Grace Nickel recipient of The Robert and Meridel Archambeau Award of Distinction. Photo: Michael Zajac.
Celebrating Grace Nickel: Inaugural Archambeau Award of Distinction Recipient
The School of Art is proud to recognize faculty member Grace Nickel, who has been named the first-ever recipient of the Robert and Meridel Archambeau Award of Distinction, presented by the Manitoba Craft Council (MCC) as part of its 2025 Craft Awards.
The award was presented during A Night of Excellence: Celebrating Manitoba Makers—the MCC’s inaugural awards dinner held on May 8, 2025, at East India Company in Winnipeg. The evening brought together artists, supporters, and community members to honour 15 local craft artists across five categories, celebrating excellence in contemporary craft across the province.
Grace Nickel with award presenter Alan Lacovetsky. Photo: Matt Duboff.
Established to recognize a Manitoba-based craftsperson with an exceptional studio practice, the Archambeau Award honours “a career of achievements, esteemed reputation, and exceptional advancement in their craft area.” Endowed in the names of Robert and Meridel Archambeau, the award pays tribute to ceramicist and former School of Art professor Robert Archambeau, and the support of his partner, Meridel. As a meaningful gesture, the physical certificates were hand-printed by printmaker and School of Art Assistant Professor, Suzie Smith.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate Grace Nickel as the recipient of the 2025 Robert and Meridel Archambeau Award of Distinction,” said Tammy Sutherland, Executive Director of the Manitoba Craft Council. “It feels right that the first person to receive this award be someone who studied with and so admired Bob’s work as well as his legendary work ethic. Grace’s commitment to innovation and technical excellence, her meticulous and considered style, and the strength of her exhibition and teaching career set the kind of high standard we want to honour with this unique award.”
A celebrated ceramic artist, educator, and researcher, Grace Nickel has long been a vital force within Manitoba’s craft community and across Canada. Her porcelain and installation-based work blends traditional craft with contemporary themes, exploring architecture, impermanence, and material resonance. In 2023, she received the Governor General’s Saidye Bronfman Award, one of Canada’s highest honours for visual artists.
“It is a great honour to be the first to receive this award,” said Nickel. “Ceramics wasn’t even on my radar when I entered art school, but Robert’s passion for the medium was infectious. He instilled in us a rigorous work ethic and commitment to high standards—and it was his lifelong love of clay that continues to inspire me.”
Nickel first met Archambeau as a student, later working alongside him as a colleague. “He continued to guide me as both a mentor and a peer,” she shared. “His insights, humour, and larger-than-life presence helped to light my path as a teacher, researcher, and artist.”
She closed her remarks with a personal reflection: “I will close with the words he wrote in a special notebook he gave me, where his inscription reads: ‘For a dear friend: Don’t save this notebook for later. This is later.’ We miss Bob… but his legacy will live on through this award and through his work, which is timeless.”
Nickel also acknowledged the role of the MCC:
“I’m grateful for the continued support of the MCC throughout my career, and I applaud all that they have done for advancing contemporary craft in Manitoba and moving it beyond both physical and conceptual borders.”
Grace Nickel with Bob Archambeau at her first solo exhibition, held at Ace Art in 1987. Image courtesy of the Manitoba Craft Council.
Nickel’s career includes international exhibitions and recognition, with selections for the Mino International Ceramics Competition (Japan), Taiwan Ceramic Biennale, Cheongju International Craft Biennale (Korea), and multiple appearances in NCECA Invitational Exhibitions in the United States. Her public commissions include Donors’ Forest at the Beechwood National Cemetery of Canada, and her work is part of major museum collections in Canada and beyond.
Beyond the studio, as an educator, Nickel has guided and mentored generations of artists at the School of Art. Her teaching emphasizes rigour, conceptual development, and critical inquiry—values that have left a lasting mark on students and peers alike.
This year’s MCC Craft Awards also celebrated Maureen Winnicki Lyons (Judith Ryan Award for Fibre Arts) and Jennifer Johnson (Marilyn Levitt Award for Functional Ceramics), showcasing the strength and diversity of Manitoba’s craft community.
Congratulations, Grace!