We’re pleased to announce that Kathryn A. Young & Sarah M. McKinnon have won a Manitoba Day Award for their book No Man’s Land: The Life and Art of Mary Riter Hamilton.
Kathryn accepted the award at the Association for Manitoba Archives’ twelfth annual Manitoba Day Awards presentation, which featured three categories, Best Publication, Best Theatre or Film Production, and Best Exhibit (Virtual or Built).
No Man’s Land tied for first in the Best Publication category with Barbara Mitchell’s Mapmaker: Philip Turnor in Rupert’s Land in the Age of Enlightenment.
Here are the jury’s comments:
“The authors have put together a fascinating glimpse into a Canadian woman’s artistic career in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Manitoba-raised painter Mary Riter Hamilton was a talented artist who painted and studied alongside notable contemporaries across Europe. Though she found success overseas, she always returned to Western Canada, including Winnipeg, to teach, exhibit, and work. Young and McKinnon’s deep dive into archival sources is commendable. European, national, and provincial archives are well represented. The authors’ archival research piece together the painter’s life, weaving her career through themes of early 20th century western civilization including colonialism, world war, and the struggle for women’s independence. The difficulties for a female artist attempting to pursue a career are well represented.”
Other nominees included two other UMP books, Janis Thiessen’s Snacks and Sarah Carter’s Imperial Plots, as well as Adele Perry’s Aqueduct, Jennifer S.H. Brown’s An Ethnohistorian in Rupert’s Land, Rhonda Hinther’s Perogies and Politics, Charlene Dusyk and Sylvia Sweetlandss School Districts of the Libau Area of Manitoba 1887-1967, and Norman Boisvert’s Ecoles a charactere francophone au Manitoba depuis 1818, un repertoire.
There were two nominees for Best Theatre or Film Production, Sarah Story’s Stories of Decolonization and Maureen Hunter’s Sarah Ballenden, with the latter taking the prize.
Finally, there were four nominees for Best Exhibit (Virtual or Built), including Andrea Martin and Tyyne Petrowski’s Voices from Vimy, Thy Phu and Elspeth Brown’s Queering Family Photography, Camilla Holland’s 60th Anniversary of Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, and the Sam Waller Museum’s Courthouse and Community Building. Martin and Petrowski won for their exhibit, which recognized both the U of M’s 140th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge.
The Manitoba Day Awards were established by the Association in 2007 to recognize users of archives who have completed an original work of excellence which contributes to the understanding and celebration of Manitoba history. For the second year in a row, the awards were held at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.
Congrats to all the winners and nominees!
