The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts, announced today by the Canada Council for the Arts, are Canada's foremost distinctions for artists who have created an outstanding body of work and have made a significant, long-term contribution to the development of the visual or media arts.

The National Gallery of Canada hosts an annual exhibition that gives visitors an opportunity to discover works by the winners of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. However, the Gallery plays no role in choosing the artists. The Canada Council for the Arts appoints an independent peer jury of artists and arts professionals from across Canada to select the winners. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, will be presenting the awards on 23 March in a ceremony at Rideau Hall.

The 2007 recipients are: installation artist Ian Carr-Harris, mixed media artist Aganetha Dyck, filmmaker R. Bruce Elder, multidisciplinary artist Murray Favro, painter Fernand Leduc, and painter and printmaker Daphne Odjig. David P. Silcox, president of Sotheby's Canada, is being honoured in the "Outstanding Contribution" category. In selecting David Silcox for this award, the jury particularly noted his efforts in paving the way for young artists in his immensely varied career as a writer, educator, cultural administrator and a proponent for artists and the arts.

The Saidye Bronfman Award, Canada's foremost award for excellence in the crafts for the past 30 years, has been incorporated into the Governor General's Awards for the first time this year. Its 2007 recipient is Paul Mathieu, a major Canadian ceramist who also enjoys an international reputation. Paul Mathieu's work is included in the exhibition Unique! 30 Years of Outstanding Crafts currently on view at the Canadian Museum of Civilization until 5 August 2007.

Created in 1999 and presented for the first time in 2000, the Governor General's Awards are funded and administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. The Saidye Bronfman Award is funded from the proceeds of a $1.5 million endowment, which was given to the Canada Council by The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation in 2006. -- www.gallery.ca