B.C.'s Lind prize for emerging artists gets $1-million donation from family

People sit outside and listen as string players perform a concert to mark the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, at the Polygon Gallery, in North Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday, August 6, 2020. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

A new donation is securing the future of one of Canada's biggest awards for emerging visual artists.

The family of Philip Lind has given $1 million to support the Philip B. Lind Emerging Artist Prize, given since 2015 to British Columbia-based artists at the start of their careers.

The donation for artists working in film, photography or video will allow the prize's endowment fund to increase the award to $25,000 from $10,000.

The award will also be given out every second year instead of annually.

The donation will also extend the exhibition of work shortlisted artists from six weeks to about three months.

The winner will be announced in January.

Reid Shier, director of the Polygon Gallery, which manages the award and hosts the exhibition, says the prize helps nurture B.C. artists at pivotal moments in their careers.

Five artists are shortlisted for the award and will have work shown at the gallery starting in November.

They are Mena El Shazly, Karice Mitchell, Dion Smith-Dokkie, Parumveer Walia and Casey Wei.

Their works deal with themes from transformation and regeneration to vintage erotica and representations of queerness and includes digital imagery, painting and film.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2024.