Fine Arts grad earns B.C. Award for art

Unassailable Crosswalk is a 74 x 74-inch painting  by BFA graduate Alistair Rance, which last week  earned him the prestigious BMO 1st Art award for B.C.

Unassailable Crosswalk is a 74 x 74-inch painting by BFA graduate Alistair Rance, which last week earned him the prestigious BMO 1st Art award for B.C.

Alistair Rance, who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in June, has been chosen as the British Columbia winner of the BMO 1st Art Award. Rance, who lives in Vernon, received $2,500 for his winning artwork, an acrylic on canvas piece entitledUnassailable Crosswalk.

Representing the best of Canada’s newest generation of artists, all of the BMO 1st Art! winners’ works will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) in Toronto from October 7 to 26, 2008. The winning pieces can also be viewed on BMO Financial Group’s website.

The national winner receives $5,000 and the regional winners each receive $2,500 for his or her artwork. The national winner’s work will become part of BMO’s corporate art collection, which includes historical and contemporary Canadian masters such as Kenojuak Ashevak, Emily Carr, Paterson Ewen, Tom Forestall, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Lawren Harris, Thaddeus Holownia, David Milne, Margaret Priest, Denyse Thomasos, Ian Wallace and others. All winning entries will be on display at the 1st Art! 2009 exhibition, held at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in October 2009.

Visit the BMO website to see a list of all 2008 BMO 1st Art! winners.