The 2025 Polygon Award in First Nations Art goes to Rebecca Baker-Grenier and Gordon Dick
Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets’lo:tseltun receives Award of Distinction, while Kari Morgan earns Emerging Artist award
Gordon Dick.
Rebecca Baker-Grenier.
THE BC ACHIEVEMENT Foundation has just announced Rebecca Baker-Grenier and Gordon Dick as the recipients of the 2025 Polygon Award in First Nations Art.
Chilliwack-based Baker-Grenier, of Kwakiuł, Dzawada’enuwx, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh ancestry, is a fashion designer who has created regalia since age 11, some of it worn by BC Indigenous performers Dancers of Damelahamid. Holding a degree in Indigenous Studies from UBC, she apprenticed for under Himikalas Pam Baker and completed the Indigenous Couture Residency at Banff Centre. Her collections have since appeared on runways from New York Fashion Week to Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week.
Tseshaht and Nuu-chah-nulth artist Gordon Dick, based in Port Alberni, initially taught himself jewellery engraving after observing Kwakwaka'wakw artist Dennis Matilpi at work. His practice has since grown to include masks, panels, totem poles, bronzes, and carvings that reflect his cultural heritage.
Presented annually, the award honours excellence in traditional, contemporary, and media art by Indigenous artists in B.C., celebrating creativity, cultural knowledge, and contributions to community.
Kari Morgan.
In other prizes, the Crabtree McLennan Emerging Artist award went to Nisga’a artist Kari Morgan of Terrace, a sculptor, painter, and designer whose multidisciplinary practice bridges tradition and innovation. She trained at the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art under master carvers Dempsey Bob, Stan Bevan, and Ken McNeil.
The BC Achievement Foundation also unveiled an Award of Distinction for celebrated Vancouver artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets’lo:tseltun, of Hul’q’umi’num Coast Salish and Syilx heritage. The influential contemporary artist has spent four decades creating colourful, politically charged painting, installation, and performance that challenge colonial narratives and confront systemic injustices. In 2016, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC mounted a major 30-year survey of his work, titled Unceded Territories.
The recipients were selected by an independent jury of past awardees and First Nations artists.
A ticketed award ceremony and dinner will be held on November 19 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, featuring short films honouring each awardee’s artistic journey.
A concurrent 2025 First Nations Art and Applied Art + Design Exhibition will run from November 18 to 25 at the same venue, featuring the work of all 2025 recipients. 
Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets’lo:tseltun.
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