Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon artists compete to win major prizes

Suzanne Hernandez

Some of the most talented artists in Mississauga, Caledon and Brampton recently showed their stuff with PAMA’s Virtual Live Art Competition – and now it’s time to vote for the best.

The competition, which was recently held on August 28, was PAMA’s first ever virtual version of the event in which artists painted “en plein air” (painting outdoors and completing the painting within the same day).

Lakhvir Sekhorn

A total of 40 artists used a wide variety of mediums and styles to bring Peel Region to life, painting the beautiful nature areas, streetscapes, buildings, and people they saw in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.

All residents are invited to vote for their favourite piece, and there are three exciting People’s Choice Awards in store for the top three artists.

Kishor Sonawane

Each prize is a gift card to the winner’s art supply store of choice (DeSerres, Curry’s or Michaels):

• 1st place: $250 Gift Card
• 2nd place: $150 Gift Card
• 3rd place: $75 Gift Card

Voting ends on September 24 and the winners will be announced via PAMA’s social media on September 25 during the Ontario Culture Days weekend, so be sure to follow PAMA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (or sign up to receive PAMA eNews).

“The amount of talent that showed up to participate was truly inspiring!” said PAMA, adding that many of the artists shared their journey on social media during the event.

“Now we hand the reins over to the people to help us choose the top three winners.”

Parviz Asadov

Since 2016, artists have visited downtown Brampton in person to participate in PAMA’s “en plein air” competition, but PAMA opted to try something different this year as the facility is closed for an airflow construction project until early 2022. PAMA also hopes to add a youth component to next year’s in-person Live Art event to allow younger artists under 18 to participate as well.

The prizes for the competition are made possible by the John Cutruzzola PAMA Arts Endowment Fund.

Alexandra Johnston

To see all the artwork for yourself and cast your vote, click here.

For more information on the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives, visit their website and follow PAMA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.