Kingston Prize holds first People’s Choice reception honouring Michael Goodson

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The Kingston Prize was pleased to hold its first reception for its People’s Choice Award winner at the Firehall Theatre in Gananoque on November 7. A group of about a dozen admirers came out to honour portrait artist Michael Goodson for his work, Terroir.

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“We are here to celebrate a very talented Canadian contemporary visual artist, Michael Goodson,” said Bonnie Higgins, co-chair board of directors, The Kingston Prize/Le Prix Kingston at the event. “Today is a very special day for The Kingston Prize because this is our first People’s Choice Award reception, ballots are counted on the last day and usually the artist lives in some other province so today we are honoured to congratulate in person Michael Goodson for Terroir, acrylic and silicone on masonite board, The Kingston Prize’s People’s Choice Award for 2023 which was funded by Weatherall and Galbraith CIBC Kingston.”

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The painting is a portrait of Goodson’s father using a mixed media approach to create a very tactile experience. There is a depth and dimensionality to the surface of the work that encourages the viewer to reach out and touch it. Textures are enhanced by the materials used – silicone raising the hairs and wrinkles to where they can be touched and felt, and glaze is carefully applied over the eyes and nostrils to give them a very realistic depth and shine.

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Goodson earned a B.A. in education and Fine Arts from Queen’s and an M.A. in Fine Arts from The City and Guilds of London Art School. He received a grant to study Old Master’s painting techniques from The Angel Academy of Art in Florence Italy in 2008 and in 2019 his work was chosen from among 8,300 submissions and out of 500 artists from 95 countries to exhibit his artwork at the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, “Long Live Rembrandt”.

“It was the most visited summer exhibit the Rijks had ever seen,” said Higgins. “It ran from mid-July to mid-September and had 150,000 visitors, a number that exceeded all expectations. Vincent Van Gogh was quoted as saying, ‘You know I have traveled this life for 30 years and in gratitude I think I should leave behind a few souvenirs.’ I think Terroir is one of those souvenirs.”

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Mayor John Beddows also came out to give his congratulations. He said that he was impressed by the bravery of these artists to submit their art for exhibition and competition and encouraged Goodson to keep going.

Goodson was grateful for the public appreciation of his work and for the $1,000 People’s Choice prize that was granted. He said that he was glad the crowd was small as he felt more comfortable talking to smaller groups about his work and what he wanted to accomplish. He also has received an Ontario Arts Council grant for emerging artists. The program supports professional Ontario-based visual artists to create new work and aims to reflect the range of artistic practices in the visual arts, supporting excellence, regional activity, diverse artists and communities.

“Early man believed that the number of vertical wrinkles in the forehead indicated the number of husbands a woman would have,” said Higgins. “Horizontal wrinkles, on the other hand, showed the number of children. But we know that each one of these lines represents one’s unique journey in this life, each wrinkle tells a story.

“When I first viewed ‘Terroir’, I immediately felt safe – he reminded me of my grandparents, who were always there for me with their wisdom and unconditional love. I hope we all have lots of wonderful life experiences on the inside that will give me

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