Ontario is shining the spotlight on the province's artists and arts organizations with the release of this year's finalists for the Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts.

The winning artist will receive $35,000 and will select a new or emerging artist to receive a prize of $15,000. The winning arts organization will be awarded $50,000. The remaining finalists will each receive $2,000.

Finalists in the artist category are:

• Lydia Adams, artistic director of the Elmer Iseler Singers of Toronto
  
• Norm Foster, Ancaster playwright
• Gary Kulesha, Toronto composer, pianist, conductor and teacher of classical music
• Ron Mann, Toronto documentary film-maker
• Ahdri Zhina Mandiela, Toronto founder and artistic director of "b current" performance arts company
• Albert Moritz, Toronto poet

Finalists in the arts organization category are:

• Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, of Toronto
• Guelph Jazz Festival, of Guelph
• Harbourfront Centre, of Toronto
• imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, of Toronto
• Toronto Artscape Inc., of Toronto
• VTape, of Toronto

The winners will be announced June 23 at an event at the Wychwood Barns in Toronto.