It’s about time! This year the visual arts community will get together for its first and very own awards gala. Organized by the Contemporary Art Galleries Association (AGAC) this sparkly event will take place at the gorgeous Rialto Theatre in Montreal’s Mile End on December 13, 2011.

The AGAC Visual Arts Gala recognizes excellence and outstanding contributions by everyone involved in the visual arts scene, including artists, curators, art critics and bloggers, gallery owners and museum directors. The idea for a visual arts gala emerged a few years ago after a series of round-table discussions initiated by the Conseil des arts et des lettres, who wanted to find ways to increase awareness of the Quebecois visual arts community.

By focusing on excellence, the gala aims to raise the bar and set a quality standard for the visual arts community as a whole. It is also the perfect vehicle for introducing Quebec’s arts scene to the general public, who are mostly unaware of the talents in their midst. Finally, the gala sees part of its role as being educational, serving as a guide to art collectors of all levels by recognizing and highlighting the major players in the field.

The prizes awarded during this first edition of the gala will mostly be honorific, with a few cash prizes given out during the evening such as the Pierre-Ayot Award and the Louis-Comtois Award. Just as the Oscars have categories from Best Actor to Best Sound Effects, the Visual Arts Gala also presents a wide range of awards from Best Exhibition to Curator of the Year. As a highlight, the prestigious Jean-Paul Riopelle Career Grant will be presented during the gala to artist Pierre Blanchette.

The AGAC promises a lively evening, with a few surprise art performances sprinkled in between the handing out of the various awards. The event is hosted by actor Emmanuel Bilodeau whom you may have seen on Artv’s series Vente de Garage, and who will infuse the gala with a sense of humour.

If you would like to attend this glitzy who-is-who event of the art world, you can buy tickets online here. There are three price categories: the “Jack Nicholson seats” on the parterre at $100, the “Supporting actress in an indie film seats” at $80, and the “Sound engineer in a foreign film with subtitles seats” on the upper balcony at $40.

Hope to see you there!

Association des galeries d’art contemporain (AGAC)
space 318
www.agac.qc.ca