Long-time Oakville Galleries Curator Marnie Fleming has received a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.
The awards recognize outstanding career achievement, and carry a $25,000 cash prize. They are funded and administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, and include categories for artistic achievement in visual and media arts, fine craft and outstanding contribution.
Fleming, who served as Curator of Contemporary Art at Oakville Galleries from 1991 until her retirement in late 2014, received this year’s Outstanding Contribution award in recognition of her career-long commitment to showcasing artistic excellence in regional contexts. Her nomination statement cites Fleming’s prolific, ground-breaking work at Oakville Galleries and her dedication “to reimagining the role a small museum could play not only in its local community, but in actively supporting the careers of a new generation of artists.”
Matthew Hyland, Director of Oakville Galleries, notes, “During Marnie’s 24 years at Oakville Galleries, she changed the role of the Canadian regional art museum in exhibiting, collecting and publishing in ways that were substantive, forward-thinking and impactful at a national level. While Oakville Galleries may be relatively modest in scale, Marnie’s ambitions never were—she was unwavering in her focus on bringing the best in contemporary art to Oakville in a manner that was meaningful, relevant and accessible.”
The awards ceremony and a presentation of the medallions by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada will take place at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on March 23, 2016.