Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity announced Ryan Van Der Hout as the 2026 recipient of the Barbara Spohr Memorial Award and will host a free public artist talk by Van Der Hout on February 6, 2026, 4:00–5:30 p.m. in Room 204 of the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Building on the Banff Centre campus — a chance for local audiences to see work from an artist who blends photography, stained glass and sculpture and to learn about a fully funded month‑long residency that supports analogue darkroom practice.
The artist talk is listed on Banff Centre’s events page and is open to the public at no charge. The event listing describes the talk as a presentation of Van Der Hout’s interdisciplinary practice across photography, stained glass and sculpture, and it names the award in the event title.
In a statement included in Banff Centre’s announcement, Van Der Hout said the award ‘feels like a true homecoming’ after losing access to analogue colour darkrooms more than a decade ago, and expressed excitement about working ‘surrounded by Banff’s deep geological time’ while returning to materials like light, glass and photographic paper. Karen Howard, Senior Manager, Leighton Studios and Self‑Directed Residencies, praised Van Der Hout’s work for turning photography into a sculptural, reflective practice and called the residency an ideal place to deepen those explorations.
The jury chose Van Der Hout ‘in recognition of their exceptional critical, creative, and technical rigor,’ the centre said. The Barbara Spohr Memorial Award, created by the late photographer’s friends and family, was relaunched as an annual prize in 2025 after previously being offered every two years. Past recipients include Karen Zalamea (2025) and others who have used Banff residencies to develop photo‑based projects.
For Banff and nearby arts communities, the announcement matters because it names the winner, confirms a public date and place to hear from the artist, and highlights programming that supports mid‑career Canadian photo‑based artists. The award also points to the continued role of Banff Centre as a national residency hub that pairs studio resources and public programming — even as the institution remains a frequent topic in wider discussions about governance and public funding.
Further information, including media contact and program pages, is available through Banff Centre’s announcement and the Leighton Artist Studios pages.
