“Hey Paola. Have you watched Law and Order Toronto by chance? The third episode is based on the art world and the Poletto name is all throughout the episode… Watching it now. Kept hearing our name… the Poletto Award.”
“Wow!!! That’s so cool!… Now I want to watch it!”
“I didn’t even know there was a Law and Order Toronto.”
“Haha. I thought they might have made you mafia. Award is better. You should do it!!!”
“Omg you are famous! Time to start giving out a Poletto Award!”
“Ha! Poletto Award does have a nice ring to it.”
Introducing the Poletto Award 2024
While the Poletto Award boasts no actual trophy (like most art awards), nor a financial win (unlike most awards), the award will prize submissions that accidentally look like a penis or reference crime. Special considerations for flashy shoes and Toronto references.
In winter, 2024 the long-running television franchise, Law and Order, launched its newest series Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent. In the third episode, entitled “The Real Eve” (aired March 7, 2024), a beloved art professor is killed, and the team must use her art to find the "Real Eve" and her killer. My brother texted me as he was watching, but I thought he was egging me. He proceeded to send me a screen shot of a critique of the episode in Toronto Life, where the Poletto Award is described as a fictional stand-in for the Sobey Art Award. Given that there are only 2 Poletto’s in all of Toronto’s white pages, and that I’ve been in the Toronto art world scene for over 25 years, I was mortified. My disbelief then turned to anger, then a very tepid amusement. Why Poletto? I looked up the screen writer, no, don’t know her… I wondered, seeking some kind of reasoning, did she use the AI on LinkedIn to find a name that was least likely to press back legally but plausible enough to be art world worthy? How was I going to reconcile the fact that the Poletto Award was brought to life in a fictitious way and that to me, my name, proclaimed seven times in a single episode, was suddenly resonating across the city in a crime drama about the Toronto art world?
The name, Poletto, means “little capon.” Polo: think a regular sized capon, like Marco Polo. Then think of Poletto as a little capon. A capon is a castrated male chicken that’s been fattened for eating, a weird culinary thing that my father abides by, that is, he loves “pollo arrosto,” roasted chicken, our Italian family recipe. Though the majority of Poletto’s in Italy are in Milan’s greater area, and the country Turkey (not the fowl) boasts the seemingly well-regarded Poletto Shoes brand, our small but mighty family originate in the Venetian mainlands at the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains. The Poletto Award thusly considers castration and sublime views as guiding concepts for the avatar-making art-world Toronto-centric self.
Please send your electronic submission with subject heading Poletto Award and the following:
1. Image or text file of work (.jpeg or words). Accepting screen plays synopsis, poem, photo, legal text, images of trophy object, better logo, etc.
2. Your screen name and bio (ie. artist).
The Poletto Award will prize art or writing submissions that accidentally look like a penis or reference crime. Special considerations for flashy shoes and Toronto references. Works should surface all the feelings, or the financial and legal impacts despite or in consideration of an opening disclaimer of using, without consent, an obscure family name, or other comparable, arguably unique in the Toronto art world, for a high production fictional media work.
Submissions accepted on-going.
Paola Poletto has over 25 years of experience in the visual art, design and museums fields. Her practice is focused on creating experiences that meaningfully affects people, while leveraging her own studio interests in photography, drawing, writing and creative collaboration. Born in Veneto, Italy into a Toronto-settler family, Paola has exhibited and published several projects of contemporary art and design. See more at www.paolapoletto.com