AGP Recognized at 49th Annual GOG Awards

We are proud to celebrate a Volunteer of the Year Award and two shortlist nominations recognizing excellence in volunteer leadership, exhibition design and installation, and public programming.

The Art Gallery of Peterborough is pleased to share that we have received one award and two shortlist nominations at the 49th Annual Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG) Awards.

We are delighted to congratulate Debby Keating and Catharine Blastorah, former President and Past President of our Board of Directors, on receiving the Volunteer of the Year Award. This recognition honours six years of dedicated service and leadership that helped guide our Gallery through a period of significant change beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their commitment, generosity, and stewardship have had a lasting impact on our organization, and we are deeply grateful for their tireless contributions.

We are also honoured to be shortlisted in two categories:

• Exhibition Design and Installation for Museum of Closetry
• Public Program for Art + Waste in Panniqtuuq

For the AGP, this year’s recognition spans the people who help sustain the gallery, and the exhibitions and programs that bring art to the public. Together, the three recognitions reflect the dedication, creativity, and collaboration that support the gallery’s work and strengthen our connection with the community.

Winners in the shortlisted categories will be announced at the GOG Awards ceremony on November 30, 2026.

Shortlisted for Exhibition Design and Installation: Museum of Closetry

Presented at the AGP in 2025, Museum of Closetry by artist Spencer J. Harrison, curated by Lucas Azevedo Cabral, reimagines a museum as a space for queer histories and identities that have been hidden, forgotten, or erased. Through found objects, assemblage, and layered narratives, the exhibition created an immersive fictional archive that invited visitors to reflect on belonging, memory, and visibility.

Exhibition Design and Installation
Museum of Closetry (2025)
Artist: Spencer J. Harrison
Curator: Lucas Azevedo Cabral
Exhibition Designers: Lucas Azevedo Cabral, Spencer J. Harrison, Fynn Leitch and Neil Ramsay
Exhibition Coordinator: Fynn Leitch
Installation Team: Museumpros, AGL Graphics and Signs, Paul Oldham

Shortlisted for Public Program: Art + Waste in Panniqtuuq

Presented at the AGP in 2025, Art + Waste in Panniqtuuq brought together Inuit artists from Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), Nunavut, alongside artist and researcher Micky Renders to address the community’s urgent waste crisis through art, lived experience, and critical dialogue. The exhibition centred Inuit artists’ voices, exploring the intersections of environmental waste, settler colonialism, cultural identity, and Inuit sovereignty.

Curated and programmed by Micky Renders and Fynn Leitch, the project extended beyond the exhibition through artist talks, a speaking circle on environmental racism, a sewing circle and hands-on workshops led by participating artists. These opportunities invited audiences to engage with the artists’ work, knowledge and perspectives while creating space for dialogue around environmental responsibility, cultural identity, and self-determination.

Public Program
Art and Waste in Panniqtuuq (2025)
Curators / Public Programmers: Micky Renders and Fynn Leitch
Artists: Madeline Aasivak Qumuataq, Jupa Ishulutak, David Kilabuk, Talia Metuq, Oleepika Nashalik and Malaya Pitsiulak

Celebrating Excellence Across the Sector

The GOG Awards are presented annually by Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries, a provincial arts service organization that supports public art galleries, art museums, artist-run centres, and arts professionals. Now in its 49th year, the awards program is the only annual juried awards program of its kind in Canada, recognizing artistic merit, excellence, and outstanding achievement across the public gallery sector. Presented under the theme Building What Matters, the 49th Annual GOG Awards recognize the artists, cultural professionals, and institutions contributing to Ontario’s public galleries and museums.

The nominations for Museum of Closetry and Art + Waste in Panniqtuuq recognize different but complementary aspects of our work: the collaborative expertise required to create compelling exhibition experiences and the development of public programs that connect art with important ideas and community perspectives.

We are deeply honoured to see these projects recognized alongside the other outstanding work taking place across the sector. We congratulate Debby Keating and Catharine Blastorah on this well-deserved award and celebrate everyone involved in these shortlisted projects. We extend our sincere thanks to the artists, collaborators, staff, Board members, volunteers, and community members whose contributions make our work possible.

See the full list of winners and nominees at: https://awards.galeries-ontario-galleries.ca/