Meet the Artists: OAG + SPAO Partnership Announces Project XO Finalists

SPAO and the Ottawa Art Gallery have come together to carry the Project X award forward as its founding partner, the Ottawa Arts Council, undergoes an exciting evolution into Arts Ottawa.

In honour of this continued collaboration, the award has been renamed the PROJECT XO AWARD.⁠ The Project XO Award recognizes the merits of a publicly presented photographic project by an artist who demonstrates an ongoing connection to the Ottawa region.

Chosen from an incredible group of applicants, these photo-based artists are in the running for the opportunity to exhibit their work at the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) and a prize package valued at over $3,000. 

Congratulations to the three talented Project XO Award finalists!

• Alexa Mazzarello @alexamazzarello
• Kelly McDonald @kelly_mcdonald_photographs
• Yuli Sato @yulisato

⁠⁠⁠We’re proud to have support from DAÏMÔN and Wall Space Gallery + Framing, helping ensure this opportunity continues to grow and uplift emerging artists.⁠

Meet the Finalists

Alexa Mazzarello 

Mazzarello’s artistic practice is a deeply personal and political exploration of birth, motherhood, and the ways in which these experiences intersect with broader social and medical structures. As a lens-based artist, she employs photography, collage, and textile processes to examine the often unseen or misrepresented aspects of matrescence—the physical, emotional, and psychological transformation that occurs in becoming a mother. Her work is deeply rooted in my academic background in sociology and public health, where my focus on gender and health has shaped her visual storytelling. Through her art, she aims to amplify the voices of mothers and challenge dominant narratives surrounding birth, motherhood, and what makes a “real” artist.

Kelly McDonald 

Kelly McDonald is a photo-based artist living with Parkinson’s disease. Using a contemplative approach, she explores the unique beauty of locally-sourced botanicals during their life cycle, to reflect the ongoing changes that the disease continues to bring to her body. Her images are printed on handmade washi paper, its softness shrouding Kelly’s losses, now faded relics.

A graduate of SPAO’s Diploma Program, Kelly has exhibited in Barcelona, Toronto and Ottawa. The 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Award judges acknowledged Kelly’s photography with an Honourable Mention for a botanical series. Kelly is active with True To Life, her project which offers ongoing photography training for young adults with Down syndrome.

Yuli Sato

For over fifteen years, Yuli Sato has cultivated a dynamic multidisciplinary practice, weaving photography, filmmaking, writing, and community engagement into a cohesive artistic vision. Rooted in the Ottawa/Gatineau region, Sato’s work is driven by a commitment to innovation and the fostering of a vibrant arts community. Her projects, featured in both Canadian and international publications and exhibitions, explore themes of identity, memory, and connection, redefining the interplay between analog and digital media.

Sato’s photographic work, notably her project The Space Between, exemplifies her dedication to exploring the connection between personal narrative and collective experience.