The 2026 Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art honours emerging artists Marion Schneider (UQAM) and Roxanne Ross (Concordia)

Montreal, April 23, 2026 — Artists Marion Schneider, who holds a master’s degree in visual and media arts from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), and Roxanne Ross, who completed a Master of Fine Arts at Concordia University, have each been awarded the 2026 Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art.

A renewed commitment to emerging contemporary artists

The Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation is renewing its commitment to emerging contemporary artists by offering a grant of $88,800 to each artist over a two-year period. In addition to these fellowships, UQAM and Concordia University are committed to offering teaching contracts to both artists.

“Now in its seventeenth year, the fellowship has supported artists who energize Montreal and the international scene,” declared Claudine and Stephen Bronfman. “We are proud to give emerging talents the momentum they need to develop their practices and explore bold new creative directions.”

“We would like to reiterate our gratitude to the Bronfman Foundation for its ongoing commitment to emerging artists. This distinction represents meaningful recognition of the quality, rigour, and relevance of the recipients’ creative practices. The support provided will play a key role in consolidating and enabling the realization of ambitious artistic projects,” noted Joanne Lalonde, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at UQAM.

“This fellowship acts as a true catalyst and demonstrates the essential impact that institutions can have—especially in partnership—in supporting artists at a pivotal moment in their careers. By combining financial support with teaching experiences and professional development opportunities, it helps sustain their long-term trajectory,” stated Annie Gérin, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University.

2026 recipients

Marion Schneider – UQAM

“I would like to thank the Foundation for this recognition. In the current economic and political context, this fellowship provides invaluable support that will allow me to continue raising awareness about the ecological impact of industrial technologies, and to explore technological uses that help care for ourselves, others, and the biodiversity around us. The fellowship gives me the momentum to dedicate more time and resources to creation, community engagement and teaching, enabling the conditions needed to think, create and share without burning out.”

Biography

Marion Schneider is a non-binary digital artist with an MFA in Visual and Media Arts from UQAM and a degree in Digital Design from the École nationale supérieure Olivier de Serres (Paris). Their practice explores the poetic and political potential of technological tools, occupying the generative space where queer art, ecological art, and digital art intersect. At once playful and unsettling, hopeful and serious, their installations, robotic sculptures, design objects, and web- based works invite us to imagine new narratives and to speculate, even hack, our relationship with the world. Their work has been shown in Montréal and Québec City, including at MUTEK, ICRA-X, and the Galerie de l'UQAM. Since 2024, Marion has been teaching and sharing their artistic research through lectures and public talks.

schneidermarion.net

Roxanne Ross – Concordia University

“I’m grateful for the time and resources this fellowship provides, allowing me to make work that might not otherwise be possible. As the primary caregiver and provider for my family, much of my time is dedicated to sustaining daily life. This support allows me to spend more time within the work itself and to open up new directions in how I approach family, community, and the spaces they inhabit.”

Biography

Roxanne Ross is an image-maker working in lens-based media in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal, whose practice examines portraiture, domestic space, and intergenerational family narratives across Canadian and American contexts. Her work explores kinship, memory, and the evolving structure of contemporary family life through long-term, relational projects grounded in lived experience. She holds an MFA and BFA in Photography from Concordia University. Her photographs have been published in The Narrative: Sites of Photographic Knowledge (Artexte, 2024). Ross is the recipient of the Mildred & Margot Lande Graduate Scholarship and continues to develop long-term projects centered on family, care, and domestic space.

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Previous recipients

To date, 34 outstanding artists have received the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art. Previous recipients include:

2025: Stanley Wany (UQAM) and Pedro Barbáchano (Concordia)
2024: Kuh Del Rosario (Concordia) and Lynn Kodeih (UQAM)
2023: Maude Arsenault (UQAM) and Kyle Alden Martens (Concordia)
2022: Diyar Mayil (Concordia) and Rémi Belliveau (UQAM)
2021: Leila Zelli (UQAM) and Nico Williams (Concordia)
2020: Mara Eagle (Concordia) and Heidi Barkun (UQAM)
2019: Céline Huyguebaert (UQAM) and Madeleine Mayo (Concordia)
2018: Frédérique Laliberté (Concordia) and Émilie Serri (UQAM)
2017: Martin Leduc (UQAM) and Andréanne Abbondanza-Bergeron (Concordia)
2016: Yannick Desranleau (Concordia) and Guillaume Adjutor Provost (UQAM)
2015: Myriam Jacob-Allard (UQAM) and Velibor Božović (Concordia)
2014: Brendan Flanagan (Concordia) and Marie Dauverné (UQAM)
2013: Nadia Seboussi (UQAM) and Kim Waldron (Concordia)
2012: Julie Favreau (Concordia) and Sébastien Cliche (UQAM)
2011: Aude Moreau (UQAM) and Pavitra Wickramasinghe (Concordia)
2010: Steve Bates (Concordia) and Véronique Savard (UQAM)

About the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art

The Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art is one of the most prestigious and generous fellowships offered in Canada to emerging artists. It supports outstanding artists in visual or media arts who have graduated from UQAM or Concordia University and are at an early stage in their careers, enabling them to contribute to the development of arts and culture at both national and international levels.

Photos of the artists and their works are available upon request.