The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation recognizes the vital importance of visual art in the cultural fabric of New Brunswick though a juried award program.
The Strathbutler Award was inaugurated in 1991 to celebrate an individual artist whose career in visual art has been marked by excellence. Since the first recipient, John Hooper, twenty-five remarkable artists from a wide variety of visual art disciplines have been selected by independent juries, as creative leaders and thinkers who have make a profound impact on the province of New Brunswick. The artistic legacy of each Strathbutler artist is testament to the lives and concerns of New Brunswick people.
The Strathbutler Award, currently valued at $25,000, is symbolized by Manu Forti, a symbolic dirk emblematic of the Mackay family crest designed and hand crafted by master metalsmith, Brigitte Clavette.
The 2021 nomination/application process to select the next Strathbutler artist is officially open. Details can be found at https://sheilahughmackay.ca/how-to-apply/