Alumna Erika DeFreitas (MVS 2008) is the recipient of the $5000 Finalist Artist Prize from the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts (TFVA).

“It is such an honor to be a finalist among so many inspiring cultural producers,” says DeFreitas of the announcement.

As a Toronto-based multidisciplinary conceptual artist, DeFreitas explores the influence of language, loss and culture on the formation of identity through public intervention, textile-based works, and performative actions that are photographed, placing an emphasis on process, gesture and documentation. Her work was included in the recent exhibition Rehearsal for Objects Lie on a Table at UofT’s Art Museum.

Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1998. The organization gives financial support to the visual arts in the greater Toronto area and provides an educational program for its members. TFVA has now given $555,000 to the GTA arts community since its inception. This year, TFVA also awarded artists Miai Sutnik, vsvsvs (a seven person collective), Bridget Moser, Zun Lee, Showroom (an exhibition at the Art Museum), Chroma Lives (an exhibition and research project by Erin Alexa Freedman and Lili Huston-Herterich), and Vtape (an arts space co-founded by Professor Lisa Steele and Associate Professor Kim Tomczak).