The Petry Award

Starting in 2015, the Nancy Petry Foundation has partnered with the Joe Plaskett Foundation to administer the Petry Award, a $10,000 second prize. The prize money is to be used to live and travel abroad for two months, creating artwork and fostering inspiration.

The candidate chosen for the Petry Award will be an outstanding emerging Canadian artist in the field of painting. In addition, candidates must meet the requirements outlined in the application process.

Inspired by Joseph Plaskett (whom she met and visited many times in Paris in the 60s) and the Award he established. The scholarship supports travel and study in Europe — an opportunity to explore and learn from centuries of art history in various museums throughout the region — for a Canadian artist who has recently completed an MFA in painting.

For questions about this application please contact: [email protected]

A Message from Nancy Petry

I first met Joseph Plaskett at one of his exhibitions at a gallery on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal. He had come for his exhibition from Western Canada where he lived. He would always be at the vernissages. Then he moved to Paris; I stayed with him at his house on rue Pecquay in the Marais. It was a tall thin house with a circular staircase going up the middle. I stayed in a room on the top floor. The staircase went through the dining room where he always had a still life with fruit or flowers on the dining table, and an easel set up with a painting in progress.

Nancy Petry (right) in the Gobi desert, in May 2010.

We would go to exhibitions, go out and do some sketching, go to restaurants. I think he liked my watercolours of Paris and we would talk about art a lot. Later in his life, I visited him at his country home in Suffolk, England. it was a big house called “The Cedars”. He was always painting.

We both felt that leaving Canada and going to Europe was very important for artists. That’s why I moved to Paris. I could see the latest paintings and it was the centre of the art world during the 50,’s and 60’s. We both moved there to be at the centre of the art world at that time.

I started the Petry Award to give young painters a chance to broaden their artistic experience in Europe.

Petry Award Testimonial

M. E. Sparks – 2016 Recipient

It is an incredible honour to receive the Petry Award. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the the Nancy Petry Foundation, the Joe Plaskett Foundation, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and, of course, to the celebrated Canadian painter, photographer, performer, film and media artist, Nancy Petry, for making this opportunity possible. Thank you as well to Emily Carr University and to the dedicated professors who have provided never-ending support during my master’s. I am also forever thankful to NSCAD University and the professors there who guided me through my undergraduate degree. NSCAD is where I fell in love with painting. While understanding that the path of a painter may be a difficult one, it became evident that this is the path I was meant to be on.

“To develop your own voice through painting, to remain authentic, critical, reflexive, while pushing boundaries and breaking new ground, all while putting your work out into the world – these are the challenges we face.”

It is awarded opportunities such as this that remind us our voices are being heard, our work is being recognized, and to continue following this path we are on, even while it leads into the unknown.

This award demonstrates the utmost importance of travel and exploration for emerging artists. It is a rare and life-changing opportunity to have the financial assistance to travel to Europe, and I am confident this experience will significantly transform and propel my practice forward in new and unforeseen ways. To see art in person, both historical and contemporary, is crucial to every artist’s development. Engaging with international art communities, building networks through residencies and galleries, and having the chance to produce work in a new context – these opportunities are pivotal, and I am so thankful and excited for the adventure to come. Thank you again, to Nancy Petry, for her ongoing contributions to Canadian visual arts, and for continuing to make difference in the lives of emerging painters.

– M.E. Sparks