47th Annual GOG Awards, 2024. Image courtesy of Ammar Bowaihl, Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries.

Celebrating Excellence–The 49th Annual GOG Awards: Personnel Award Winners Revealed & Awards Shortlist Announced

Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG) is pleased to announce the Personal Award Winners for Changemaker BIPOC, Lifetime Achievement, Colleague Of The Year, and Volunteer Of The Year Awards of the 49th Annual GOG Awards. Alongside these winners, GOG presents this year’s Awards shortlist.

As the only annual juried awards of its kind, the GOG Awards celebrate the inspiring work of arts institutions and professionals advancing the public art gallery sector. This list recognizes their achievements as examples of excellence, honouring those who are shaping the sector and building what matters.

We extend our sincere gratitude to our jurors for their dedication, insight, and diligent work in peer-assessing the nominations!

Be sure to join us in celebrating excellence at the Toronto Reference Library on November 30, 2026 for the Awards ceremony! Keep an eye on the GOG Awards website and GOG social media channels for the latest and most up-to-date information.

The 49th Annual GOG Awards Winners

47th Annual GOG Awards, 2024. Image courtesy of Ammar Bowaihl, Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries.

PERSONNEL AWARDS

Changemaker BIPOC

January Paige
Artist Instructor and Mentor
MacLaren Art Centre

Lifetime Achievement

Shirley Madill
Executive Director
47 Years of Service
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

Colleague Of The Year

Michael Beynon
Gallery Installer
24 Years of Service
Art Gallery of Mississauga

Volunteer Of The Year

Debby Keating and Catharine Blastorah
President and Past President of the Board
6 Years of Service
Art Gallery of Peterborough

The 49th Annual GOG Awards Shortlist

All shortlisted nominations are presented in alphabetical order. All winners will be announced live during the ceremony.

EXHIBITION AWARDS

Exhibition Of The Year Budget Over $50,000

Earthwork
Art Museum at the University of Toronto

Metamorphoses: Visions of Antiquity in the Modern Era
Art Gallery of Hamilton

Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn: When Water Embraces Empty Space
The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University

Exhibition Of The Year Budget Over $20,000 Thematic

Land Bodies, Decomposing Mass
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

My Mother’s Tongue
Art Gallery of Mississauga

What of the eternal harm lurking all around?
McMaster Museum of Art

Exhibition Of The Year Budget Over $20,000 Monographic

Between the Current and the Echo
Varley Art Gallery of Markham

Jenine Marsh: HARBINGER
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

Shary Boyle: How We Are
Art Gallery of Hamilton

Exhibition Of The Year Budget Under $20,000 Thematic

Beneath the Surface: Stories of Kinship and Connection
Varley Art Gallery of Markham

Gaza Biennale T’karonto Pavilion: Witnessing Sumud
A Space Gallery

Paralèlles: Unseen Feminine Forces
Cambridge Art Galleries

Exhibition Of The Year Budget Under $20,000 Monographic

Iris Häussler: Divided Heavens
McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Kejie Lin: A Garden of My Own
Varley Art Gallery of Markham

Shaheer Zazai: A Petal for a Petal, A Deed for a Deed—The Garden We Could Have Been
Art Gallery of Mississauga

Exhibition Of The Year Budget Under $10,000

Anthony Gebrehiwot: Beyond the Veil of Time, Bridging Black Temporalities
Latcham Art Centre

From Cloth to Code: New Media Responses
The Textile Museum of Canada

From There to Here: Walking for Tomorrow
MacLaren Art Centre

Innovation In A Collections Based Exhibition

Edward Poitras: Big Iron Sky & Public Dance Performance
Thunder Bay Art Gallery

Holding Patterns
McIntosh Gallery

Ndishnikaaz | Nugwa’a̱m | My name is
Art Windsor-Essex

First Exhibition In A Public Art Gallery

L’air est lourd
Art Windsor-Essex

The Great Unseen
McMaster Museum of Art

Janice Reid: Fluorescent Beige
Agnes Etherington Art Centre

Exhibition Design and Installation

Ear Worm
Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto

Jenine Marsh: HARBINGER
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

Museum of Closetry
Art Gallery of Peterborough

Public Program

Art and Waste in Panniqtuuq
Art Gallery of Peterborough

Our Park 2025: Learning from Mushroom
Varley Art Gallery of Markham

Xwat Maanzháapǔyak: BIG BEADS
Art Windsor-Essex

Education

Creative Futures: Empowering Teen Artists
Agnes Etherington Art Centre

Second Life: Sustainable Textile Workshops Series
The Textile Museum of Canada

SenSational Arts
MacLaren Art Centre

47th Annual GOG Awards, 2024. Image courtesy of Ammar Bowaihl, Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries.

WRITING AWARDS

Curatorial Writing: Major Text

The winner will be announced during the ceremony.

Curatorial Writing

Alex Jacobs-Blum and Kim Anderson – “The Becoming of Horizons”
McMaster Museum of Art

Dr. Carmen Robertson – “pasapkedjiwanong: Mary Anne Barkhouse & Olivia Whetung”
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

Pamela Edmonds – “The Breath of Life and Spirit: Tim Whiten’s Divine Objects”
McMaster Museum of Art

Curatorial Writing: Short Text

Emily McKibbon – “An Archaeology of Echoes”
Art Windsor-Essex

Liz Ikiriko – “What Remains Through Fire”
The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University

Dr. Renae Watchman – “Whorls of Creation”
McMaster Museum of Art

Art Writing

André Alexis – “Realm”
McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Dr. Gwynne Fulton – “Božović’s Elsewhere”
Art Windsor-Essex

Janika Oza – “No Pasture”
Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough

Art Publication

All Hands On Deck!
Blackwood Gallery

Beyond the Threshold
The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery

Migration Musings: A Journey with Jinny Yu
Agnes Etherington Art Centre

DESIGN AWARDS

Art Book Design

Robert Tombs – Robert Tombs: The Morality of Paint, Vols. I – XVIII
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

Rosen Eveleigh – Amy Ching-Yan Lam: 83% Perfect
The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University

Exhibition Catalogue Design

Lauren Wickware – Helen Pelletier: Wiigwas Manidoog Descendants
Thunder Bay Art Gallery

Mark Bennett – Billy Gauthier: Sila
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

Robert Tombs and Henk van Assen – New Topographies: Barry Pottle and/et Leslie Reid
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

Other Publication Design

Jasmine Reil and Andrew Little – Adams Mine 25 – Exhibition Brochure
Galerie d’art du Temiskaming Art Gallery

Lisa Narduzzi and Áine Belton – Jenine Marsh: HARBINGER
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

Sanjit Dhillon – What’s On: Upcoming Programming at the Textile Museum of Canada
The Textile Museum of Canada

Identity Renewal Design

Bruce Mau Design
McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Friends + Enemies (Catherine Baird and Ben McEvoy)
Museum London

Jacques Bergeron and Sheona Hurd
Art Gallery of Georgina

Design Budget Under $1,500

Sanjit Dhillon – From Cloth to Code: New Media Responses – Catalogue
The Textile Museum of Canada

Vincent Perez and Tara Pelow – Queering the Collection
Agnes Etherington Art Centre

PERSONNEL AWARDS

Key Partnership Award

The Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory, Western University
Atmospheric Shifts & *s(t)werH
McIntosh Gallery

Giant Tiger
Creating Kindness: Anti Bullying Campaign
Ottawa Art Gallery / Galerie d’art d’Ottawa

Solcz Family Foundation
Centre for Art and Wellness
Art Windsor-Essex

Special thanks to our media sponsor Akimbo.

Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG) has a 50 year history as an arts service organization (ASO) which represents over 270 members—public art galleries, museums, artist-run-centres, and arts organizations. Through advocacy on issues, policy, legislation to all levels of government, and delivery of innovative and cutting-edge professional development opportunities and network-building, GOG advances, empowers, and strengthens the visual arts sector in Canada.

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