Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 Winnipeg Arts Council Awards. This year’s nominees came from a wide range of disciplines and reflect the diverse nature of the Winnipeg Arts Scene.
RBC On the Rise
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Frances Koncan
Frances Koncan is an Indigenous emerging writer and director from Couchiching First Nation, now based in Winnipeg. Her multidisciplinary avant-garde work deals with incendiary political topics in innovative, original ways.
Nominated by Anjali Sandhu
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Hannah Doucet
Nominated by PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts
Hannah Doucet is an emerging visual artist and educator exploring themes of representation through photographic experimentation. Although emerging herself, Doucet champions and fosters the work of her peers.
Nominated by PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts
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Jacqueline Harding
Jacqueline Harding is a dynamic and active artist whose performances run the gamut of musical genres - from opera to Motown to musical theatre and more.
Nominated by Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts
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Madeline Rae Hutchinson
Madeline Rae Hutchinson is a fierce young artist exploring the implication of sensuality on women's bodies. Questions of violence, friendship, religion and freedom are interrogated with work that is lush, intelligent, vampy and nuanced.
Nominated by aceartinc
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Philippe-Alexandre Jacques
Philippe-Alexandre Jacques is an incomparable young dancer and choreographer, committed to pushing the boundaries of his art through research and new choreographic works, as well as engaging the community at large through his passion for dance.
Nominated by Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet
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Megan Krause
Megan Krause is a painter whose work explores the interconnectedness of the Earth's resources, grappling with the discordant reality of modernity in beautifully realized metaphorical landscapes.
Nominated by Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art
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Julie Lumsden
Julie Lumsden is a multi-talented young actor and singer with a promising career in the performing arts. She also mentors the next generation of artists through her work as a teacher.
Nominated by Ginny Collins
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Kimberley Rampersad
Kimberley Rampersad's long career as a dancer, actor and choreographer has recently transitioned to theatre director. Her artistry, dedication and leadership qualities are being recognized on a national level.
Nominated by Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre
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Andrea Roberts
From San Francisco to Havana to Montreal, Andrea Roberts, an intermedia artist whose work merges sound, performance, video and installation, has shown and performed at art galleries and festivals worldwide.
Nominated by Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art
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Colby Richardson
Colby Richardson is a video artist and filmmaker who explores the relationship between technological obsolescence and death through video-sculpture, installation and by utilizing commercially obsolete video and broadcast equipment.
Nominated by Video Pool Media Arts Centre
Making a Mark
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Debbie Patterson
Debbie Patterson is an actor, playwright, director and multidisciplinary artist with a 30-year career of excellence on Winnipeg stages. She has deepened her commitment to serving an audience by building community through art.
Nominated by Prairie Theatre Exchange
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Alain Delannoy
Alain Delannoy is an accomplished and internationally recognized Canadian independent animation filmmaker who shares his passion with his students at Université de Saint-Boniface.
Nominated by Université de Saint- Boniface
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Jeff Funnell
An inspiration to countless students and colleagues over the years, visual artist Jeff Funnell consistently tends toward the unexpected, oppositional and unorthodox in his playful yet vital, wide ranging work.
Nominated by Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art
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Julie Hackett
Julie Hackett's creative skill as a film editor alongside her passion for mentoring and guiding young filmmakers makes her invaluable to Winnipeg's arts and culture community.
Nominated by National Screen Institute
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jaymez
With a multi-faceted and distinct visual style, jaymez has worked in the visual art, dance, theatre and music communities. His video work has appeared in international festivals, theatrical and dance productions.
Nominated by Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers
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Steve Kirby
Steve Kirby, for his outstanding artistic achievement of composing and arranging All Over the Map, an ambitious work of art blending cultures and genres with inspired musical talent.
Nominated by Head in the Sand
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Sarah Michaelson
Sarah Michaelson is a Winnipeg based DJ, educator and founder of Mama Cutsworth's DJ Academy for All Women and Non-Binary Folks. Revolutionary in her field, Michaelson's work champions feminist inclusivity, ingenuity and joy.
Nominated by Abigail Auld, Suzie Smith and Sarah Crawley
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Heidi Phillips
Heidi Phillips has established herself as a pioneer in experimental media arts, exhibiting on prestigious international stages, while producing a large body of work and contributing to the local arts community.
Nominated by Video Pool Media Arts Centre
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Suzie Smith
Through socially engaged and exploratory practices, Suzie Smith redefines print making. Using gravitas partnered with humour, she immerses the viewer in a magical world of possibilities.
Nominated by Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art
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Margaret Sweatman
Margaret Sweatman is an award-winning novelist, playwright and singer-songwriter whose work has quintessentially shaped an artistic landscape while contributing to a dialogue on identity and nationhood.
Nominated by Barbara Schott
Making a Difference
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Grant Guy
Creating art in Winnipeg since 1973, Grant Guy has helmed arts productions of mythological proportions, and quietly but determinedly developed and promoted Winnipeg art and artists of varied disciplines.
Nominated by Carolyn Gray
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John Gill
Under John Gill's leadership and vision, NSI has successfully brought national dollars into Winnipeg. He has navigated an evolving screen industry and changes in government while making a difference for local storytellers.
Nominated by Carole Vivier, CEO Manitoba Film and Music
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hannah_g
hannah_g is a "Winnipegger" from Billericay, Essex, England, and the Director of aceartinc. She weaves the fabric of Winnipeg's contemporary art scene, connecting artists through meaningful interactions and engaged opportunity.
Nominated by aceartinc
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Jaimie Isaac
Jaimie Isaac, freelance curator and interdisciplinary artist, has published essays, presented at conferences, sat on numerous boards, exhibited nationally, and is a founding member of The Ephemerals, an all-female Indigenous arts collective. She is currently the Canada Council Curatorial Resident of Indigenous & Contemporary Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Nominated by Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art
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Steven Leyden Cochrane
Steven Leyden Cochrane is a multidisciplinary visual artist and educator. Also a prolific critical writer of contemporary art, Cochrane has been responsible for connecting audiences to the local art community.
Nominated by PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts
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Arlene Minkhorst
Arlene Minkhorst, Director of Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, has dedicated her career to creating opportunities for thousands of Manitobans to enjoy the benefits of dance through her dynamic leadership and her own innovative teaching methods.
Nominated by Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet
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Usha Sharma
Usha Sharma is Winnipeg's first and only Kathak dance teacher, choreographer and mentor. Her artistic practice and tireless support of arts education have created a new Canadian Kathak.
Nominated by Manohar Performing Arts of Canada
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Thom Sparling
Thom Sparling has changed the face of Winnipeg's cultural landscape. For the past 30 years, Thom's "boots on the ground" dedication to advancing Winnipeg's creative economy has fueled his drive to promote, invent in and advocate for its artists and organizations.
Nominated by Jan Skene, Carol Finlay and Kate Vermette
Outstanding Volunteer Award
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Dianne Harms
Dianne Harms was a founding - and visionary - member of ArtsJunktion. She has since served as a Board member, Treasurer and general volunteer for the past 10 years.
Nominated by ArtsJunktion
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Alice MacKenzie
Alice is a stalwart volunteer, and shines as an MCO board member. She has initiated and managed programs that raise significant funds for the orchestra while building community profile.
Nominated by Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
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Gary Styrchak
Gary Styrchak is the longest serving Board member of Manitoba Printmakers Association in the roles of Board Secretary and Building Committee member. He has been instrumental in the support and physical development of what Martha Street Studio is today.
Nominated by Martha Street Studio
Arts Champion
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Drs. William Pope and Elizabeth Tippett-Pope
For over four decades, Bill Pope and Elizabeth Tippett-Pope have supported Manitoba Opera as board members, donors and subscribers. Their patronage extends to many other arts groups in the community.
Nominated by Manitoba Opera and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
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Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development Inc.
CAHRD's 12-year investment in the CBC New Indigenous Voices program, presented by NSI has resulted in 73% of grads working in the arts or pursuing related education.
Nominated by National Screen Institute