Earlier today (May 25), the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) handed out the inaugural Peterborough Arts Awards at The Mayor’s Luncheon for the Arts at McDonnel St. Activity Centre in Peterborough.
Six awards of $2,000 each were presented for outstanding achievement in the arts. Funding for the awards has been provided by sponsors through the efforts of Bill Lockington of LLF Lawyers, who led the sponsorship campaign to successfully raise $60,000 to support each of the awards over five years.
The awards were open to professional artists and arts supporters in any discipline living in the city and county of Peterborough. Almost 50 nominations were received, with winners selected by a peer assessment jury comprising Caroline Langill, Nadine Changfoot, Jonathan Bennett, and Rob Fortrin.
The Mayor’s Luncheon for the Arts featured performances by Curtis Driedger, Two of Strings, Unity Singers, Justin Million, and Beau Dixon, with remarks by EC3 executive director Su Ditta, EC3 president and Public Energy artistic director Bill Kimball, Bill Lockington, and City of Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett, who was the event’s honourary patron.
“Peterborough has a thriving, vibrant arts community that contributes to the exceptional quality of life in our region,” said Mayor Bennett.
“In galleries, performance venues and public spaces, artists help to define who we are as a community. They express. They reflect. They inspire. The Peterborough Arts Awards allow us to come together as a community to recognize excellence in the arts that benefits the social, cultural and economic well-being of our city.”
Over lunch, Wandy Nanimbush, Curator of Indigenous Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, delivered a keynote address.
Her address was followed by the presentation of the Bierk Art Fund Bursary Awards for post-secondary students in the visual arts. The four $500 bursary awards were made possible with support from the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough’s Bierk Art Fund, established to honour the memory and celebrate the life of Peterborough resident Liz Bierk, wife of renowned artist David Bierk.
One of the Bierks’ sons, artist Alex Bierk, presented the awards to Jemma Woolidge, Lauren Kenzora, Dasha Egudkina, and Miles Hamilton.
After lunch, Su Ditta and Kate Story announced the shortlist of Peterborough Arts Awards finalists in each award category, with short videos describing each finalist’s contribution to the arts, before the winners were announced:
Melody Thomas (Music) – Outstanding Emerging Artist (Sponsor: Merit Realty)
Brad Brackenridge (Theatre) – Outstanding Mid-Career Artist (Sponsors: Betty and Bill Morris)
Robert Winslow (Theatre) – Outstanding Senior Artist (Sponsor: BrandHealth)
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Writing) – Outstanding Achievement by an Indigenous Artist (Sponsor: LLF Lawyers)
Krista English (ReFrame Film Festival) – Arts Catalyst (Sponsors: Kate and Alex Ramsay)
Beth McMaster (Showplace Performance Centre and Peterborough Theatre Guild) – Arts Champion (Sponsor: Ashburnham Realty)
Local playwright and author Beth McMaster (pictured here with Danny Bronson and Len Lifchus in 2017) is best known for her work with the Peterborough Theatre Guild and with Showplace Performance Centre, notably the popular Spring Tonic services and the Legendary Icon Series which she presented with her late husband Stuart. Beth was instrumental in the creation of both the Peterborough Theatre Guild in 1964 and Showplace Performance Centre in 1996. (Photo: Sam Tweedle / kawarthaNOW.com)
