Prince Edward Island Arts Awards

As part of its Renewed Action Plan for Arts, Culture and Creative Industries in Prince Edward Island, Innovation PEI is thrilled to administer an Arts Awards program that celebrates excellence and artistic merit across the province of PEI.

The next edition of the PEI Arts Awards will take place in the fall of 2026. The nomination period will be open from July 20 to October 5, 2026. 

Award Categories

Awards are presented in the following categories: 

• The Leo Cheverie Cultural Connector of the Year Award: Celebrates an individual, group or organization from PEI whose role as a champion of the arts has had a positive impact on creating access and connections between various communities within the arts and culture sector of the province.
• The Artist of the Year Award: Celebrates an individual artist or group regardless of artistic discipline who has had a break-out year in their respective field of practice and has demonstrated outstanding contribution and growth. Assessors will be looking for merit in artistic achievement, momentum for the future, professional recognition, as well as provincial, national and/or international recognition.
• The Organization of the Year Award: Recognizes an organization from PEI whose artistic and cultural contributions have had a significant, positive impact on the provincial landscape, its residents, and visitors. Individuals, groups and bands are not considered organizations and should therefore be nominated under another category.  
• The Premier of Prince Edward Island’s Award for Stand-Out Project of the Year: Recognizes an artist, arts professional, group, collective or arts organization that has produced an innovative artistic or cultural project addressing themes such as reconciliation, climate change, accessibility, digital innovation, and more.
• The Gertie & Henry Purdy Emerging Visual Arts Bursary: Awarded to an emerging artist in the visual arts to support any activity that encourages training, promotion, exhibition, and leadership in and to the field of practice of the artist. This bursary is intended for creators in the plastic arts fields. Traditionally, these art forms include sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, and photography. Filmmaking and media arts are not included.
• The Father Adrien Arsenault Senior Arts Award (awarded bi-annually. The next prize in this category will be awarded in 2027): Honours and acknowledges the excellence of the work of a senior Island artist who has produced a significant body of work in the practice of visual arts, writing and publishing, music, dance, fine craft, theatre, film, or video.

What is the submission process?

Self-nominations are accepted as well as nominations from fellow artists and members of the arts community including, but not limited to, arts champions, cultural workers, board directors, groups and organizations.  

There are no entry fees to submit a nomination. 

If unsuccessful, nominators can submit an updated nomination package to be considered for future awards.

To nominate an individual, group or organization during the nomination period, please fill out the online submission form before the deadline. Applicants who have limited internet access or accessibility needs should contact the program officer for assistance. 

Nominations from artists and arts professionals must include a CV or a detailed description of artistic practice and applicable training and experience. Click here for more information about artist CVs. 

Supporting materials: You are strongly encouraged to include news articles, interviews, publications, samples of work or any other relevant source of information that can contribute to highlighting why the nominee should receive the award you selected and help the peer assessment committee in their selection process. Support materials, including media coverage, should be captured in PDF format to ensure accessibility for the peer assessment committee (media links behind paywalls will not be consulted). If submitting a nomination by mail, supporting materials can be included as copies. 

An artist CV, detailed biography and support letters are strongly encouraged materials to include if the nomination is for the Father Adrien Arsenault Senior Arts Award.

If self-nominating, nominees should include testimonials and/or letters of support.

Please note that peer assessors are not expected to conduct research on nominees. Nominations will only be assessed based on submitted materials, so please ensure all desired supporting materials are included with the nomination being put forward.

Nominators are encouraged to include a short video explaining why they are nominating an individual, group or organization with their nomination package. 

The next nomination period for the Prince Edward Island Arts Awards will be open from July 20 to October 5, 2026. 

Am I eligible for the PEI Arts Awards?

• The awards are open to PEI residents only. To be considered for an award, nominated artists and organizations must have a PEI address as their primary residence for a minimum of twelve consecutive months prior to the nomination deadline. Artists on extended travel for their work are still considered PEI residents, but those who move their primary residence to another province or country within the twelve consecutive months before the nomination deadline are not eligible. Groups or bands must have a majority of members reside in PEI.
• There is no age restriction to be considered for an award.  
• Award recipients can receive more than one award in their lifetime in the same category or in a different category, but not consecutively.
• Awards cannot be made posthumously.
• Failure to meet these eligibility criteria will result in disqualification.

How are recipients selected?

Nominations will first be vetted by the Innovation PEI Cultural Development division to ensure eligibility. Eligible nominations will then be evaluated by an independent peer assessment committee of artists, arts professionals and cultural workers. Following their assessment, peer assessors will select the strongest candidate among the submitted nominations in their respective category. Peer assessment committee members may also determine that no award will be given if they feel that none of the nominees meet the standards of artistic merit these awards require.

• Nominees will be advised of the selection following the peer assessment process.
• The award recipients will be publicly announced at a celebratory awards ceremony.
• Finalists will be contacted by the Cultural Development team to discuss logistics and promotion ahead of the official award ceremony. 

The Awards

• In recognition of their artistic achievement and valuable contribution to the province’s arts and culture sector, recipients in the following categories will receive a cash prize of $3,000 in addition to a unique work of art created in PEI:
  • The Leo Cheverie Cultural Connector of the Year Award
  • The Organization of the Year Award
  • The Artist of the Year Award
  • The Premier of Prince Edward Island’s Award for Stand-Out Project of the Year
• The recipient of the Father Adrien Arsenault Senior Arts Award will receive a cash prize of $4,450 in addition to a unique work of art created in PEI.
• The recipient of the Gertie & Henry Purdy Emerging Visual Arts Bursary will receive a cash prize of $500 in addition to a unique work of art created in PEI.

Previous PEI Arts Award Recipients

Artist of the Year Award

• 2024: Tanya Davis
• 2025: Inn Echo

Premier’s Award for Stand-out Project of the Year

• 2023: PEI Writers’ Guild: Are We Friends Now Queer Youth Book
• 2024: Of Growing Concern: 40 Years of Textile Creation Amid the Havoc of Climate Change exhibition by Jane Whitten
• 2025: Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works exhibition by the Confederation Centre Art Gallery

Organization of the Year Award

• 2023: Music PEI
• 2024: River Clyde Arts
• 2025: Indigenous PEI

Leo Cheverie Cultural Connector of the Year Award

• 2023: Lindsay Connolly, Megan Stewart and Melissa Peter-Paul
• 2024: Peter Richards, Sara Roach Lewis and Mi'kmaq Heritage Actors
• 2025: Julie Bull, Brian Markham and the Charlottetown Zine Fest

Gertie & Henry Purdy Emerging Visual Arts Bursary

• 2023: Fairouz Gaballa
• 2024: JoAnna Howlett
• 2025: Jessica Sheppard

Father Adrien Arsenault Senior Arts Award

• 2023: Gerald Beaulieu
• 2025: Brenda Whiteway

Who do I contact with questions or for additional support? 

Éliane Laberge
Bilingual Cultural Development Officer 
Phone: 902-916-1854
Email: evlaberge@gov.pe.ca
Innovation PEI
94 Euston Street, Charlottetown