|
|
| |
|
| |
|
"Peter
Powning awarded prestigious Saidye Bronfman Award"
Source:
CBC Arts, 25 Oct 06. |
Peter
Powning, a ceramist and sculptor from Atlantic Canada,
has won the Saidye Bronfman Award, one of Canada's
largest individual prizes recognizing the visual
arts.
The announcement for the $25,000 honour was made
Wednesday morning by the Canadian Museum of Civilization,
which administers the annual prize in conjunction
with the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation
and the Canada Council for the Arts.
"For 30 years now, Powning's work has been
characterized by continuous experimentation and
a rare ability to transcend a single medium,"
the prize jury said in a statement. "His remarkable
technical mastery is evident in the way he applies
the transformative powers of fire to clay, glass
and metal seamlessly blending them together and
creating works of great strength."
The works of Powning, who is based in Markhamville,
N.B., range from prints and small vessels, to large
outdoor metal pieces. His pieces are inspired by
nature and history, and typically incorporate a
variety of media, including clay, glass and metal.
Powning
is also a past president of the New Brunswick Craft
Council and has been honoured with visual arts and
crafts awards both nationally and internationally.
He is also a member of the Royal Canadian Academy
of the Arts.
Powning
was celebrated at a Canadian Museum of Civilization
ceremony in Gatineau, Que., on Wednesday evening. |
|
|
Following
the ceremony was the opening of UNIQUE! 30 Years
of Outstanding Crafts, an exhibit that includes
work by Powning and other Saidye Bronfman Award
winners over three decades.
The award was established to honour excellence
by Canadian craftspeople and celebrate the 80th
birthday of Saidye Bronfman, a longtime arts supporter.
Along with handing out a cash prize, the Canadian
Museum of Civilization acquires a selection of
works by each year's winner for its permanent
collection. Each finalist also receives $1,000.
Past recipients have included woodcarver Bill
Reid, textile artist Kai Chan and bookbinder Louise
Genest.
|
 |
|
|
|
At
The Edge Of The Possible
Aux
Limits Du Posssible
Bronfman
Award video
Please
click on the image to link to video files in Quicktime
and Windows Media Viewer |
 |
|
| Please
click on the images to view the articles belowin full
size (note: large image size) |
| from
the New Brunswick Reader: |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| from
Studio Magazine, Fall/Winter 2006. Cover and article: |
 |
|
| from
the Telegraph-Journal Nov.4 2006: |
from
the Telegraph-Journal Oct. 26 2006: |
 |
 |
|
Artist
blissed-out after winning Bronfman Award
VAL ROSS
Globe and Mail, Thursday October 26, 2006
Toronto — Peter Powning, ceramic artist and sculptor
said he was feeling "blissful" on winning the
30th annual Saidye Bronfman Award.
Along with $25,000 and recognition among Canada's foremost
crafts practitioners, the award means his work will be
included in the Canadian Museum of Civilization's permanent
collection.
Powning says he'll tuck most of the money away -- "life
in the arts is a bit perilous." But he splurged on
a handmade velvet jacket with moose buttons by fellow
New Brunswick crafts practitioner Shona Humphries to wear
to last night's gala opening of the Museum of Civilization's
new exhibition, UNIQUE! 30 Years of Outstanding Crafts.
The exhibition's core, everything from teacups to tapestries,
consists of works by past winners of the Bronfman Award.
Last night at the gala, Robert Sirman, director of the
Canada Council for the Arts, announced that the Saidye
Bronfman honours will become part of the Governor-General's
Awards as of March, 2007, while retaining the Bronfman
name.
While the Canada Council administers these prizes, the
Bronfman family foundation is giving a $1.5-million endowment
specifically for maintenance of the Saidye Bronfman Award. |
|
The
Ottawa Citizen Pg. 26 Oct. 2006
AUTO-AUDACIOUS ART
The craft show opening today at the Canadian Museum of
Civilization contains objects that, in most cases, could
be equally at home in the National Gallery of Canada.
The exhibition is called Unique! 30 Years of Outstanding
Crafts. It runs until August next year and is timed to
coincide with the 30th anniversary in 2007 of the annual
$25,000 Saidye Bronfman Award, the country's top prize
for fine craft. This year's winner is ceramicist and sculptor
Peter Powning of Markhamville, N.B. Some of his creations
are part of Unique. In total, there are 120 works from
70 Canadian artisans in the exhibition. All the works
are from the museum's collection, which has 2,000 objects
and is billed as the most complete in the country. |
|
ARTS
REPORT (08:55) (CBC-FM), NATIONAL, 26 Oct 2006, 08:56AM,
Length: 00:00:29, Ref# 733440-2
Anchor/Reporters: JOE CUMMINGS, JOE CUMMINGS, Reach: 23,000
ARTS: NEW BRUNSWICK SCULPTOR PETER POWNING WAS HONOURED
AT THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION LAST NIGHT WITH
THE BRONFMAN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CANADIAN VISUAL ARTS
AND FINE CRAFT. |
|
New
Brunswick Telegraph-Journal
2006.10.28
Honouring
N.B.'s top artists
In the arts, October is the season of giving and receiving
honours. It's a source of great pride, and a measure of
this province's accomplishment, that New Brunswickers
have captured two of the nation's most prestigious arts
awards.
On Wednesday night, Markhamville potter Peter Powning
was awarded the 30th annual Saidye Bronfman Award for
excellence in the arts. This singular honour is granted
only to those who have demonstrated mastery and innovation
in their artistic fields - those whose leadership is recognized
and celebrated wherever they exhibit.
At $25,000, the Bronfman award is also one of the more
lucrative prizes a Canadian artist can receive.
On Friday, New Brunswick's Lieutenant Governor, Herménégilde
Chiasson, joined Peter Powning in the circle of Canada's
most exalted artists. The Lieutenant Governor was selected,
along with Newfoundland actor Gordon Pinsent, to receive
the National Theatre School of Canada's Gascon-Thomas
award for exceptional achievement in theatre.
As an internationally known playwright, poet, visual artist
and art director, Herménégilde Chiasson
has received many honours, including the Governor General's
Award. In 1990, France named him Chevalier des Artes et
des Lettres. New Brunswickers are honoured to have him
as the Crown's representative, and as a professor at l'Université
de Moncton.
Chiasson and Powning have proven that fine art can be
made anywhere, a product of hearts that feel, minds that
seek and hands that give expression to artistic thought.
We celebrate their achievement, and hope each will continue
to inspire and instruct younger artists for years to come. |
|
National
Post
2006.10.28
College
Park condo developer to unveil Peter Powning twin shifting-light
sculptures: Streetscapes
New Brunswick ceramic artist Peter Powning has created
two matching 13-foot sculptures for The Residences of
College Park at Bay and College, to be unveiled Nov. 2.
The pieces incorporate spiralled stainless steel with
tumbled shards of glass and LED lights inside. The light
will bounce off the glass and shift throughout the day.
"We wanted something on the streetscape that was
contributing back to the community," says Riz Dhanji,
vice-president of sales and marketing for Canderel Stoneridge.
The pieces, Mr. Dhanji says, complement the two towers'
heights and Art Deco design. Mr. Powning was the winner
of the 30th annual Saidye Bronfman award this week. |
|
The
Ottawa Citizen
2006.10.30
Around
TownMargo Roston
Galas
warm up for winter
Craft
artists celebrate award
It was a great week for craft artists as well with all
the hype over the celebration Wednesday of the 30th anniversary
of the Saidye Bronfman Awards at the Museum of Civilization.
It was a collaboration between The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman
Family Foundation, headed by Stephen Bronfman, the Canada
Council, headed by Robert Sturman and the Museum of Civilization,
which is hosting an exhibition of works of past winners
of the $25,000 award. The award ceremony and presentation
of $25,000 to winner Peter Powning, a ceramist and sculptor
from New Brunswick, and runners up Kevin Lockau, Michael
D. Massie, Peter Pierobon, and Anna Torma, drew a large
crowd of past winners, gallery owners, and area artists.
Accompanying Mr. Bronfman to the awards were his father,
Charles, and aunt, architect Phyllis Lambert, the brother/sister
team who started the award to honour their mother's 80th
birthday. At least 23 former winners joined the Bronfmans
at a reception and the opening of Unique! 30 Years of
Outstanding Crafts at the museum, attended by Gov. Gen.
Michaelle Jean. Among them was potter Robin Hopper, the
first winner of the prestigious award; fibre artist Micheline
Beauchemin; metal smith Lois Etherington Betteridge; and
potter Harlan House.
Mr. Powning came to the reception with his wife, Beth,
and went out for a late dinner at Restaurant 18 with friends
and his Toronto representative, Sandra Ainsley. The Bronfmans,
foundation board members and some high-flyers including
Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella and her husband,
Irving, and Westmount MP Irwin Cotler, settled in at Signatures
for a late-night repast. Unique! 30 Years of Outstanding
Crafts, will be on view until Aug. 5, 2007. |
|
Words
of Acceptance |
| 
Peter
at the Saidye Bronfman Award ceremony.
|
I've
got a brother who is a phone hoax specialist and has hoodwinked
everybody in my family at one time or another posing as
a cop, salesman, client, beautician, Julia Childs ...
you name it. As a result I'm a bit slow to believe phone
calls bearing unlikely news.
For that and other reasons, when I got the big call, it
took a while for it to seem possible that I'd been selected
for the legendary Bronfman Award. I couldn't entirely
believe that it wasn't a hoax or a mistake.
I owe many, many, thanks. First to my nominators, the
New Brunswick Craft Council. Thanks to Trudy Gallagher,
the president of the council, and especial thanks to Kate
Rogers, the executive director, who quarterbacked putting
the application together. |
| I'd
like to emphasize the importance that support from publicly
funded arts grants and awards has made in my life and
how essential they have been for me at critical times
in my career. Grant and award funding has allowed me
to pursue goals that would have been beyond my means
otherwise, which have enriched my creative abilities,
allowed me to experiment and not have to gear my entire
artistic production toward sales. I have been able to
achieve these goals with aid from, among others, the
Canada Council for the Arts, The New Brunswick Arts
Board, The New Brunswick Arts Branch, ACOA, the National
Research Council, as well as private foundations and
arts patrons.
A
successful career in the arts requires a great deal
of risk taking and a lot of support and nurturing. Without
grant support I wouldn't be here today. I am not unusual
in having benefited from and at times having been reliant
on grant support. Public funding and support for cultural
endeavours is a sign of a healthy nation. Arts grants
are an indicator of a functional society, not a sign
of cultural inadequacy. I'd like to express my deep
thanks to the grant funding institutions of this great
country. I hope that I've been able to make a cultural
contribution commensurate with their support.
A career in the arts doesn't happen in a void. I have
had a great deal of support and help from parents, siblings,
my son, mentors, friends, colleagues and most of all
the usually patient encouragement of my wife Beth. The
people of New Brunswick have been wonderfully supportive
of what I do, even if occasionally baffled, and formed
the solid base from which I have pursued a career in
the arts. I can't begin to enumerate all the people
who have been important to my life and career and I'm
terrified that by trying to list some of them I'll miss
others, there are just so many, they know who they are.
I also wish to thank the galleries that have been so
crucial to my survival and growth as an artist. There
have been many but I especially have to thank Sandra
Ainsley and Elena Lee for their friendship and support.
I feel privileged to be part of the tribe assembled
for this occasion. Certainly the biggest influences
in my life beyond my family have been fellow toilers
in the arts. To receive this award juried by my peers
is an honour beyond measure.
Finally, I’d like to thank the Award partners.
The Samual and Saidye Bronfman Foundation, The Canadian
Museum of Civilization, and the Canada Council for the
Arts. The Canadian Museum of Civilization plays an essential
role in mounting contemporary and historical exhibitions
and building historically important collections. The
Canada Council is the flag ship of public arts organizations
and it does an enormous amount of very important work
across the country for artists and the organizations
and institutions that support the arts.The
Canada Council is the flag ship of public arts organizations
and it does an enormous amount of very important work
across the country for artists and the organizations
and institutions that support the arts. |
The Bronfmans
through the Saidye Bronfman Award and in many other
ways make it possible for us to honour one of our kind
each year. I am thrilled to see my work amongst the
work of other Saidye Bronfman Award recipients and craftspeople
from coast-to-coast in the exhibition, Unique, and to
be included in the Museum’s collection.
The SaidyeBronfman Award has been a wonderful encouragement
to us all and has enormously enriched the cultural landscape
of Canada.
Thank you. |
 |
|
Bronfman
Award ceremony at the Canadian Museum of Civilization,
Great Hall |
|
| Peter
Powning's Bronfman panel statement
My life and work are intertwined. The concerns of my
life are reflected in the themes of my work. What I
attempt to do is to produce objects that excite me and
that connect with others. It’s really as simple
as that. While the specifics of each piece may refer
to a variety of ideas or influences, all the work comes
from the same well of desire to make connections. I’ve
had the experience so many times in galleries and museums
of experiencing objects that moved me, left me stunned
and excited.. that had the pulse of the real...something
essential and maybe universal. My hope is that some
of my work accomplishes that.
Working with my hands gives me a sense of connection
not only with others doing similar work, but with generations
of predecessors who lived by the skill of their hands.
Those of us who produce work by hand from beginning
to end, maintain a vital link to an essential aspect
of our humanness. It is an aspect of our species which
has evolved over millennia and that many who live typical
contemporary western lives are quite distanced from.
For those people we form a link. I believe there is
an innate human ability to recognize and appreciate
the hand made, the object imbued with the power of the
skilled and thoughtful hand.
I sell my work so I can afford to make more, not only
to make a living. I also like the thought of the work
started here in my studio going out into the world.
Being an artist is a perilous and peculiar occupation
that has many and varied rewards as well as many and
varied insecurities and pitfalls. Exhibitions are a
chance to come out of the woods and see if the work
really works and hasn’t become a delusory obsession. |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
