The 2021 Canadian Art Inspiration
Student Challenge

How do we cultivate the next generation of changemakers? What lessons can we learn from this country’s greatest visual artists? How do we creatively connect the past to thinking about the future? What role does art play in shaping the thought-leaders of tomorrow?

These questions were at the root of the Canadian Art Inspiration Student Challenge. In an unprecedented year the Art Canada Institute launched a creative challenge to reaffirm our mission: to inspire students from coast to coast with the work of this country’s artists and support its teachers in their heroic task of fostering our leaders to come.

We invited K–12 students to create works in connection to, and inspired by, Canadian art and art history. The resulting submissions revealed profoundly pan-Canadian and multicultural talent that bears witness to the incredible potential of art and its impact on young people.

We are honoured to share the work of this year’s winners with you. Their vision for the future of Canadian art is an inspiration to us all.