Thursday June 7th, 2012 – The national association of visual artists (CARFAC) announced today that Ottawa artist, Pat Durr, has won the National Visual Arts Advocacy Award. This award honours a professional artist who has made a significant contribution to the Canadian visual arts community.
Durr has given over 40 years of volunteer service to the visual arts community. She has contributed significantly to the development of cultural policy both locally in Ottawa and on the national scene through her role as artist, advocate, teacher and volunteer.
As chair of the Municipal Art Gallery Steering Committee, Durr assisted in the establishment of Arts Court, a visual and performing arts centre for the City of Ottawa, including the formation of Ottawa’s first municipal art gallery, the Ottawa Art Gallery. She has also served two terms as the President of CARFAC National (1980-1984 and 2002-2005), sat on the “My Ottawa Includes Culture” committee since 2003 and chaired the Canadian Conference of the Arts Expert Advisory Committee in 1995.
“It is difficult to quantify the impact of such steadfast advocacy,” said Ottawa artist, Adrian Göllner, “but be assured that the state of the visual arts in this city and country would be in a very sorry state if it were not for the dedication of Pat Durr.
The National Visual Arts Advocacy Award will be presented as part of the program for Art + Law – the National Conference for Visual Artists and Art Lawyers.
Award Presentation:
Friday, June 8th, 8:00pm
Ottawa Art Gallery, 2 Daly Avenue
About Pat Durr:
Based out of Ottawa, Pat Durr has been an artist and activist on both the local and national level for over forty years.
Nationally, Pat has contributed tremendously to the evolution of cultural policy in Canada, through her experience sitting on numerous juries, committees, and boards including CARFAC, the Royal Canadian Academy of Art, and the Canadian Conference of the Arts.
Locally, Durr has been involved in the development and promotion of the visual arts in Ottawa. She served on the City of Ottawa’s Arts Advisory Committee, as well as being a founding member of the Ottawa Art Centre Foundation. She advised the city on its development of a Percent for Art Program, as well as making recommendations on the development of the city’s art collection. As chair of the Municipal Art Gallery Steering Committee, she assisted in the establishment of Arts Court, a visual and performing arts centre for the City of Ottawa, including the formation of Ottawa’s first municipal art gallery, the Ottawa Art Gallery. Durr has also participated on numerous committees designed to lobby the City of Ottawa against proposed budget cuts in the last ten years. She is currently lobbying the Arts Heritage and Culture Committee of the City of Ottawa to reinstate a budget for public art commissions for the redevelopment of Lansdowne park.
About the National Visual Arts Advocacy Award
The inaugural National Visual Arts Advocacy Award was presented to Kim Ondaatje and Tony Urquhart – two of CARFAC’s founding members – in 2008, in celebration of CARFAC’s 40th anniversary. A new era of arts activism was born under their leadership, and through this award, we pay tribute to further achievements made by artists in the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of visual artists, and the overall well-being of the visual arts community.
Marlene Creates of Portugal Cove, Newfoundland won in 2009, Todd Janes from Edmonton, Alberta received the award in 2010, and Sarah Petite from Fredericton, New Brunswick was honored in 2011.