Call for Applications: 2025 Joseph Plaskett Postgraduate Award in Painting
Closing Date of Opportunity: May 04, 2025
Name or Organization: The Joe Plaskett Foundation
Contact Email: application@joeplaskett.com
Website: http://www.joeplaskett.com/application/
Post Content: The Joe Plaskett Foundation was established in 2004 by the artist Joseph Plaskett (1918 – 2014) to facilitate the selection of a recipient for the Plaskett Award. Starting in 2023, the Plaskett Award switched to a biennial schedule and increased the award value to $65,000. Eligible candidates can submit their application using the online application portal on the Joe Plaskett Foundation website (https://www.joeplaskett.com/application/).
Award
The Plaskett Award Recipient will receive $65,000 to live, create artwork and/or travel outside of Canada for one year. For some examples of projects and experiences from past Recipients of the Plaskett and Petry Awards, please refer to the Testimonials page on the Joe Plaskett Foundation website. In addition, the Plaskett Award Recipient will have their works showcased at the Joe Plaskett Foundation booth at Art Toronto (October 23 – 26, 2025), worth an additional value of approximately $10,000.
Eligibility
To meet the criteria of eligibility for the Plaskett Award, the candidate has to be:
* a Canadian citizen;
* a visual artist in the field of painting;
* an MFA student in one of the following situations:
* who has been accepted into an MFA program;
* who is currently in an MFA program;
* who has graduated from an MFA program within the last 24 months. (Please contact us at application@joeplaskett.com if you have any questions).
willing to live, travel, and create artwork abroad for a minimum of one year.
The Joe Plaskett Foundation is very flexible regarding when the stay abroad will take place. Recipients may choose to take a leave of absence from their university, or they may defer the award for a year. For more information, please refer to the Eligibility page on the Joe Plaskett Foundation website (https://www.joeplaskett.com/application/criteria-of-eligibility/).
Application Requirements
To complete their application, candidates have to submit:
1) a completed application form, including their contact information, their MFA status, and contact information for the person submitting a reference letter;
2) a brief artist statement and a description of how the Plaskett Award will be used to develop their artistic practice;
3) 15 images of recent works (from the past 3 years), including some general views (showing the scale of the work and how it relates to space) and detail views (highlighting the painting materiality);
4) one (1) official document (for example: an official letter from the university registrar) confirming their MFA status;
5) one (1) letter of reference. Based on their situation, candidates should ask the appropriate referee to send their letter of reference directly to the Joe Plaskett Foundation:
* if currently enrolled in or recently graduated from a MFA program: the referee should be their MFA advisor; or an MFA faculty member who is familiar with their work;
* if accepted to an MFA program: the referee should be an art professional who is familiar with their work, or an instructor from their BFA program.
For more information, please refer to the Application Overview page (https://www.joeplaskett.com/application/application-overview/) on the Joe Plaskett Foundation website. Additional information for referees is available on the Reference Letter Guidelines page (https://www.joeplaskett.com/application/reference-letter-guidelines/).
How to Submit
Candidates can submit their application using the online portal on the Joe Plaskett Foundation website (https://www.joeplaskett.com/application/). After creating an account and confirming their email address, the application components are separated into multiple steps that can be completed one at a time.
Selection Process
The Plaskett Award Recipient is selected by three Canadian artists or curators of significant reputation who review all the applications received; in an effort to accurately represent the variety of viewpoints in Canadian painting, a Coast-to-Coast Jury brings together experts from different regions. To learn more about the juries from previous years, please refer to the jury page on the Joe Plaskett Foundation website (https://www.joeplaskett.com/about-the-foundation/jury/).
Application Deadline: May 4, 2025
Reference Letter Submission Deadline: May 11, 2025