Winnipeg’s Blinkers Art and Project Space wins $50K Lacey Prize

OTTAWA – Blinkers Art and Project Space in Winnipeg has won the $50,000 Lacey Prize.

Awarded every two years, the prize recognizes the role small arts organizations play in fostering Canadian creativity.

Blinkers bills itself as a genre-non-specific, volunteer-run project space for the arts and beyond.

The 2021 jury commended the not-for-profit for its commitment “to bring a robust range of artistic voices from across Canada to the vibrant cultural community of Winnipeg.”

The runners-up, who each receive $20,000, were Halifax’s Khyber Centre for the Arts and Vancouver’s UNIT/PITT Society for Art and Critical Awareness.

Established in 2019, the prize is funded by a $1.3 million gift from oil and gas entrepreneur John Lacey and his late wife Naomi Lacey, and is jointly administered by the family and the National Gallery of Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version included the incorrect placeline of Ottawa, Ill., instead of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.