Congratulations to 2019 Distinguished Artist Walter Jule who has been honoured as an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions as an artist and educator in the field of printmaking, in Canada and abroad.

Walter Jule is lauded as one of Canada’s most important printmakers who has made outstanding contributions provincially, nationally and globally through both teaching printmaking and his own creative work.

Jule is credited with developing and growing Canada’s first printmaking studio master’s program at the University of Alberta. There he spearheaded an ambitious university guest artist program that would ultimately bring 38 artists from 16 countries to the University of Alberta for residencies and exhibitions and transition the printmaking center at the U of A into an international platform for exchanging ideas on printmaking and the image culture.

Jule’s highly original, rigorous studio practice has laid the foundation for a lifetime of accomplishments and his work can be found in over 60 major public collections worldwide. He remains a catalytic force in the province, in Canada and across the global printmaking community.

The 2023 Distinguished Artist Awards will be the tenth round of this prestigious award since its launch in 2005. The founders of the Lieutenant Governor

The County of Lac La Biche, Portage College, and the whole community are gearing up to celebrate 13 outstanding Alberta artists June 10 and 11,