Seven Local Artists Receive Studio Awards from City of Vancouver

Photo via City of Vancouver

Local artists including painters, dancers, and filmmakers will receive inexpensive or reduced rent studios or live-work spaces from the City of Vancouver.

The City of Vancouver's 2015-2018 Artist Studio Awards enable the growth of artists' creative practices and further the City's objective to address affordable cultural spaces and support Vancouver's cultural community.

The Awards are issued to artists who have demonstrated artistic excellence in their discipline as well as financial need. 

Award recipients for 2015-2018 are:

• Matthew Brown, a painter who has exhibited widely in Vancouver, throughout Canada, and internationally. Brown receives a work-only studio at 1573 West 6th Avenue with $300 per month rent. 

• Daelik (Darin) Hackenbrook, a dancer, choreographer, and founder and co-artistic director of MACHiNENOiSY Dance Society. He receives a live-work studio at 8031 Nunavut Lane with $470 per month rent.

• Colleen Heslin, a textile-based painter who has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. She is awarded the live-work studio at 1202 East Pender Street with $440 per month rent.

• Soran Mardookhi, a film- and video maker who has completed two feature films, three short films, and several documentaries. He is awarded a work-only studio at 1571 West 6th Avenue rent free.

• Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo, an artist who draws, makes prints, and has exhibited across Canada and in the US, Europe, and Central America. He is awarded a live-work studio at 485 West 8th Avenue with $375 per month rent.

• Fiona Rayher, a long-form documentary filmmaker who is the artistic director and co-founder of the social enterprise Gen Why Media. She is awarded the live-work studio at 272 East 4th Avenue rent free.

• Carol A. Young, a wood carver, sculptor, and painter who has exhibited extensively along the West Coast. She is awarded the live-work studio at 8031 Nunavut Lane with $375 per month rent.

An independent jury selected the recipients after applicants were pre-qualified by the City's Cultural Services department based on financial need and a Vancouver residency.

The studios were secured through the City's innovative development and zoning policies. Negotiations with property developers often lead to developers providing community-amenity contributions that help create or expand facilities like cultural or community spaces.

Five of the studios will have terms running from February 2015 to January 2018, and two other studios are currently under construction and are expected to be available from January 2016 to January 2018.

For more information on the Artist Studio Awards Program, click here.