<div dir="ltr"><div><p class=""><span class=""><b>Announcing the Winners of the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards </b></span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">On Saturday, May 28th the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards were held. 13 awards were given out at this sold out event hosted by the Habitat in downtown Kelowna.</span></p>
<p class=""><span class=""></span><< For Immediate Release: May 30th, 2016 - Kelowna, BC >></p><p class=""><br></p><p class=""><span class=""><b>Announcing the Winners of the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards </b></span></p><p class=""><span class="">On Saturday, May 28th the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards were held. 13 awards were given out at this sold out event hosted by the Habitat in downtown Kelowna.</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">And the winners are: </span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Visual Arts: Laurie Koss</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Dance : Janessa McGrath</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Music: Andrew Judah</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Literature: Michael V. Smith</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Theatre: Robert Mason-Brown</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Time Based Media: Todd Ramsay</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Applied Arts: Art Felt Collaborative</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Art & Business: Carrie Mayhew</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Business Supporter: The Heritage Retirement Residence</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Emerging Artist: Kelsie Balehowsky</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Innovation: Opera Kelowna</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Community Impact: Lake Country Art Gallery</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Sharon McCoubrey</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Each winner was vetted for their accomplishments according to a set of criteria created by ARTCSO to recognize, foster and encourage excellence in the arts: </span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Public Presentation – work that has been publicly presented and acknowledged by cultural institutions, organizations or other outstanding practitioners (local,regional, national or international)</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Peer Recognition – attained a level of artistic excellence in their chosen discipline as recognized and acknowledged by other practitioners in that same discipline</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Community Engagement – how the community and practitioner have previously and/or currently engage with each other – their ideas and their work – as demonstrated by any or all of the following: gained local media attention, favourable peer review, quoted in other sources and/or by other practitioners cultural event attendance, created learning opportunities, like workshops and lectures</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Leadership – practitioner is recognized in the community as a leader in their discipline and/or nomination category</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">Extended Reach – how the artistic practitioner is putting the Central Okanagan on the map regionally, nationally and internationally.</span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">The winners were feted in style with accompanying performances by Wildson, The Trips, Lucy Hazelwood, Anna Jacyszyn, Loni Moger, Stephen Buck, father and son duo Graham and Aaron Ord, Leah West, Kelly Derrickson and DJ Wolfhous, as well as a live painting / performance by MC & Host Peter Breeze and visual artist Alex Ross. A big thank you to Neil Facey and Barbra Barrett for directing the award showcase and Glen Samuels of Mountain Lake films for creating all the videos of the winners. </span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">ARTSCO would also like to thank all our sponsors and partners who helped make this event possible: the BC Arts Council, BC Gaming Commission, Regional District of the Central Okanagan, Central Okanagan Foundation, JBF Sports, the Habitat, Cool Arts Society, Centre for Arts & Technology, Grant Robinson, Victor Poirier, Jonathan Matlock at Spun Studios, Kylene Hebert, Quail’s Gate Winery, Urban Distilleries, Opus Framing & Art Supplies, Gray Monk Winery, Custom Granite Works, Bulk Barn, Wentworth Music, Hudson Rd. Elementary, Steven Venn, Glenna Turnbull, Evan Eisenstadt - event photographer and Jordan Coble for providing a stirring first nations welcome. Last but not least, Gillianne Richards and Emily Hubbard for their leadership and organizational skills that brought all of these pieces together. </span></p><p class=""><span class=""></span></p>
<p class=""><span class="">For more information on the winners of the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards, please visit <a href="http://artsco.ca"><span class="">artsco.ca</span></a> </span></p></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px">Arts Council of the Central Okanagan</div><div style="font-size:12.8px">250-861-4123 // <a href="mailto:heythere@artsco.ca" target="_blank">heythere@artsco.ca </a> // <a href="http://artsco.ca/" target="_blank">artsco.ca </a></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><b style="font-size:12.8px">Located in the Rotary Centre for the Arts at 421 Cawston Ave, Kelowna</b><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><b style="font-size:12.8px"><br></b></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><img src="http://www.artsco.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/OAA-logo-buy-tickets.jpg"><br><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#990000" size="4"><b><a href="https://www.kelownaactorsstudio.com/shows/show/ArtsAwards2016" target="_blank">TICKETS NOW ON SALE</a></b></font></div></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font size="4">Join us on Saturday, May 28th for the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards</font></div></div></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>