The Burnaby Gallery has been named Gallery of the Year in the Bermudian magazine's Best of Bermuda Gold Awards, and its owners are delighted.

"We are thrilled at receiving this award,'' general manager Mrs. Deborah Harper says. "We have tried hard to maintain a high standard, and since we have been open for just a year and a half this is wonderful recognition.'' Bermudian Nancy Valentine has been honoured by the National Advisory Board for outstanding service to the arts.

The former Nancy Hutchings is a founding member of Washington, DC's National Museum for Women in Art (NMWA) who researched and collected antique silver work by English and Irish women silversmiths of the 17th to 19th centuries, uncovering in the process a history of women active in an industry about which little was previously documented. These works are now in the NMWA's permanent collection, and Mrs. Valentine also contributed an essay to a groundbreaking book on the subject.

She is a member of London's Silver Society, and helped to identify Bermuda silver for the Bermuda National Gallery's `Made in Bermuda' exhibition.

Most recently, Mrs. Valentine has concentrated her efforts on assembling the works of women botanical illustrators of the 18th and 19th centuries, as a result of which a new exhibition, `Illustrating Nature: Three Centuries of Botanical Prints,' is now in progress at the NMWA, and will continue until July 22.

Mrs. Valentine is also an artist who has exhibited in local galleries. She was commissioned by the Bermuda Government to create the official wedding gift for HRH Princess Margaret.

She also wrote the local cookbook, `All About Bermuda Onions.' A new exhibition honouring the work of award-winning Bermudian photographer, the late Richard Saunders, is now in progress at the Bermuda National Gallery.

The photographs, acquired in 1993, are from the Gallery's permanent collection.

Mr. Saunders received many accolades for his work, including the International Black Photographers Award, the US Information Service superior honour award, and the first Bermuda Arts Council Lifetime Achievement award.

The exhibition will continue through September. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Tours are available on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 1 p.m. For further information 295-9428.

ARTISTS ART AWARD AWD