The Power Plant

Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition, with the support of the Canadian Art Foundation, is a unique initiative that helps to nurture and support promising new artists in the early stages of their careers, a time when they need both recognition and financial support.

One national winner and two honorable mentions will be awarded purchase prizes of $25,000 and $15,000 respectively. With $55,000 in prizes, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition offers one of the highest awards of any painting competition in Canada.

Semifinalists in this year’s RBC Canadian Painting Competition are: Ahbyah Baker (Va ncouver), Thomas Chisholm (Victoria), Jordy Hamilton (Vancouver), Andrea Kastner (Edmonton), Katie Lyle (Vancouver), Colin Muir Dorward (Ottawa), Aleksander Hardashnakov (Toronto), David Hucal (Guelph), Vanessa Maltese (Toronto), Jenna Faye Powell (Sarnia), Betino Assa (Montréal), Philip Delisle (Halifax), Nicolas Ranelucci (Montréal), Corri-Lynn Tetz (Montréal), and Julie Trudel (Montréal).

On 29 November, Vanessa Maltese of Toronto was announced as national winner of the 14th annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition.

Maltese will receive a $25,000 purchase prize for her work Balaclava, which the jury noted stood out in its ability to reconcile ongoing painterly concerns of depth and surface, pattern and illustration, material and subject to create a dynamic, highly resolved composition.

Honourable mentions were given to Montreal’s Betino Assa and Vancouver’s Katie Lyle. Each will receive $15,000.