Union House Arts, shown in this handout image, a Newfoundland and Labrador-based community art space is the grand winner of the 2023 Lacey Prize, announced today the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Lacey Family. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Heather Nolan
**MANDATORY CREDIT**
OTTAWA – A community art space on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Bonavista Peninsula has won the $50,000 Lacey Prize.
The 2023 jury lauded Union House Arts in Port Union, N.L., for its “ability to produce programs that affect close communities.”
The art space bills itself as an experimental, multi-functioning venue that focuses on “place-specific dialogues” and collaborative programming.
Union House’s programming director Bethany MacKenzie says in a release that the prize will help its “limited staff” meet interest that’s grown since the space opened in 2019.
Awarded every two years, the prize recognizes the role small arts organizations play in fostering Canadian creativity.
The runners-up, who each receive $20,000, were Charlottetown’s “this town is small” and “Spill.Propagation” from Gatineau, Que.
Established in 2019, the prize is funded by a $1.3 million gift from oil and gas entrepreneur John Lacey and his late wife Naomi Lacey, and is jointly administered by the family and the National Gallery of Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2023.
