2017 City of Hamilton Arts Awards recipients announced

HAMILTON, ON – The City Hamilton is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 City of Hamilton Arts Awards, presented last night at the Circuit 4.0 Collaborative Creative Space of the Hamilton Central Library.

The awards ceremony and reception celebrated Hamilton's thriving arts community, with   site-specific installations, live performances, refreshments and the announcement of the following twenty award recipients. 

Lifetime Achievement - Valerie Tryon

Valerie Tryon is a British-born classical pianist. Her concert career began when she was still a child as she regularly appeared on BBC and in British Concert Halls from the age of twelve. Ms. Tryon was one of the youngest students ever to be admitted to the Royal Academy of Music. In 1956, she was a prizewinner at the Liszt Competition in Budapest.

Since 1976, Ms. Tryon has resided in Hamilton where she was “Artist-in-Residence” at McMaster University and is currently at the Redeemer University College. She continues to pursue an international performing and recording career. Among her specialisms is the music of Franz Liszt, of which she has made a number of celebrated recordings. Ms. Tryon regularly appears on the local stages and at the Boris Brott Music Festival, where she always draws a large audience.

Arts Innovation - Claire Calnan

Claire is a theatre maker, actor, producer, and educator who has worked professionally in the national and international theatre community for nearly two decades. She has also consistently fuelled community-based projects. She is the founder of The AMY Project (Artists Mentoring Youth) and serves as the Executive Director of the Hamilton Fringe Festival.

Arts Education & Community Arts - Melania Pawliw

www.haofpa.com
A former ballerina, Melania now shares her love of dance with her students. She is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Hamilton City Ballet, and Associate Artistic Director of Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts. Melania is the recipient of the 2015 Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow Award for artistic contribution to the community.

Melania selected Masami Clarke as her emerging artist recipient.

Arts Management - Paul Lisson

www.halmagazine.com
Paul Lisson was born on Mahoney Avenue beside the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Hamilton’s north end. His family was made up of card-carrying steelworkers who played in bagpipe bands. Paul is the publisher of Hamilton Arts & Letters magazine. HA&L introduces local artists to audiences across Canada and around the world.

Paul selected Ryan Ferguson as his emerging artist recipient.

Dance & Performing Arts - Lori Le Mare

www.hamiltonaerialgroup.ca
Lori Le Mare is a visual artist and heritage art restorer. She is also the artistic director of and performer in Hamilton Aerial Group. The community and collaborative nature of aerial dance offer a balance to the solitary practice of her painting. Lori has been active in the Hamilton community for 8 years.

Lori selected Keisha Neoma-Quinn as her emerging artist recipient.

Fine Craft - Duncan Aird

www.airdpottery.com
Duncan Aird majored in Ceramics at Sheridan College, then did a six-year apprenticeship with Dundas potter Scott Barnim. This profound education allowed him to confidently open his own studio. He is a professor at the Haliburton School of the Arts and Mohawk College where he is also the technician.

Duncan selected Emma Smith as his emerging artist recipient.

Media Arts - Dan Zen

www.danzen.com
Dan Zen is an inventor specializing in interactives for social play, such as his mobile apps Touchy, Tilty, Droner, Trippy and Hangy. He codes environments in which others can create and augment their world. He teaches and gives talks on Creativity and is a proud contributor to the Hamilton renaissance.

Dan selected Andrew O'Connor as his emerging artist recipient.

Music - Kirk Starkey

www.kirkstarkey.com
Kirk Starkey has pursued a unique career as cellist and composer. Recordings Little Gidding (2011) and Songs of Sudbury (2016) showcase an original style of extended cello techniques and he has performed live with Quartetto Gelato and Peter Gabriel. He was also featured performer on Anne (CBC) and Flashpoint (CTV). Kirk was named “one of Canada’s most inventive Cellists today” by CBC Radio2.

Kirk selected Hanna Bech as his emerging artist recipient.

Theatre - Anna Chatterton

Anna Chatterton is a playwright, performer and librettist. She was named a top ten Toronto theatre artist of 2016 by NOW Magazine and won a Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Anna’s work has been produced by companies such as Harbourfront Centre, Banff Centre and the Canadian Opera Company, and was nominated for multiple Dora Mavor Moore awards. 

Anna selected Rex Emerson Jackson as her emerging artist recipient.

Visual Arts - Donna Akrey

www.donnaakrey.com
Donna Akrey is an interdisciplinary artist who currently teaches at Brock University. She received a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from NSCAD. She is part of the (F)NOR collective, Hamilton Perambulatory Unit, and Zula Presents Music and Arts Collective Hamilton, and co-founder of Hamilton Zineposium.

Donna selected Margaret Flood as her emerging artist recipient.

Writing - Bernadette Rule

Bernadette Rule has had seven collections of poetry published, most recently Earth Day in Leith Churchyard: Poems in Search of Tom Thomson, from Seraphim Editions. Her work has won the Eden Mills Poetry Prize, the Short Works Prize for Poetry, and the Short Works Prize for Creative Non-Fiction.

Bernadette selected Richard Van Holst as his emerging artist recipient.

Emerging Arts and Award Sponsors

Each award winner in a discipline specific category selected an emerging artist for recognition. Each emerging artist received a monetary prize of $1,000 to support the development of their work. Local businesses financially contributed to the 2017 Arts Awards Program to make these emerging artist prizes possible and representatives were on hand to present the awards and connect with deserving nominees.

The City of Hamilton gratefully acknowledges these organizations and the reception and in-kind sponsors for their generous contributions:

Emerging Artist Award Sponsors  

• Arts Education and Community Arts Award - Marz Homes
• Arts Management Award - Beckett Lowden Read LLP
• Media Arts Award - Core Urban Inc.

• Music Award - Mohawk College
• Theatre Award - The Incite Foundation for the Arts
• Visual Arts Award - Upper James Toyota 

Media Sponsor 

• The Hamilton Spectator

Venue Sponsor

• Hamilton Public Library

Photography Sponsor

• Banko Media

Print Sponsor

• The Printing House

Reception Sponsors

• View Magazine
• dpai Architecture Inc.
• ArcelorMittal Dofasco
• Collective Arts Brewing

Additional information & resources

• The 2017 Arts Awards Program is managed by the City of Hamilton in collaboration with Cobalt Connects, a non-profit arts service organization that connects artists to creative opportunities and spaces
• First presented in 1976, the Hamilton Arts Awards continues to recognize the vital contributions of the city’s arts sector and to celebrate the exceptional achievements of individual artists and arts managers
• For more information and high resolution photos of this year’s award recipients, visit www.hamilton.ca/artsawards, email [email protected], or call 905-546-2424 ext. 6281