Cecilia Araneda is the recipient of the 2018 Joan Lowndes Prize, awarded annually by the Canada Council for the Arts to an independent curator or critic in contemporary visual and media arts in recognition of the outstanding quality of their work.
The recipient is selected from curators and critics who submit an application to the Create and Explore program during the qualifying year, with the winner selected based on the assessment of the grant application.
Araneda is the first curator from the Canadian prairies to ever be awarded this prize.