Maria Hupfield receives the 2025 OAC Indigenous Arts Award
The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award: laureate Maria Hupfield and emerging artist laureate Alexis Nanibush-Pamajewong. The award recognizes and celebrates the outstanding contributions of Indigenous artists and arts leaders who have significantly enriched Ontario’s arts landscape.
Maria Hupfield (Anishinaabe/Wasauksing First Nation) will be presented with this prestigious award – which comes with a $10,000 prize, a framed certificate, and an Indigenous-designed blanket – on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at a special event taking place at the Campbell House Museum in Toronto.
The assessors were unanimous in their selection of Maria Hupfield as the 2025 Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award recipient. They said, “Maria has a spark that generates powerful curiosity. She wants to know more about others and is able to place herself in that history. Maria creates a balance between her artistic practice and her work in community. She is an influential force helping others to see their own artistic potential. Maria is inspirational.
