Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery - 2008 Awards Announcement

Waterloo, Ontario – September 26, 2008 - In celebration of Canadian Ceramic and Glass Artists, the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the RBC Award for Glass support recipients in their research and career aspirations in the fields of contemporary ceramics and glass.

The 8th Annual Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics and the first of its kind RBC Award for Glass mark a significant moment in recognizing the remarkable practices that make up contemporary ceramic and glass art in Canada.

The Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics has been made possible for the past eight years thanks to the generosity and commitment of Mrs. Shantz to recognize and contribute to the career of ceramic artists in this country. This Award is one of its kind and has become a prestigious award supports the recipients in their research and career aspirations in the fields of contemporary ceramics.

The Winifred Shantz for Ceramics annual award presents $10,000 to Kasia Piech to conduct research and travel to Spain to study the paintings of Hieronymus Bosh in the Museo del Prado, and participate in a residency in Italy to explore concepts of faith and religion. This research expands on her most recent work entitled “The Garden of Earthly Delights”.

The new partnership with the RBC added a new level of excitement to the Award night and has provided the opportunity to recognize an exceptional artist working in glass.

The RBC Award for Glass presents $5,000 to Julia Reimer to travel to Japan and research the influence of Japanese design and culture on modern western craft. In particular she will examine the influence of the Mingei Movement on vessel design and the role of nature as inspiration for Japanese craft design. She will be conducting her research at the Japan Traditional Craft Center and The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, as well as working directly wit mentor, glass artist Masahiro Sasaki.

Adjudicating this year’s submissions for the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics were Rosemary Aicher, a potter from Waterloo, Jim Thomson, an Ottawa artist creating in clay since 1973, and Reed Weir, a ceramist from Newfoundland. The RBC Award for Glass was juried by Lou Lynn, a British Columbia sculptor working in glass and metal, Bruno Andrus, a Montreal-based glassblower artist, and John Kepkiewzc, glass artist from Thorn Glass Studio, St. Jacobs, Ontario.

Winners were announced at an Award Gala on September 25, 2008. A highlight of the Award Gala was a talk by the notable international Glass/Ceramic artist Peter Layton.

About the winners:

Kasia Piech:

Kasia Piech is a ceramic, mixed media artist. Piech completed her first degree in Religious studies at the University of Windsor in 1992. She obtained a BFA Ceramic Sculpture in 2001 from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC and an MFA, 2003 from the University of Waterloo. In recent work, she utilizes runny glazes that make her sculptural figures look like they are rotting or melting. Piech makes her glazes out of canned food, often goods well past their expiration date. One of the themes she is pursuing is the idea of the world turned upside down.

Julia Reimer:

Julia Reimer studied glass blowing at the Alberta College of Art + Design, and enhanced her knowledge of design and traditional European glass making techniques through travels to Scotland, Spain, France and Hungary. Her original design and meticulous craftsmanship have been recognized through several awards, including the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2002 she was chosen as an Artist in Residence at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York state. Her work is carried in several Canadian and U. S. galleries and has been exhibited in Europe. Reimer's designs are inspired by the landscape that surrounded her childhood home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta. "That's where I acquired an appreciation for the crisp prairie light, and the undulating hills and grasslands carved by wind and water that influence my artistic vision", she says, adding, "My love of the stark montane landscape has led to an aesthetic based on beautiful simplicity of form and light."

About Winifred Shantz:

Winifred Shantz has been a driving force for the arts in the Waterloo Region for more than 40 years. A successful ceramist and entrepreneur, she knows the importance of learning the business side of being an artist.

Mrs. Shantz has made a significant impact in the local community through her involvement in the University of Waterloo’s Chancellor's Circle, as a charter member of the Laurel Society and as a founding member of the highly successful Waterloo Potters Workshop. Mrs. Shantz has also been a vigorous supporter of the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery for the past 15 years. In addition, as partner of the Harbinger Gallery in Waterloo, which exhibits and sells a variety of fine arts work in clay, glass, textile, wood, and metal ware from across Canada, she has helped both young and established artists gain a wider audience for their work. In 2001, she received the Kitchener-Waterloo Arts Lifetime Achievement Award.

About RBC Financial Group:

RBC believes it is important to give back to the community - and that a thriving, innovative art scene is key to the vibrancy and health of our society and culture. That’s why RBC nurtures and invests in Canadian creative talent: a vital natural resource.

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 financial institution as measured by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America's leading diversified financial services company. 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.