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Polaris Heritage Prize

The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize honours Canadian albums
of the past from four distinct time periods: 1960-75, 1976-85, 1986-95 and 1996-05.
Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are albums
of the artistic distinction, without regards to sales or affiliations.
Click HERE to purchase online.

2018 Heritage Prize Winners:
1960 – 1975
Jean-Pierre Ferland – Jaune
Neil Young – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

1976-1985
Bruce Cockburn – Stealing Fire
Rush – 2112

1986-1995
Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
Dream Warriors – And Now the Legacy Begins

1996-2005
Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People
Kid Koala – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Check out below for info on the poster designers/artists.



Jean Pierre Ferland is a French Canadian singer from Montreal, Quebec.
He began his career as an accountant with Radio-Canada before learning guitar and writing his first songs in 1959.
In 1996 he was made Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition for his 30 albums and over 450 songs.
His Critically acclaimed album ‘Jaune’ was released in 1970 and is considered a Quebec/Canadian classic.

As a child, Estee Preda was read Hans Christian Andersen and
Brothers Grimm fairy tales every night by her mother who escaped the iron curtain.
She lived across the hall from her grand-mother who was prone to night terrors.
She would watch out the window from her Québec city home as one season would slowly turn into another.
The world that her art exists in lies somewhere between those ephemeral seasons, night terrors and folk tales.

Neil Young is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician that has been creating music since the 60’s.
He was in bands Buffalo Springfield, Cosby Stills & Nash, and Crazy Horse before going solo.
Along with his signature voice Young also played guitar, piano, and harmonica.
In the album ‘Everybody Knows This is Nowhere’ Young experimented with a rawer voice and
many of the songs were written in a single day during a fever.
Even still the album went platinum.

Gracia Lam is an illustrator born in Hong Kong and raised in Toronto.
Her work aims to reinvent everyday objects and mundane environments.


Bruce Cockburn is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Many of his songs touch on political or environmental issues as well as human rights.
He has made more than 33 albums spanning over 40 years.
Before going Solo Cockburn was in numerous bands such as
The Esquires, The Flying Circus, Olivus, and 3’s a Crowd.
He made his first solo album in 1970. His single “If I Had a Rocket Launcher”
from his ‘Stealing Fire’ album became a hit on US charts.

Paige Bowman is an illustrator born in Victoria, BC and based in Vancouver.
She has studied illustration at both Emily Carr University of Art & Design and Sheridan College.
She loves dogs, wine, family, hip hop, and indian food after 2am.

“Rush burst out of Canada in the early 1970s with one of the most powerful and bombastic sounds of the decade.
Their 1976 magnum opus 2112 represents progressive rock at its grandiose heights,
but just a half decade later they had the guts to put epic songs aside in favor of shorter (but no less dynamic)
tunes like “Tom Sawyer and “The Spirit of Radio” that remain in constant rotation on radio to this day.
Absolutely uncompromising in every conceivable way, the trio has spent the last 40 years cultivating
the largest cult fan base in rock while still managing to sell out arenas around the globe.”

“Art/drawings, stuff like that.”
Jamiyla Lowe was born in Montreal, Quebec and attended Ontario College of Art and Design’s


Alanis Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s.
In 1995 she released her most acclaimed album, Jagged Little Pill. She had 8 albums in total.
With sounds of aggressive pop/rock and grunge this album won 5 Grammy Awards and
quickly topped the charts world wide. 

Jenn Woodall is an award-winning illustrator and comics creator who dwells in Toronto, Ontario.
She has a Bachelor of Design from OCADU in Illustration as well as a BDes in Fashion Design.
She self-publishes her own comics and also has her work distributed and published through Silver Sprocket.

Dream Warriors is a Toronto based Hip Hop Duo with artist King Lou (Louis Robinson) and Capital Q (Frank Allert).
They were formed in 1988 with their first collaborated single “Can’t Repress the Cause” release in 1990.
Their jazz influenced hip hop album ‘And Now the Legacy Begins’ dropped in 1991 and
was critically acclaimed in Canada and the UK.

“Pencil on Paper and Digital Colour”
Jesse DeNobrega is near Toronto, Canada.
Works in comics, printmaking, painting, animation, music, and video games.


Broken Social Scene is a musical collective that fluctuates between 6 to 9 members.
It was originally formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning.
It is an experimental musical project with many famous Toronto artist,
with past members from bands like Metric, Feist, Stars Jason Collett to name a few.
The collaboration often creates unique sounds like in their popular album ‘You Forgot The People.’

Cameron McKague – “I’m an independent graphic designer and art director with over a decade of experience.
Most recently, I was Senior Designer at Toronto’s Underline Studio for 4+ years and
worked at House of Radon in Stockholm, Sweden and Free Agency Creative in Vancouver, Canada.
I currently live and work in Toronto, Canada.”

“Kid Koala is a world-renowned scratch DJ, music producer, film composer,
video game composer and award winning graphic novelist.
He has released six solo albums, the most recent being Music To Draw To: IO featuring Trixie Whitley.
He has also released two graphic novels: Nufonia Must Fall and Space Cadet.
He has also been involved in collaborations such as Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, and The Slew.”

Raz Latif is a freelance illustrator, designer and artist living in Toronto.
His work focuses on editorial, book, marketing, and advertising illustrations.
He enjoys painting, working on murals, and interesting projects!
Bachelor of Design, Illustration, OCAD University.

Posted on 40 Comments

Polaris Heritage Winners 1996-2005

The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize honours Canadian albums
of the past from four distinct time periods: 1960-75, 1976-85, 1986-95 and 1996-05.
Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are albums
of the artistic distinction, without regards to sales or affiliations.

The 2018 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize poster reveal and pop-up will be
held at The Drake Hotel Underground March 19th, 5pm – 8pm

Polaris Heritage Winners for 1996-2005:

Broken Social Scene– You Forgot It In People
Poster Designed by Cameron McKague

Kid Koala– Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Poster Designed by Raz Latif

Check out below for more info on the musicians and poster artists.

Broken Social Scene is a musical collective that fluctuates between 6 to 9 members.
It was originally formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning.
It is an experimental musical project with many famous Toronto artist,
with past members from bands like Metric, Feist, Stars Jason Collett to name a few.
The collaboration often creates unique sounds like in their popular album ‘You Forgot The People.’

Cameron McKague – “I’m an independent graphic designer and art director with over a decade of experience.
Most recently, I was Senior Designer at Toronto’s Underline Studio for 4+ years and
worked at House of Radon in Stockholm, Sweden and Free Agency Creative in Vancouver, Canada.
I currently live and work in Toronto, Canada.”

“Kid Koala is a world-renowned scratch DJ, music producer, film composer,
video game composer and award winning graphic novelist.
He has released six solo albums, the most recent being Music To Draw To: IO featuring Trixie Whitley.
He has also released two graphic novels: Nufonia Must Fall and Space Cadet.
He has also been involved in collaborations such as Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, and The Slew.”

Raz Latif is a freelance illustrator, designer and artist living in Toronto.
His work focuses on editorial, book, marketing, and advertising illustrations.
He enjoys painting, working on murals, and interesting projects!
Bachelor of Design, Illustration, OCAD University.

Posted on

Polaris Heritage Winners 1986-1995

The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize honours Canadian albums
of the past from four distinct time periods: 1960-75, 1976-85, 1986-95 and 1996-05.
Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are albums
of the artistic distinction, without regards to sales or affiliations.

The 2018 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize poster reveal and pop-up will be
held at The Drake Hotel Underground March 19th, 5pm – 8pm

2018 Heritage Prize Winners 1986-1995:

Alanis Morissette– Jagged Little Pill
Poster Designed by Jenn Woodall

Dream Warriors – And Now the Legacy Begins
Poster Designed by Jesse DeNobrega

Check out below for more info of the musician and the artist.


Alanis Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s.
In 1995 she released her most acclaimed album, Jagged Little Pill. She had 8 albums in total.
With sounds of aggressive pop/rock and grunge this album won 5 Grammy Awards and
quickly topped the charts world wide.

Jenn Woodall is an award-winning illustrator and comics creator who dwells in Toronto, Ontario.
She has a Bachelor of Design from OCADU in Illustration as well as a BDes in Fashion Design.
She self-publishes her own comics and also has her work distributed and published through Silver Sprocket.

Dream Warriors is a Toronto based Hip Hop Duo with artist King Lou (Louis Robinson) and Capital Q (Frank Allert).
They were formed in 1988 with their first collaborated single “Can’t Repress the Cause” release in 1990.
Their jazz influenced hip hop album ‘And Now the Legacy Begins’ dropped in 1991 and
was critically acclaimed in Canada and the UK.

“Pencil on Paper and Digital Colour”
Jesse DeNobrega is near Toronto, Canada.
Works in comics, printmaking, painting, animation, music, and video games.

Posted on 40 Comments

Polaris Heritage Winners 1976-1985

The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize honours Canadian albums
of the past from four distinct time periods: 1960-75, 1976-85, 1986-95 and 1996-05.
Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are albums
of the artistic distinction, without regards to sales or affiliations.

The 2018 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize poster reveal and pop-up will be
held at The Drake Hotel Underground March 19th, 5pm – 8pm

2018 Heritage Prize Winners 1976-1985:

Bruce Cockburn – Stealing Fire
Poster Designed by Paige Bowman

Rush – 2112
Poster Designed by Jamiyla Lowe

Check out below for info on the poster designers/artists.

Bruce Cockburn is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Many of his songs touch on political or environmental issues as well as human rights.
He has made more than 33 albums spanning over 40 years.
Before going Solo Cockburn was in numerous bands such as
The Esquires, The Flying Circus, Olivus, and 3’s a Crowd.
He made his first solo album in 1970. His single “If I Had a Rocket Launcher”
from his ‘Stealing Fire’ album became a hit on US charts.

Paige Bowman is an illustrator born in Victoria, BC and based in Vancouver.
She has studied illustration at both Emily Carr University of Art & Design and Sheridan College.
She loves dogs, wine, family, hip hop, and indian food after 2am.

“Rush burst out of Canada in the early 1970s with one of the most powerful and bombastic sounds of the decade.
Their 1976 magnum opus 2112 represents progressive rock at its grandiose heights,
but just a half decade later they had the guts to put epic songs aside in favor of shorter (but no less dynamic)
tunes like “Tom Sawyer and “The Spirit of Radio” that remain in constant rotation on radio to this day.
Absolutely uncompromising in every conceivable way, the trio has spent the last 40 years cultivating
the largest cult fan base in rock while still managing to sell out arenas around the globe.”

“Art/drawings, stuff like that.”
Jamiyla Lowe was born in Montreal, Quebec and attended Ontario College of Art and Design’s

Posted on

Polaris Heritage Winners 1960-1975

The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize honours Canadian albums
of the past from four distinct time periods: 1960-75, 1976-85, 1986-95 and 1996-05.
Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are albums
of the artistic distinction, without regards to sales or affiliations.

The 2018 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize poster reveal and pop-up will be
held at The Drake Hotel Underground March 19th, 5pm – 8pm

Polaris Heritage Winners for 1960-1975:

Jean-Pierre Ferland – Jaune
Poster Designed by Estee Preda

Neil Young– Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Poster Designed by Gracia Lam

Check out below for more info of the musician and the artist.

Jean Pierre Ferland is a French Canadian singer from Montreal, Quebec.
He began his career as an accountant with Radio-Canada before learning guitar and writing his first songs in 1959.
In 1996 he was made Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition for his 30 albums and over 450 songs.
His Critically acclaimed album ‘Jaune’ was released in 1970 and is considered a Quebec/Canadian classic.

As a child, Estee Preda was read Hans Christian Andersen and
Brothers Grimm fairy tales every night by her mother who escaped the iron curtain.
She lived across the hall from her grand-mother who was prone to night terrors.
She would watch out the window from her Québec city home as one season would slowly turn into another.
The world that her art exists in lies somewhere between those ephemeral seasons, night terrors and folk tales.

Neil Young is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician that has been creating music since the 60’s.
He was in bands Buffalo Springfield, Cosby Stills & Nash, and Crazy Horse before going solo.
Along with his signature voice Young also played guitar, piano, and harmonica.
In the album ‘Everybody Knows This is Nowhere’ Young experimented with a rawer voice and
many of the songs were written in a single day during a fever.
Even still the album went platinum.

Gracia Lam is an illustrator born in Hong Kong and raised in Toronto.
Her work aims to reinvent everyday objects and mundane environments.

Posted on

Polaris Prize – U.S. GIRLS

Todays Feature – Band: U.S. Girls, Artwork by: MARIEL RUTHERFORD

U.S. Girls was formed by Canadian-American musician Meghan Remy in 2007.
Before creating U.S.Girls Meghan Remy was in a  punk band.
She started making music in the early 2000’s and has released 6 albums so far.
her latest album ‘In a poem unlimited’ was released February 2018.

‘Mariel is a graduate of the Bachelor of Illustration program at Sheridan College.
Previously she studied the arts in Brussels and London,
where she developed an appreciation for textiles and embroidery.
She is interested in colour, composition and texture.’


Posted on

Polaris Prize – Snotty Nose Rez Kids

Todays feature – BAND: SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS, Artwork by: DYLAN DARWIN

Snotty Nose Rez Kids are a hip hop duo out of Vancouver, BC.
They confront slurs and stereotypes of Indigenous people and promote pride.
The 2 members Darren Metz (Young D) and Quinton Nyce (Yung Trybezare)
are from the Kitamaat Village, a Haisla First Nation reserve.

Dylan Darwin is an illustrator and CG generalist from Ontario, Canada.
He went to Sheridan College graduating with a Computer Animation Certificate and an Illustration Bachelors.
His illustration work is a mix of traditional mixed media, digital, and collage.


Posted on

Polaris Prize – Partner

Todays Feature – Band: PARTNER, Artwork by: BRANDON CELI

Partner was originally formed in Sackville, New Brunswick.
They were first recognized with their hit “The ‘Ellen’ Page” staring Ellen dancing,
which went viral when Ellen herself posted it.
They came out with a full album in 2017 titled ‘In Search of Lost Time’

Brandon Celi is a Toronto based illustrator.
He graduated from OCAD University and has worked with a variety of clients
including New York Times, Bloomberg Business & Adult Swim.


Posted on

Polaris Prize – Pierre Kwenders

Todays Feature – Band: PIERRE KWENDERS, Artwork by: KELLEN HATANAKA

José Louis Modabi is a Congolese-Canadian musician preforming under the stage name Pierre Kwenders.
His first album ‘Le Dernier Empereur’ was out in 2014 and was nominated at the Juno Awards.
His single Sexus Plexus Nexus dropped June 20th and the new album ‘Makanda’ released September 2017.
He is recognized for creating a unique sound blend of African Music with western Pop

 

Kellen Hatanaka is an artist and designer from Toronto, Canada.
He has worked with a variety of clients including The Wall Street Journal, The Walrus,
The Drake Hotel, Sid Lee, Bruce Mau Design, Frank and Oak and Absolut Vodka.
He was awarded the Governor General’s Award in 2016 along with
Jon-Erik Lappano for their book, “Tokyo Digs a Garden.”

Posted on

Polaris Prize – Daniel Caesar

Todays Feature – Band: DANIEL CAESAR, Artwork by: Matthew Boyd & Clea Forkert

Ashton Simmonds was born in Oshawa Ontario in 1995.
At only 23 years old he has release 3 albums under his stage name Daniel Caesar.
He has been featured in Rolling Stones ’20 Best R&B Albums of 2014′
His break out single “Get You” has gotten world recognition.
His new album ‘Freudian’ has been nominated for Best R&B Album and
Best Performance from the hit single “Get You” at the Grammy Awards.
It won the Juno Awards ‘R&B Soul Recording of the Year’ & the ‘Recording Engineer of the Year’

Matthew Boyd Is an independent graphic designer and art director based in Toronto, Canada.
He has over 12 years of experience working for large and small clients in many different fields.
Most recently he held the position of Design Director at Concrete.
Previously he was a founding partner of the studio Way Shape Form

Clea Forkert is an independent designer engaged in the creation of books,
catalogues, visual identities, websites, posters and packaging. 

Clea also has 12 years of experience, having worked at communications agency Spencer Francey Peters,
and Underline Studio where she was Associate Creative Director.