[BCMA] Fwd: Richmond artist Margaret Dragu receives prestigious Governor General's Award

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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Richmond artist Margaret Dragu receives prestigious Governor 
General's Award
Date: 	Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:06:33 -0800



	

News Release

6911 No. 3 Road
Richmond, BC V6Y 2C1

BLACK_HZT_CREST&TAG**

*February 28, 2012*

**

*Richmond artist Margaret Dragu receives *

*prestigious Governor General's Award*

Innovative multidisciplinary artist Margaret Dragu of Richmond has been 
named as one of the eight winners of the 2012 Governor General's Awards 
in Visual and Media Arts. The $25,000 awards recognize career 
achievement in the visual and media arts by Canadian artists. The awards 
were presented today (Feb. 28) in Toronto by the Canada Council for the 
Arts.

"This is a tremendous and deserved honour," said Richmond Mayor Malcolm 
Brodie. "It's a tribute to an incredible life in art that has been 
characterized by excellence, diversity and longevity."

 From contemporary dance to burlesque to rap, from solo performance art 
to multidisciplinary collaborations, and from political activism to 
commentaries on motherhood, Dragu's work has followed a remarkable and 
unparalleled arc that now spans over 40 years. She has presented work in 
galleries, museums, theatres, nightclubs, libraries, universities, parks 
and parade routes throughout Canada, the USA and Western Europe. She is 
also a film and video artist, writer, blogger, choreographer, actor, 
radio broadcaster, fitness instructor and extremely famous cleaning 
lady, having led a unique labour protest at the Ontario Legislature 
where participants scrubbed, swept and dusted the entrance.

Her latest work includes performances and writings as the characters 
Lady Justice and Verb Woman. Lady Justice is a politically engaged 
rapper who often performs with Vancouver band Payday Millionaire and is 
found lurking around the internet, blogging or making appearances in 
graphic novels and videos. Verb Woman is a creator and harvester of new 
verbs, who sets up a station in locations like Vancouver's Downtown 
Eastside to sew on buttons and repair the garments of strangers. This 
simple reparative act is both intimate and healing, and often occasions 
the sharing of stories.

Dragu also maintains an art-life practice as a trainer with clients 
living with arthritis, osteoporosis, heart disease/stroke, multiple 
sclerosis, cerebral palsy and visual impairment---work that has 
culminated in a series entitled /Conscious Corpus/, an interdisciplinary 
investigation of the body and its frailty/resilience.She is an 
instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design and also works at 
Richmond's South Arm Community Centre.

"I am so very pleased that Margaret has been given this prestigious 
award which recognizes her immense talent and contributions to the 
discipline of performance art," said Lynn Beavis, who is Director of the 
Richmond Art Gallery and nominated Dragu for the award. "She has gained 
the respect of her peers and the many non-artists with whom she 
works. She really is a national treasure and it is wonderful that she is 
being honoured in this way."

A resident of Richmond's Finn Slough, Dragu was one of the inaugural 
winners of the annual Richmond Arts Awards in 2009 for Artistic 
Innovation. In 2008, the Richmond Art Gallery hosted her exhibition, 
"Marginalia: Getting Out of the House" with artist Pam Hall, a Canadian 
coast-to-coast collaboration that explored connection, community, 
feminism and domesticity.

The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts are Canada's 
foremost awards for excellence in these artistic disciplines. The prizes 
are awarded annually to visual and media artists for distinguished 
career achievement in visual arts, architecture, independent film and 
video, or audio and new media. For more information on the Governor 
General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts and this year's laureates, 
please visit *www.canadacouncil.ca* <http://www.canadacouncil.ca>.

- 30 -

*Media Contact:*

Ted Townsend

Senior Manager, Corporate Communications

Tel: 604-276-4399 Cell: 604-516-9585

Email: ttownsend at richmond.ca

	

*Richmond Art Gallery **
*www.richmondartgallery.org
<http://www.richmondartgallery.org7700/>180-7700 Minoru Gate
Richmond BC V6Y 1R9
Tel: 604.247.8300
Email: gallery at richmond.ca <mailto:gallery at richmond.ca>

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