Playwright announced as winner of Judy Wapp Art Fellowship award

Fellowship award winner

Photo: Submitted

Marya Folinsbee wrote an original absurdist tragicomedy, The Mosquitos.

A Winlaw-based playwright is the inaugural winner of the Judy Wapp Art Fellowship Award, announced on April 20.

Marya Folinsbee takes home the new annual award — open to residents of the Regional District of Central Kootenay — established in honour of New Denver artist Judy Wapp who died Sept. 9. April 20 was her birthday.

“Deciding which application would win was a tough choice,” said David Everest, Wapp’s partner of 54 years and one of the organizers of the fellowship award. “Judy would have really liked Marya’s project, and that was important to us.”

The award — valued at $2,000 — is intended for practitioners in any artistic genre, including fine art, clay, music and writing. This year’s award will support an original absurdist tragicomedy, The Mosquitos.

“The Mosquitos is inspired by Rhinoceros, the 1961 play by Eugene Ionesco,” Folinsbee said in her application. “In Rhinoceros, people in a small town in France start inexplicably turning into rhinoceros. The Mosquitos follows a similar plot, bringing together a group of old friends. Rumour has it that people have started turning into mosquitos.”

A preview performance of the play is scheduled for Friday, June 6 at the Slocan Valley’s Vallican Whole Community Centre (3762 Little Slocan South Rd, Passmore).

Everest said applications for the 2026 Fellowship Award will open Jan. 1 and close March 1. The award is funded by sales of Wapp’s collages. The art pieces, and prices, can be viewed at https://visualchemy.net/.

Everest said any questions not answered on the website about the award, art purchases, or donations can be directed to [email protected].

• A celebration of life for the artist will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 8 at Nelson’s North Shore Hall (675 Whitmore Road).