Celebrating visual art of the human form / Célébrer l’art visuel de la forme humaine

About Figureworks

Figureworks is a biennial juried art prize and celebration of the art of the human form. We are a Canadian, volunteer-run, not-for-profit organization based in Ottawa, Ontario. Our mission is to cultivate and exhibit art of the human form, to bring together a community of artists, and to celebrate their art through the Figureworks prize.

Figureworks is a volunteer run not for profit Canadian corporation.

Figureworks board

Figureworks is organized and governed by a dedicated group of board members and volunteers. We are always looking for more volunteers

Apply to be a board member

Chair

Shawn Philip Hunsdale

Shawn is a community organizer, visual artist, and academic working in the unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishinaabe. His current research regards the range of practices in life drawing collectivities both contemporary and historical.

Shawn has seeded several drawing circles in British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec. Currently, he runs Atelier Denu and three other life drawing workshops in Ottawa.

Aside from his artistic practice, Shawn has worked in progressive, membership-based organizations doing communications, management, and governance work, and has most recently taken on the general management duties of the Ottawa Fringe Festival and Arts Court.

Image: Self portrait by Shawn Philip Hunsdale.

Vice Chair

Mark Stephenson

Mark is a visual artist and designer based in Ottawa Canada. His artworks include figurative drawings and paintings as well as social installation projects that incorporate audience participation and a wider variety of media. Sometimes his art is a combination of both.

Mark is a former board member for Arts Network Ottawa (formerly the AOE Arts Council) and is the Chief Designer at Pagecloud.

You can find out more about Mark Stephenson at his web site at www.markbstephenson.com.

Image: Windows of opportunity, oil on canvas, 2015, by Mark Stephenson.

Treasurer

Bryan Stephenson

Bryan has a broad background of achievement in leadership across operational, training and administrative environments in National Defence, private sector corporations and charities.

After retiring from the Canadian Forces as a Major-General in 1998, he was employed by a pension software company. In 2002, Bryan retired from his Senior Vice President position and established a private consulting business and worked on contracts as a senior project manager.

Starting in 2000, Bryan worked for a large charity in Toronto as Executive Director until 2017 and has helped numerous organizations achieve non-profit incorporation and charitable registration.

Image: Social Portrait, Oil on panel, by Mark Stephenson.

Board member

Tyler Mennen

Tyler is a visual artist and life drawing model in the Ottawa area. They have over a decade of experience in community organizing, volunteer coordination, harm reduction, and social services delivery. Tyler is passionate about making spaces safer and more inclusive for those with marginalized identities and ensuring equitable access to resources. Tyler spends most of their free time reading, birding, and making art.

Founder

Hilde Lambrechts

Figureworks was founded in Ottawa, Canada in 2010 by Hilde Lambrechts, a local artist passionate about art of the human figure saw the challenges faced by artists to display works of the human figure within commercial galleries and set about creating space and celebrating visual art of the human form.