2014 Mayor's Arts Awards Recipients Announced

Twenty-six individuals and one business are the recipients of the 2014 Mayor’s Arts Awards for having made significant contributions to creative life in the city of Vancouver.

On Tuesday, October 7, Mayor Gregor Robertson will present the awards at 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 categories of Volunteerism, Business Support, Philanthropy, Arts Board Member of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.

“On behalf of my colleagues on Vancouver City Council and the citizens of Vancouver, I would like to congratulate the Mayor’s Arts Awards Honourees and Emerging Artists and thank them wholeheartedly for their leadership in making this such an inspiring, creative, and vibrant city,” said Mayor Robertson.

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. 

The 2014 Mayor’s Arts Awards recipients (Emerging Artists indicated in parentheses) are:

Studio Arts

Craft and Design
Mary Lou Trinkwon (Marie Horstead)

Culinary Arts
John van der Lieck of Oyama Sausage Co. (Roger Ma of Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar)

Film and New Media
Karin Lee (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)

Literary Arts
Daniel Francis (Michal Kozlowski)

Visual Arts
Elspeth Pratt (Laura Piasta)
Elspeth is represented by Diaz Contemporary Gallery 

Public Art
Al McWilliams (Cedric, Nathan, and Jim Bomford)
(Al is represented by TrepanierBaer Gallery and Equinox Gallery

Community Engaged Art
Paula Jardine (Candice R. Curlypaws)

Performing Arts

Dance
Jai Govinda (Shay Kuebler)

Music
Brad Turner (Matt Choboter)

Theatre
Nancy Bryant (Marshall McMahen)

Support of the Arts

Philanthropy
Marnie Carter

Volunteerism
Gladys Lee

Business Support of the Arts
Lawson Lundell LLP

Arts Board Member of the Year
Julie McIntyre

Lifetime Achievement
Al Neil

The City of Vancouver Book Award finalists are:

What Makes Olga Run? by Bruce Grierson; 
How Does a Single Blade of Grass Thank the Sun? by Doretta Lau;
Anatomy of a Girl Gang by Ashley Little; 
Artificial Cherry by Billeh Nickerson; and
Arthur Erickson: An Architect’s Life by David Stouck. 

Biographies of the award recipients and nominees are available online at: vancouver.ca/artsawards and vancouver.ca/bookaward.

Selection Process

The Mayor's Arts Awards juries are convened by the Alliance for Arts and 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.

Honourees, Emerging Artists, and Lifetime Achievement recipients each receive a cash award. Those recognized in the Support of the Arts categories, including Philanthropy, Volunteerism, Business Support, and Arts Board Member of the Year, receive a non-cash award.

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.