About the Arts Awards

Media Package

33rd ArtsNL Arts Awards

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Labrador West Arts and Culture Centre

Labrador City, NL

ArtsNL announces provincial Arts Award winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saturday, April 28, 2018 (Labrador City, NL) – ArtsNL presented the 33rd ArtsNL Arts Awards tonight at the Labrador West Arts and Culture Centre in Labrador City, NL. Six awards honouring the accomplishments of Newfoundland and Labrador’s artists were presented, as well as the 2017 Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award - a special addition to the gala for this year only, which went to a Labrador resident, Alex Saunders.

The winners are: ArtsNL Patron of the Arts Award: Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union CBC Emerging Artist Award: Sharon Bala Memorial University Arts in Education Award: Eric West ArtsNL Hall of Honour Award: Jacinta Mackey Graham ArtsNL Arts Achievement Award: Beni Malone BMO Bank of Montreal Artist of the Year Award: Duane Andrews

“This year, ArtsNL was delighted to return to Labrador as we continue with our commitment to take the annual awards gala on the road every second year,” says ArtsNL executive director Reg Winsor. “The ArtsNL Arts Awards are both a reflection and celebration of the professional arts and cultural work generated by the many talented artists, groups, and arts organizations in Newfoundland and Labrador. ArtsNL is proud to play its role in fostering the creation and enjoyment of the quality artistic work generated through the professional arts and cultural sector, regardless of artistic discipline.”

“The arts awards were last held in Labrador in 2010 hosted by Happy Valley-Goose Bay, so Council decided they would come to Labrador City this time and we’re very grateful for the municipality’s welcoming hospitality,” ArtsNL Chair Stan Hill added. “ArtsNL was also happy to hold the province’s first ever indigenous arts symposium in Labrador in 2016, and we look forward to our host organization role for the upcoming regional indigenous arts symposium, Petapan, organized by the Atlantic Public Arts Funders scheduled for June 2019.”

Nominations for the awards are submitted by the arts community and the general public. Council members of ArtsNL vote by secret ballot to select the finalists and winners.

“Tonight we acknowledged the strong collective output, achievements, and successes of the province’s diverse and tenacious arts and cultural sector, which significantly contributes to the Newfoundland and Labrador economy,” Hill concluded.

Winners of the CBC Emerging Artist, Memorial University Arts in Education, ArtsNL Arts Achievement, BMO Bank of Montreal Artist of the Year awards receive a $2,500 cash prize and a piece of artwork. The inductee to the ArtsNL Hall of Honour and the ArtsNL Patron of the Arts Award receive a piece of artwork.

For information contact: Joshua Jamieson Communications Officer, ArtsNL Office: (709) 726-2212, ext. 203 Mobile: (709) 746-6531 [email protected] www.artsnl.ca

About the ArtsNL Awards

The annual ArtsNL Awards Show and Gala honours the accomplishments of Newfoundland and Labrador’s artists. Nominations for the Arts Awards are submitted by the arts community and the general public. Members of Council vote by secret ballot to select the finalists and winners.

The Awards

The ArtsNL Patron of the Arts Award 2017 - recognizes a person, business, or organization that has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the arts in Newfoundland and Labrador through innovative, community, or sustained support of artistic activity.

The CBC Emerging Artist Award 2017 - recognizes new and undisputed talent. It is awarded to an emerging artist, group or arts organization that has earned significant recognition for a piece of work or a generally out-sized impact on the scene.

The Memorial University Arts in Education Award 2017 - recognizes an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to arts in education in Newfoundland and Labrador over a period of years.

The ArtsNL Hall of Honour Award 2017 - recognizes a person, group, or organization that has made a distinguished lifetime contribution to the cultural life of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The ArtsNL Arts Achievement Award 2017 - recognizes a practicing artist who has made an outstanding contribution to the cultural life of Newfoundland and Labrador over a number of years.

The BMO Bank of Montreal Artist of the Year Award 2017 - recognizes the art or activity of a person, group or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the cultural life of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2017.

ArtsNL Patron of the Arts Award

Recipient for 2017

Newfoundland and Labrador

Credit Union

Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union takes pride in supporting the arts. NLCU believes that supporting talented and creative individuals, and organizations, at the local-level strengthens our province, and country as a whole.

The arts sector always brings people together, as it simultaneously helps with building a stronger sense of community and cultural identity. Whether it’s a local theatre production, concert, visual art exhibition, dance performance, or a writer’s retreat, empowering local artists and arts organizations has always been one of NLCU’s primary goals.

NLCU is proud of Newfoundland and Labrador’s people, heritage, and culture. The sense of caring and community is engrained in who they are, as is the idea of community development and social responsibility.

NLCU’s own corporate values speak to its commitment to the people and communities of the province and their co-operative goals are entrenched in everything they do. Those values include education, excellence, trust, social responsibility, integrity, empowerment, and innovation. With this in mind, NLCU continues to support various local arts organizations province-wide.

NLCU is a major sponsor of the bi-annual Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, which provides writers with financial support necessary to grow their craft and professional skills. Also, ensuring that children have access to the arts is a chief concern for NLCU. Each year NLCU sponsor’s the Tuckamore Music Festival’s Children’s Concert, as well as various theatre groups, musicals and Kiwanis music festivals throughout the province.

NLCU also supports emerging authors by helping fund Piper’s Frith Writer’s Retreat, which pairs aspiring writers with experienced local professionals.

NLCU is proud to offer its continued support to these talented individuals and organizations.

CBC Emerging Artist Award

Recipient for 2017

Sharon Bala

McClelland & Stewart Senior Editor Anita Chong wrote that in her 20 years in Canadian publishing, she’s rarely seen such a meteoric rise for a debut writer.

Sharon Bala’s Globe and Mail bestselling novel, The Boat People, hit store shelves in January 2018 and is available worldwide. The Boat People has had an enormous impact on the Canadian literary scene, securing long list recognition for Canada Reads. The book earned Sharon the Percy Janes First Novel award in 2015, and she has been awarded ArtsNL professional project grants in the past to develop her work.

Her short story Miloslav received an honourable mention at the National Magazine Awards for fiction, and two of her short stories are included in the prestigious Journey Prize Stories collection. Bala has also won the Writers Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize for Butter Tea at Starbucks, and she will serve on the 2018 Journey Prize jury.

Sharon is a member of The Port Authority, a St. John’s writing group, and she is also a three- time recipient of the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters award.

Her short fiction has appeared in: Hazlitt, Grain, PRISM international, The Dalhousie Review, The New Quarterly, Room, Riddle Fence, and in a collection called Racket: New Writing from Newfoundland.

Memorial University

Arts in Education Award

Recipient for 2017

Eric West

Eric West is a guitarist, composer and publisher based in Ladle Cove in Notre Dame Bay. He has performed and recorded with classical ensembles, folk groups, and the children’s music duo Heather and Eric. Since 1988 Eric has performed as half of that duo and together they’ve toured through Canada and the US. Heather and Eric have recorded three albums and were featured in five TV specials. In 1996 they wrote and recorded the children’s book and CD Wind Over Dark Tickle (published by Breakwater Books and heard on CBC). They were co-winners of the Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Achievement Award in 1994, and recipients of the 1993 Writers Award from the Outdoor Writers of America, for the TV special No Small Wonder done for CBC television.

Eric has composed and arranged music for radio, television and stage with credits that include Sesame Street in 1991, the 1984 ArtsNL Arts Awards, and Land and Sea. He has published a guitar method book and CD, seven anthologies of folk song arrangements of Newfoundland and Labrador song standards, and one for children’s songs. In 1999, Eric was the Musician in Residence for Gros Morne National Park, which led to Gros Morne – A Musical Journey, a CD- ROM featuring music, songs and images inspired by Gros Morne National Park.

In 2007, he received the ArtsNL Arts Achievement award, following a tour of Ireland he did with the Potluck Singers – a community choir that performs in hospitals, nursing homes and other venues around the province.

He also leads workshops at schools and music camps. In 2001 Eric started the Vinland Music Camp – an annual week-long workshop dedicated to teaching and preserving traditional music, storytelling and dances of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization incorporated in 2009, now runs the camp with Eric as the current president.

ArtsNL Hall of Honour

Inductee for 2017

Jacinta Mackey Graham

Jacinta Mackey Graham discovered her love of music while attending St. Patrick’s Girls School and Holy Heart of Mary High School. She would go on to earn a Bachelor or Music and Music Eduction from Memorial University, and a Masters in Theatre from Eastern Michigan University.

In 1978, Jacinta started the vocal jazz ensemble known as The Chantelles, which competed in and won a top prize in CBC’s Steps to Stardom competition. The group also competed in several gold awards in vocal jazz competitions at Musicfest Canada from 1980 to 1989. By 1993, Jacinta’s jazz choir called Girl Talk caught the attention of some leading jazz vocalists at Musicfest, which helped launch the career of Heather Bambrick who now works with CBC in Toronto and actively performs there on the jazz scene.

Jacinta directed, Cinderella's Slipper, which was her first musical in 1980 at Mary Queen of the World School. She then went on to direct Annie, Christmas on Angel Street at the school, and then she was hooked! At Brother Rice High School Jacinta directed Man of La Mancha, Guys and Dolls, How to Success in Business, and Damn Yankee. Gonzaga High School saw productions of The Music Man, Oklahoma, Wonderful Town, A Call to Arms, Damn Yankees, and Guys and Dolls.

Choirs under Jacinta’s direction have performed in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary, as well as at top international venues like Carnegie Hall in New York City, St. Peter’s in Rome, and Ireland.

Jacinta has been active in theatre with in St. John’s with Beothuk Street Players, performing in leading roles in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Juno and the Paycock, Out from Here, Beauty Queen of Leenane, Doubt, Blood Brothers, and Dancing at Lughnasa.

In 2013, Jacinta co-founded Atlantic Light Theatre with Doug Vaughan. Atlantic Light has produced large scale productions that include Les Miserables, Sister Act, Spamalot, Billy Elliot to name a few.

Jacinta has taught voice, musical theatre, choral, and jazz studies, to many students over the years who have gone on to excel in their careers, like Tina Maddigan (Mamma Mia), Krystin Pellerin (Republic of Doyle), Shelley Neville, Heather Bambrick, Petrina Bromley (Come From Away), James Daly, Liam Tobin (Book of Mormon), Billy Lake, Dana Parsons, Kelly Ann Evans, Stephen Maloney, and Nicole Power (CBC’s Kim’s Convenience).

After a 30 year career, Jacinta retired, but she is still active as a music adjudicator throughout the province, and maintains an active schedule directing with Atlantic Light Theatre.

ArtsNL Arts Achievement Award

Recipient for 2017

Beni Malone

Beni Malone is a dreamer of dreams, an innovator, educator, and purveyor of joy. A graduate of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College in the US, Three Schools of Art in Toronto, and L’ecole Nationale du Cirque in Paris, Beni has put an indelible mark on professional clowning and circus performing arts in Newfoundland and Labrador. His thrilling, energetic performances have entertained thousands throughout the province, Canada, and beyond. Beni has also mentored and nurtured countless artists who have gone on to make their own professional contributions to the provincial, and Canadian, arts and culture sector.

He has performed in theatre, television, and film. Malone has written a variety of acclaimed shows including Reunion at Purgatory High with Mark Critch, as well as All Fool’s Day and Wunderground for the Johnson GEO Centre. Known for his work as a professional clown, he began with the Newfoundland Travelling Theatre Company in 1974. In 1982 he created Wonderbolt Circus, to create world-class, circus-inspired productions with a special consideration to bring quality entertainment to rural communities. Beni saw a need for joy and activity in isolated places. In 2005, through Wonderbolt, he began working with the Innu Education Authority to create a circus/performing arts program for their students. He was also instrumental in setting up the Kamataukashiuat Arts Festival in Sheshatshiu and Natuashish that ran for nine years. Overall, Beni has collaborated with indigenous communities in Newfoundland and Labrador for over 20 years.

Wonderbolt’s circus show Tricksters was performed at the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad, and their circus shows Cirkzilla and Bolt Out of the Blue toured extensively through 2012 to 2016. In 2015, Wonderbolt opened The SPACE, an acrobatics and performing arts studio in downtown St. John’s. Wonderbolt also operates its own Circus School in St. John’s, offering summer and after- school camps – all overseen and nurtured by Beni.

In 2016 he began working with the Nunatsiavut Government and Northern Lights Academy in Rigolet to develop a circus/physical arts program along the remote northern coast of Labrador. Now that project is being expanded with the intention of including all communities in Nunatsiavut.

What Beni has achieved can hardly be measured. It’s in the astonishment and wonder on the faces of his audiences and the enriched sense of wellness and joy in remote communities of our province; it is in our hearts as we lose ourselves to the special magic that only a circus can bring.

BMO Bank of Montreal

Artist of the Year

Recipient for 2017

Duane Andrews

Duane Andrews has an exceptional musical ear and an adventurous spirit; he’s embarked on a musical career determined to unite genres that might seem to be an unlikely pair – swinging jazz and traditional Newfoundland music. His talented hands and sonic skill make the two not just work together; Duane Andrews makes the sounds soar.

The Juno award winning producer, composer, guitarist and international performer’s discography starts with the release of his debut album in 2004, which led to the multiple award winning Crocus of 2006, then Raindrops in 2008 - which features a collaboration with the Atlantic String Quartet.

In 2010 and 2012 Andrews did two albums with Cape Breton master fiddler Dwayne Côté. Other notable collaborations include Charlie’s Boogie in 2013 with bluegrass guitarist/singer/songwriter extraordinaire Craig Young; that evolved into Fretboard Journey some three years later with the addition of fellow Newfoundland guitarists Sandy Morris and Gordon Quinton.

Duane returned to solo work with his next album, Conception Bay in 2015, and released The Mallard Cottage Sessions in the same year with accordionist Aaron Collis. As a member of the children’s group The Swinging Belles, he also released More Sheep, Less Sleep in 2015.

Andrews is also an oft sought film score composer, with his music featured in Relative Happiness, Avon Ladies – Rural Style, Sadie, Life Below Zero, Crocuses and more.

Artwork by Stefanie Smith

Stefanie Smith is an Ontario-born artist now based in St. John's. She earned her BFA (Visual) from Memorial University in 2007, and completed the Ceramics Certificate Program at Haliburton School of The Arts in 2011.

Stefanie's current work explores alternative firing techniques, with a special focus on pattern, ornament, and surface treatment. She is drawn to the ceramic medium because of the intimacy it allows her in the creative process. Every step must be carefully considered and planned for, but never so much so that it compromises spontaneity or intuition. While creating with clay she keeps fully focused on her material; what it feels like, how it moves, and where it wants to go. Through this the process becomes not just an intimate experience, but a spiritual one.

To communicate this sense of intimate spirituality Stefanie explores forms that urge the viewer to hold and caress them. They’re frequently decorated with ornate imagery that’s symbolic in nature, with use of repetition and fragmentation that encourages the viewer to look more closely, and from all angles.

Her work has been a part of 15 group exhibitions, including two shows that exhibited in New Zealand. Her work has also been displayed in Ontario and Nova Scotia, as well as in a number of St. John’s galleries.

Smith has created a series of six ceramic tiles inspired by her Clearing the Ashes collection which she did a solo exhibition with at the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador in the Annex Gallery in 2015. The collection of tiles interlinks to form one unified artwork to highlight the connectedness of the arts sector and the Newfoundland and Labrador cultural identity. Of the work, Stefanie says, “every artist being honoured at this awards gala is being recognized for their unique contributions to the arts sector, and through this they are being embraced by a beautiful community of highly skilled, talented, and one of a kind creators.”