On Saturday, May 28th the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards were held. 13 awards were given out at this sold out event hosted by the Habitat in downtown Kelowna.
The winners in each category are:
Visual Arts: Laurie Koss
Dance : Janessa McGrath
Music: Andrew Judah
Literature: Michael V. Smith
Theatre: Robert Mason-Brown
Time Based Media: Todd Ramsay
Applied Arts: Art Felt Collaborative
Art & Business: Carrie Mayhew
Business Supporter: The Heritage Retirement Residence
Emerging Artist: Kelsie Balehowsky
Innovation: Opera Kelowna
Community Impact: Lake Country Art Gallery
Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Sharon McCoubrey
Each winner was vetted for their accomplishments according to a set of criteria created by ARTCSO to recognize, foster and encourage excellence in the arts:
Public Presentation – work that has been publicly presented and acknowledged by cultural institutions, organizations or other outstanding practitioners (local,regional, national or international)
Peer Recognition – attained a level of artistic excellence in their chosen discipline as recognized and acknowledged by other practitioners in that same discipline
Community Engagement – how the community and practitioner have previously and/or currently engage with each other – their ideas and their work – as demonstrated by any or all of the following: gained local media attention, favourable peer review, quoted in other sources and/or by other practitioners cultural event attendance, created learning opportunities, like workshops and lectures
Leadership – practitioner is recognized in the community as a leader in their discipline and/or nomination category
Extended Reach – how the artistic practitioner is putting the Central Okanagan on the map regionally, nationally and internationally.