artsnb announces the laureates of the 2026 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for High Achievement in the Arts

Fredericton, September 14 , 2026 – The New Brunswick Arts Board (artsnb) is proud to announce the laureates of the 2026 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for High Achievement in the Arts. The laureates are Carol Collicutt, Dyane Léger, Diane Losier, and Shane Perley-Dutcher. On November 7th 2026, alongside the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick and presenting partner UNI Financial Cooperation, artsnb will celebrate the four artists who will be receiving the awards for high achievement in the arts in the following categories: Indigenous Artist, Visual Arts, Literary Arts and Performing Arts.

Congratulations to the laureates!

The laureate of the Indigenous Artist Award is Shane Perley-Dutcher – Neqotkuk! Shane’s dedication to bringing traditional techniques to life, in a new and contemporary way, is an inspiration to all artists.

The laureates of the 2026 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards:

Carol Collicutt – Laureate for the Visual Arts Award

Carol Collicutt has been a professional artist in New Brunswick for over 40 years. A notably prolific artist, Carol is known for bodies of work that showcase the ever-evolving facets of her artistic practice, including her large-scale photographs, her journal series using layered text and imagery to represent her inner thoughts. Carol has spent many years supporting the arts sector in New Brunswick, including as President and Board Member of Gallery Connexion, an artist-run center in Fredericton, and as the Chair of artsnb.

 

 

 

 

Dyane Léger – Laureate for the Literary Arts Award

A poet rooted in the land of Acadie, writer Dyane Léger explores the landscapes that are the legacy of her ancestors. In her burrow, she continues her tireless learning of the alphabet and beauty. Dyane’s rigorous approach, her deep passion for Acadian language, and her bold creative endeavours over the years have made her an essential figure in the Canadian francophone artist community. The first Acadian woman to be published in Acadie, her first collection of poems, Graines de fées, was the inaugural work published by Éditions Perce-Neige (1980). A major figure in contemporary Acadian literature and a winner of the prestigious Prix France-Acadie, Dyane Léger recently published her sixth collection of poetry and her ninth book, Mayday.

 

 

 

Diane Losier – Laureate for the Performing Arts Award

For forty years, Diane Losier has been a formidable presence and one of the most important performing artists in Acadie, Canada, and especially in New Brunswick. Diane has worked with almost every francophone theatre company in New Brunswick during her impressive career and has displayed her multiple talents in an extensive range of roles in musical theatre, TV, and film. The quantity, diversity, and quality of the roles she has performed over the years demonstrates the confidence directors place in her great talent as an actor. As a renowned Acadian artist, she carries the torch for her language and culture, lighting the way for artists of the next generations.

 

 

 

Shane Perley-Dutcher – Laureate for the Indigenous Artist Award

Shane Perley-Dutcher is a Wolastoqey mixed media artist from Neqotkuk First Nation. He uses traditional materials such as birch, cedar, spruce, ash, copper, silver, gold and platinum in his art to maintain his connection to the land and fuel his creative process. Shane has turned to the use of metal in his basket-weaving, showcasing the intricacy and flexibility of his skills as he pioneers the art form. Honoring traditional Indigenous techniques and fusing them with modern design is Shane’s way to keep Wolastoqiyik traditional knowledge alive for generations to come.