montreal, Quebec
October 10 - 22, 2006

Western Canada
Art Gallery of Calgary
117-8 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
November 1 - 11, 2006

Contemporary Art Gallery
555 Nelson Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
November 14 - 19, 2006

All semi-finalists will be featured in Canadian Art magazine and on the web at: www.rbc.com/paintingcompetition and at www.canadianart.ca.

About the RBC Canadian Painting Competition
Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition is a tribute to Canada’s artistic talent. The goal of the competition is to support and nurture Canadian visual artists early in their career by providing them with a forum to display their artistic talent to the country and hopefully open doors to future opportunity. An investment in Canadian culture and the visual arts community, the competition will award one national prize of $25,000 and two honourable mentions will receive $15,000 each. Along with past winners, the winning paintings of 2006 will become part of RBC Financial Group’s Canadian art collection comprised of more than 4,000 works of distinguished art collected over the past hundred years. Various paintings from the RBC collection have been exhibited in museums, enabling more Canadians to enjoy these wonderful works. Presently, “Irish Point” and “Self Portrait: Who is this Sir Mummings” by Christopher Pratt are currently on loan to the National Gallery of Canada to mark Pratt’s 70th birthday in 2005. The Christopher Pratt exhibition is touring to Halifax, St. John’s, Winnipeg and Quebec City through the National Gallery of Canada’s Travelling Exhibitions Program.

About RBC Financial Group
Royal Bank of Canada (TSX, NYSE: RY) uses the initials RBC as a prefix for its businesses and operating subsidiaries, which operate under the master brand name of RBC Financial Group. Royal Bank of Canada is Canada’s largest bank as measured by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies. It provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking, and transaction processing services on a global basis. The company employs approximately 70,000 full and part-time employees who serve more than 14 million personal, business and public sector clients through offices in North America and some 30 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.



WebWireID15922





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.