2015 Vancouver Mayor's Arts Awards Recipients Announced

Twenty-four individuals and one business are the recipients of the 2015 Mayor’s Arts Awards for having made significant contributions to creative life in the city of Vancouver.

On Thursday, November 12, the Awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre to honourees who represent a wide variety of disciplines, from performing and visual arts to literary and culinary arts. The winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award will be announced at the event.

Honours are also awarded in the Support of the Arts categories of Volunteerism, Business Support, Philanthropy, Arts Board Member of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.

Each Honouree in the studio and performing arts categories is invited to select an Emerging Artist in their discipline who demonstrates the promise of the next generation. 

Honourees, Emerging Artists, Lifetime Achievement and the City of Vancouver Book Award recipients each receive a cash award. Those recognized in the Support of the Arts categories receive a non-cash award.

The 2015 Mayor’s Arts Awards recipients (Emerging Artists indicated in parentheses) are:

Studio Arts

Craft and Design
Debra Sloan (Sam Knopp)

Culinary Arts
Alice Spurrell, Les Amis du Fromage (Jennifer Peters of Nextjen Gluten-Free)

Film and New Media
Cindy Mochizuki (Amanda Strong)

Literary Arts
Kate Braid (Rob Taylor)

Visual Arts
Brian Jungen (Ron Tran)
Brian Jungen is represented by Catriona Jeffries Gallery.

Public Art
Liz Magor (Devon Knowles)
Liz Magor is represented by Catriona Jeffries Gallery

Community Engaged Art
Renae Morriseau (Lorelei Williams)

Performing Arts

Dance
Crystal Pite (Lesley Telford)

Music
Veda Hille (Adrian Teacher)

Theatre
Margo Kane (Tai Amy Grauman)

Support of the Arts

Lifetime Achievement
Joy Coghill, C.M. 

Philanthropy
Leonard Schein

Volunteerism
Audrey Zaharichuk

Business Support of the Arts
Goldcorp

Arts Board Member of the Year
Jane Westheuser

The City of Vancouver Book Award finalists are:

Live at the Commodore by Aaron Chapman (Arsenal Pulp Press)
The Outer Harbour by Wayde Compton (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Hastings-Sunrise by Bren Simmers (Nightwood Editions)
Mister Got To Go, Where are you? by Lois Simmie and Cynthia Nugent (Red Deer Press)

Mayor's Arts Awards Selection Process

The Mayor's Arts Awards juries are convened by the Alliance for Arts + Culture. Honourees in the studio and performing arts categories were chosen by juries of their peers, consisting of previous Mayor's Arts Awards recipients. Honourees for Business Support, Philanthropy, and Volunteerism are chosen by juries consisting of business and cultural community members active in those fields.

The Arts Board Member of the Year Award is an initiative of the Society to Bridge Arts and Community. The Society’s board of directors establishes juries who select this category’s honouree, as well as the Lifetime Achievement honouree.

The selection in each category is made from nominations by individual jurors and solicited from the community at large.

The Mayor’s Arts Awards were established in 2006 to recognize local artists and their contributions to the city. Since 1989, the City of Vancouver Book Award has been awarded annually to recognize authors whose works demonstrate excellence and contribute to an appreciation and understanding of Vancouver’s history, unique character or achievements of its residents.

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