The award

The Sylvie and Simon Blais award for emerging visual artists is intended to recognize the achievement of a final-year student in a Master of Fine Arts program at a Québec university and to provide that student with the opportunity of having a professional-level exhibition of his or her work.

Who is eligible

Art students who have completed (at the application due date) at least 18 credits of a Master of Fine Arts program at a Québec university and who have already created a body of work that could be presented as part of a professional-level exhibition.

Evaluation process

Applications are evaluated by a jury made up of people who have a thorough knowledge of the contemporary art scene. The jury meets in May of each year in order to determine the recipient of the award. All applicants receive a letter informing them of the jury’s decision. The recipient of the award is announced in May.

Evaluation criteria:

  • Quality of the work and interest of the proposed project in terms of its artistic approach
  • Feasibility of the proposed exhibition
  • Quality of the application’s presentation

What the award includes

The recipient of this award will receive:

  • A $2,000 bursary
  • A solo exhibition in Galerie Simon Blais’ second gallery during the month of August following the annoucement, a maximum $5,500 value.
    • rental of the gallery for the exhibition
    • transportation costs for the works to be exhibited
    • production and mailing costs of invitations
    • advertising and public relations
    • vernissage expenses
    • production of a brochure

Applications

Examples of your recent work on a CD, which should include from 8 to 12 images (including a maximum of 2 video files).

The images must be in JPEG format (1 Mb max.);
The video files must be in MP4 format (200 Mb max.) and under 5 minutes.

Each file should be labelled in the following way: Name_Title_year_media_size.ext
(e.g.: Gordon_Clouds_2008_oiloncanvas_50x75cm.jpg)

Application dates

Please note that any applications that are incomplete or that are postmarked after the application dates will not be examined by the Selection Committee for the Award.

Interested art students should send their applications to the following address:

Sylvie and Simon Blais Foundation
5420 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Suite 100
Montréal, Québec H2T 1S1

For any further information, please contact Catherine Léonard at 514-849-1165

Download the application form

Download the floor plan