About the Jury
Three Canadian art professionals are solely responsible for determining the exhibition’s content, as well as selecting the Jurors’ Choice and Honourable Mention award winners. We are pleased to welcome three exceptional jurors whose experience and insight will be instrumental in providing a high quality experience for both artist and visitor.
Gordon Shadrach
Painter
Toronto-based artist Gordon Shadrach’s was born and raised in Brampton, Ontario. Gordon received his Bachelor of Design (Media Art and Design) from OCAD University and has a Master of Education degree from Niagara University. He is known for exploring the semiotics of dress and its impact on culture, in particular the intersection and codification of race and fashion through his painting and textile based work. In 2018, Gordon’s painting, “In Conversation”, was included in an exhibit developed by the Royal Ontario Museum titled, “Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art” touring to Montreal and Halifax. His work now includes textile installations, as well as portraits. He is currently represented through United Contemporary Gallery in Toronto.
Gordon’s community engagement includes working with Toronto’s Nia Centre for the Arts as a creative consultant for their Left of Centre artist incubation project. He is also working with Toronto’s Nia Centre for the Arts and with Dr. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstill, Dean of Design at OCADU, as a team member to develop and implement the Black Youth Design Initiative (BYDI), which aims to engage Black youth by decolonizing design and addressing the systemic anti-Black racism that impedes Black communities from pursuing education in design.
Felicity Somerset
Fine Art Photographer
Felicity Somerset is a fine art photographer based in Toronto. Her photographic subjects are often drawn from landscape and nature in both Canadian and international locations. She is also inspired by the impact of time and weather on wooden and metal surfaces, and the play of light on contemporary architecture. Her focus is on the intimate and often abstracted image that captures the essence and intricacies of rural and urban landscapes.
Felicity’s photography is exhibited regularly in galleries and public spaces, and includes both solo and group exhibitions. Her photographic images are in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Northumberland and the Lennox and Addington County Museum and Archives. Felicity values her connections with the art community, and is a member of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, the Canadian Association of Photographic Arts (CAPA), and the Artists’ Network. Felicity completed the CAPA’s National Judging Course in 2009, and has experience as a juror in a variety of artistic media.
Debra Vincent
Mixed Media Artist
Debra Vincent is a Bear Clan member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, residing in her ancestral Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Tyendinaga. Debra is drawn to clean lines and bold colours, and uses acrylics, mixed mediums, water colours, and pen and ink to communicate her ever-evolving aesthetic. As a Haudenosaunee artist, she is inspired by the opportunity to share her culture with others. Threads of Haudenosaunee knowledge, Mohawk clan systems, and teachings of the Great Law of Peace are ever present in her work. With this, each piece is personal.
Debra is a member of the Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada and a member of the Prince Edward County Arts Council’s Artist Advisory Committee. Her work has been shown throughout Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Commissioned pieces are held by Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Queen’s University, and personal clients. The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada has been presented with Debra’s art.