2025 Middlebrook Prize Winner Appointed Curator of Contemporary Art at Art Gallery of Guelph

We are delighted to announce  the appointment of 2022 Prize Winner, Erin Szikora,  as Curator of Contemporary Art at Art Gallery of Guelph, commencing in early 2025.

Erin brings a commitment to curatorial practice as a means of fostering both knowledge and connections between art, artists, and audiences. Of mixed settler (Scottish and Hungarian) and Haudenosaunee (Cayuga, Six Nations of the Grand River) ancestry, Erin holds a BA in Art History and Visual Studies from the University of Toronto and an MA in Contemporary Art, Design, and New Media Art Histories from OCAD University. Born and raised in Guelph, she has spent the past decade living and working in Toronto.

Erin’s curatorial practice reflects a deep belief in the world-changing capacity of art. Often collaborating with emerging and early-career artists, she is committed to projects that challenge conventional hierarchies and authority, building space for new, more just futures. Guided by an ethos of care, her work emphasizes relationships and community building.

“We are thrilled to welcome Erin back to Guelph in this pivotal role,” said Shauna McCabe, Executive Director of the Art Gallery of Guelph. “Her vision of art as a catalyst for change and her dedication to meaningful collaboration resonate profoundly with the gallery’s mission to foster artistic innovation and expand the role of art in public discourse. Erin’s work embodies the transformative potential of contemporary art to inspire dialogue, deepen understanding, and imagine new possibilities.”

Since early 2024, Erin has served as Interim Curator at the Doris McCarthy Gallery. Prior to this, she held the position of Associate Curator, Exhibitions at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, where she curated notable exhibitions such as World-builders, shapeshifters and Raechel Wastesicoot: Kenatentas, as well as co-curated the GOG award-winning Mamanaw Pekiskwewina | Mother Tongues: Dish With One Spoon Territory. In 2022, she received the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators, which brought her back to Guelph to curate the exhibitions Homecoming and For Catherine at the Art Gallery of Guelph.