2026
Lauchlan Reid
Chair of Illustration, OCAD University
We are pleased to welcome back Lauchlan Reid as Chair of this year’s jury. An artist, illustrator, and educator, Reid’s solo practice draws upon the historical traditions of Western European image-making—including oil painting, metalpoint drawing, and printmaking—while incorporating contemporary technology to create works that place viewers in an uncanny and thought-provoking space.
Beyond his own artistic practice, Reid is a founding member of the acclaimed Canadian illustration collective Team Macho and co-directs OCAD University’s Sustainable Colour Lab, a research initiative dedicated to reviving lost historical materials and techniques. His return brings continuity to the jury and a rare perspective that bridges fine art, illustration, education, and material research.
Mireille Eagan
Curator of Contemporary Art, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery
We are honoured to welcome Mireille Eagan to this year’s jury. As Curator of Contemporary Art at The Rooms in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Eagan has curated more than 150 exhibitions throughout her career, including Jenny Holzer: Truisms, Christopher Pratt: The Places I Go, and Folklore and Other Panics.
Her collaborative projects include the nationally touring Mary Pratt retrospective and Mary Pratt: This Little Painting at the National Gallery of Canada, as well as the Terra Nova Art Foundation’s Collateral Project at the 55th Venice Biennale.
Eagan holds a BA in Art History from Mount Allison University and an MA from Concordia University. She is also the author of the forthcoming Christopher Pratt: Life & Work, to be published this October by the Art Canada Institute. Her writing has appeared in Border Crossings, Canadian Art, C Magazine, The Globe and Mail, and Inuit Art Quarterly. Recognized with both the Gold Medal for Excellence in Digital Publishing and CARFAC’s Critical Eye Award, she brings more than a decade of thoughtful engagement with Canadian portraiture and contemporary art.
Kanika Anand
Senior Curator, Contemporary Calgary
We are equally pleased to welcome Kanika Anand to this year’s jury. As Senior Curator at Contemporary Calgary and a member of the curatorial team for the Indian Ceramics Triennale, Anand brings an international perspective shaped by work in Canada, the United States, France, and India.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Delhi and a Master’s degree in Art History from the National Museum Institute of India. Her career has included prestigious curatorial fellowships, including one at the Centre National d’Art Contemporain in Grenoble.
Beyond her curatorial work, Anand’s writing has appeared in Art India, Ocula, and Art Basel Magazine. Her practice moves fluidly between exhibition-making, scholarship, and community engagement, offering a perspective that is both internationally informed and deeply connected to the contemporary voices shaping Canadian art.
Past Jurors
2025
Gordon Shadrach
Canadian painter
Born and raised in Brampton, Ontario, Gordon Shadrach (BDes, M.Ed), is a Toronto-based artist and educator whose work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including a solo exhibition at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
He is known for his allegorical paintings which focus on the Black male form in order to question the impact of cultural stereotypes in society and the prevalence of the colonial gaze, as well as his advocacy, community involvement, and leadership addressing Black art and representation within the Canadian and African Diasporic context.
In 2022, Shadrach served as the lead artist and co-curator of Dis/Mantle, a groundbreaking, immersive installation at the Spadina Museum, presented through the City of Toronto’s Awakenings program which was shortlisted by Museum and Heritage Trust Awards UK.
Shadrach’s work is held in several prominent public and private collections, including the Wedge Collection, the Wright Collection, CCH Pounder Collection, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, U of T Trinity College, the City of Toronto, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
Chloe Pelletier
Curator, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Dr. Chloé M. Pelletier is the Curator of European Art (before 1800) at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where she stewards a collection of over 1600 European paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. A specialist in Italian Renaissance painting, she holds a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Chloé has held research and curatorial positions at institutions including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her recent exhibition projects include Spotlight: Women Artists in the Early Modern European Art Collection (2024), Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks (local curator, 2024-2025), and Bad Girls Only: Women and the Seven Deadly Sins (2025).
Lauchie Reid
Chair of Illustration, OCAD University
Lauchlan Reid is an artist, illustrator and educator based in Hamilton, Ontario.
Lauchlan’s solo works focus on combining the historical practices of western European image-making, primarily oil painting, metal point drawing, and plate printing. Aesthetically and conceptually, these works incorporate uncanny visual elements and narratives informed as much by Hieronymus Bosch as they are by Brian Eno and include a combination of bygone techniques and innovative technology with the intention of situating the viewer in an uneasy space.
Founder of noted illustration and art collective Team Macho, Reid’s art and design practice spans all media and methodologies, including drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, publishing, animation, and printmaking.
Lauchlan is a tenured Associate Professor and Program Chair of the Illustration Program at OCAD University and is a co-director of the OCAD U Sustainable Colour Lab, a research initiative aimed at the resurrection of “lost” techniques and materials from natural, historical sources.
2023
Alicia Boutilier
Chief Curator and Curator of Canadian Historical Art at Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Alicia Boutilier is Chief Curator and Curator of Canadian Historical Art at Agnes Etherington Art Centre and is an adjunct and affiliate in Art History and Art Conservation, Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies, and Cultural Studies at Queen’s University. Alicia has produced numerous exhibitions on Canadian historical art and visual culture, with an emphasis on women artists, artistic groups, regional scenes, collecting histories and intersections of art and craft. Among her curated and co-curated exhibition and publication projects are Tom Thomson? The Art of Authentication (2022), Stepping Out: Clothes for a Gallery Goer (2019), The Artist Herself: Self-Portraits by Canadian Historical Women Artists (2015), and A Vital Force: The Canadian Group of Painters (2013).
Annie Gérin
Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University
Annie Gérin is Dean of Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts. Educated in Canada, Russia and the UK, she is a curator and art historian. Her research interests encompass the areas of Soviet art, public art, visual satire and cultural policy. Her publications include Devastation and Laughter: Satire, Power and Culture in Early Soviet Russia (2018), Françoise Sullivan, Life and Work (2018), Godless at the Workbench: Soviet Humoristic Antireligious Propaganda (2004) and the co-edited collections Canadian Cultural Poesis (2006), Public Art in Canada: Critical Perspectives (2009), Oeuvres à la rue: pratiques et discours émergents en art public (2010), Formes urbaines : Circulation, stockage et transmission de l’expression culturelle à Montréal (2014), and Sketches for an Unquiet Country – Canadian Graphic Satire 1840-1940 (2018).
Gordon Shadrach
Artist, Toronto, ON
Toronto – based artist Gordon Shadrach exhibits in Canada, the United States and internationally. He received his B. Des. (MAAD) from OCAD University and his M. Ed degree from Niagara University. He has worked in education for the past 18 years, and in 2023 Shadrach began teaching at OCADU as an Assistant Professor in the Drawing and Painting Department.
Shadrach’s allegorical portraits mostly focus on the Black male form in order to question the impact of cultural stereotypes in society and the prevalence of the colonial gaze. In the summer of 2022, Shadrach was the lead artist and co-curator for “Dis/Mantle,” a ground-breaking, immersive installation that reimagines Spadina Museum as the manor of Mrs. Pipkin, a formerly enslaved person who escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad.
Shadrach’s work has been acquired by the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Agnes Etherington Gallery, and is included in notable American diasporic art collections.
2019
Catharine M. Mastin, PhD
Executive Director of the Art Gallery of Windsor
Catharine Mastin is 6th Executive Director of the Art Gallery of Windsor. She led the Gallery through a major organizational change process between 2011 and 2013 and has since brought the Gallery’s reputation to provincial, national and North American recognition. Her leadership has earned a Gallery record of 18 back-to-back awards for excellence in staffing, partnerships, exhibitions, writing, design, publishing, tourism, volunteerism and public service. Mastin is a peer-nominated member of the Association of Art Museum Directors and the Canadian Art Museum Directors’ Organization. Her current volunteer work includes serving as Past President of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries.
Catharine Mastin holds a doctorate in women’s history and she is a widely respected arts professional whose employers have included the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB. She has held several major academic fellowships including a Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the University of Alberta’s prestigious Dissertation Fellowship. Highlights in her career include co-founding the Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art and major publications on The Group of Seven in Western Canada (2002) and ‘The Talented Intruder’: Wyndham Lewis in Canada, 1939-1945 (1992) and Mary Pratt (2013) and Territories: Brenda Francis Pelkey (2017).
Sarah Milroy, CM
Chief Curator of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Sarah Milroy is Chief Curator of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, in Kleinburg, Ontario. Formerly, she has served as chief art critic of the Globe and Mail (2001 to 2011) and editor of Canadian Art magazine (1991 to 1996). With her colleague Ian Dejardin, Milroy co-curated the exhibitions, From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia (2014) and David Milne: Modern Painting (2018), both touring to Canadian venues from their initial presentation at Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, England.
- www.gg.ca/en/activities/2020/governor-general-announces-114-new-appointments-order-canada
- mcmichael.com/mcmichael-chief-curator-sarah-milroy-appointed-to-the-order-of-canada
Phil Richards
Artist, Toronto, ON
Phil Richards is a Toronto born artist and a graduate of the Ontario College of Art.
Richards has exhibited in solo and group shows in Canada, the United States and Europe. He works in a variety of genres; large-scale murals, figure paintings, landscapes, still life, and portraiture, and in a variety of media: acrylic, casein, watercolour, pencil crayon, graphite and sculpted relief.
His numerous commissioned projects include The Congress Centre (Ottawa); Cineplex Odeon mural (Woodbine Centre, Toronto); a multi-faceted three-dimensional installation for the Toronto Eaton Centre (Toronto); and a large-scale mural for Cinedom Media Complex (Cologne, Germany), a work that included 187 celebrity portraits.
Richards is an experienced portrait artist, his commissions include the official Diamond Jubilee Portrait of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II for the Government of Canada, official portraits of many government leaders, education leaders (Presidents, Chancellors, Chairpersons and Principals) and CEO’s.
His work can be found in hundreds of collections in North America and Europe including The National Capital Commission, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Confederation Centre PEI, The Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, The Kitchener-Waterloo Regional Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Art Gallery of Guelph, Glenbow Museum, MacLaren Art Centre, in corporate collections (Scotiabank, TD Bank, Four Seasons, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Warner Bros., etc.), and many private collections.
2017
Sara Angel – Founder and Executive Director of the Art Canada Institute
Sara Angel is based at the University of Toronto where she holds a Trudeau Doctoral Scholarship. Sara writes on contemporary visual culture for publications including Maclean’s, Canadian Art, The Walrus, and The Globe and Mail.
Catharine Mastin, PhD – Director of the Art Gallery of Windsor and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Windsor
Catharine Mastin is the AGW’s sixth Director and is an active curator, writer and educator. She has won several writing awards and is a best-selling Canadian author. She is a member of several Art Museum organizations.
Glenn Priestley – Artist, Fredericton, NB
Glenn Priestley studied fine art at Ontario College of Art and in Florence, Italy. His work encompasses figurative art and landscapes. He has exhibited widely in Toronto, New York and other Canadian locations. His work is to be found in many collections.
2015
Stephanie Dickey– Stephanie Dickey (PhD New York University 1994) holds the Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art at Queen’s University (Kingston, ON) and previously taught at Indiana University. She is the author of numerous publications on Dutch and Flemish art of the early modern period. Much of her research focuses on the artistic and cultural significance of portraiture, including the books “Rembrandt: Portraits in Print” (2004) and “Rembrandt Face to Face” (2006).
Glenn Priestley – Glenn Priestley is a Toronto-born figurative art and landscapes artist and teacher now living in Fredericton, NB. He studied fine art at Ontario College of Art in Toronto and in Florence, Italy, and anatomy at University of Toronto.
Tom Smart – Tom Smart has more than thirty years of experience as a gallery director, curator, author, editor and special advisor. He served as the Executive Director and CEO of the McMichael Canadian Collection, Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh, Acting Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
2013
Stephanie Dickey – Stephanie Dickey (PhD New York University 1994) holds the Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art at Queen’s University (Kingston, ON) and previously taught at Indiana University. She is the author of numerous publications on Dutch and Flemish art of the early modern period. Much of her research focuses on the artistic and cultural significance of portraiture, including the books “Rembrandt: Portraits in Print” (2004) and “Rembrandt Face to Face” (2006).
Anne Ewen – Anne Ewen has held positions as Senior Art Curator at the Glenbow Museum, Interim Chief Curator at the Art Gallery of Calgary and Art Curator at the Whyte Museum in Banff. She has extensive experience in areas of strategic planning, policies and procedures, development and curatorial expertise in the non-profit sector. Her work has been recognized in a number of public awards. Throughout her painting practice she has worked like a playwright, creating psychologically specific characters in time-warped scenarios to address contemporary history. In the last two decades she has used the concept of post-Soviet Ukraine as a metaphorical stage on which her cast of characters play the gamut of social desire and regret. Husar is associate professor in the Drawing and Painting program at OCAD University.
Natalka Husar – Natalka Husar has exhibited extensively across Canada, is represented in numerous public collections including the National Gallery and the Canada Council Art Bank and has received grants from the Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and SSHRC.
Jeffrey Spalding – Jeffrey Spalding is an artist, writer and curator. His art works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, and other major Canadian galleries. He has served as Director at major art museums in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Florida. He has written numerous books, and exhibition catalogues for museums such as the Tate Gallery and Russia’s Hermitage Museum. Spalding was President, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 2007-2010, recipient of the Alberta College of Art and Design Board of Governors Award of Excellence (1992), awarded the Order of Canada (2007), and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
2011
Marina Cutler of Montréal – Gallerist and Curator
Robert Enright of Guelph and Winnipeg – Critic; Professor, University of Guelph; Senior Contributing Editor, Border Crossings magazine
Natalka Husar of Toronto – Artist and Associate Professor, OCAD University
2009
Robert Enright of Guelph and Winnipeg – Critic; Professor, University of Guelph; Senior Contributing Editor, Border Crossings magazine
Eliza Griffiths of Montréal – Painter and Assistant Professor, Concordia University
Lilly Koltun of Ottawa – Director General, Portrait Gallery of Canada
2007
Eliza Griffiths of Montréal – Painter and Assistant Professor, Concordia University
William Kirby of Toronto – Curator
Richard Rhodes of Toronto – Critic; Professor, University of Guelph; Senior Contributing Editor, Border Crossings magazine
2005
Ralph Allen of Kingston – Artist, curator
Richard Rhodes of Toronto – Critic; Professor, University of Guelph; Senior Contributing Editor, Border Crossings magazine
Kitty Scott of Ottawa – Curator