VISUAL ARTS

Jolene Mackie is a visual artist living and working Kelowna. She exhibits her work widely throughout the Okanagan Valley and British Columbia, and has work in private collections around the globe. Her current series of work bridges her fascination with the beauty in the world around us, and the magic of the human imagination.

DANCE

Ballet Kelowna is the only professional dance company in BC’s Interior. Ballet Kelowna presents work from Canada’s finest emerging and established choreographers and embraces the precision and elegance of ballet technique to create new works that captivate today’s audiences while also providing unique training and outreach programs.

MUSIC

Kim Kleineberg has developed excellent band and award-winning choral programs during her 26 years at Mount Boucherie Secondary School. Kim also formed the Spectrum Singers, a mixed voice, adult choir who have recently been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall.

LITERATURE

Matt Rader is the author of four critically acclaimed collections of poetry and a volume of stories, and his poems, stories, creative nonfiction, and critical writing have appeared in publications around the world. In 2016, Rader was the recipient of the inaugural Charles Lillard Founder’s Award for Creative Nonfiction from the Malahat Review. His most recent book is Desecrations.

THEATRE

Janet Anderson is an actor, producer, and stage manager who performs and stage manages for Okanagan companies including Fred Skeleton, Shakespeare Kelowna, Kelowna Actors Studio, Theatre Kelowna, New Vintage Theatre, and Powerhouse, as well as on stage and screen, winning Best Actress at the 2015 Ozone Festival. Janet is an active theatre community volunteer, sitting on several boards and participating in countless events.

TIME BASED MEDIA

Pinstripe Productions offer creative solutions, whether photography, events or video based. The company consists of Harvey and Sehra Bremner, respectively Pinstripe’s photographer and events director, rounded out by videographer Jamie Cottington. The three all come from large corporate backgrounds in the UK, deciding to change directions (and locations) to redress the balance between work and play.

APPLIED ARTS

Lucas Glenn is a Kelowna- based designer, artist, and sign painter. With a BFA at UBCO, he has helped organizations and local art galleries by designing graphics that both stand out and meet business goals. Fascinated by letterforms and communication, Lucas has been neatly and uniquely crafting hand-lettered signs and menus since 2014 for local businesses.

ART & BUSINESS

Shandra Smith is an artist/designer from West Kelowna who creates colorful photography-based abstract art. She designs for international home, fashion and hospitality industries and also licenses her designs to products like wallpaper, shoes and textile prints. Her “beautifully bold” work is being recognized around the world.

BUSINESS SUPPORTER

Milkcrate Records supports local and touring artists by presenting live concerts as part of their ongoing ‘In-Store’ music series. Kelowna’s community record store, Milkcrate provides musicians with a free venue, sound equipment, in-house audio technician, marketing and promotion. In 2016, Milkcrate presented 26 shows featuring 41 artists, and also hosted their first ever ‘record store sleepover party’.

EMERGING ARTIST

Immaculate is an Okanagan-based hip-hop artist, two-time VIMA winner and WCMA nominee. Immaculate has built a reputation for his raw and energetic live show by touring internationally with hip-hop icons, rocking festivals like COG and Keloha; and warming up audiences for established names. Winner of multiple world-wide songwriting competitions, Immaculate’s writing combines poetry and personal stories, delivered with flow and dexterity.

INNOVATION

Opera Kelowna commissioned, as part of their 2016 season, one of Canada’s most renowned composers, Imant Raminsh, along with Kelowna-based artist Jane Everett, to create an art installation that came to life with an opera to the libretto of Lesley-Anne Evans. This exciting new opera was performed at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna in February.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Bonnie Gratz is a director, producer, playwright and actor, as well as the Founder/Artistic Director of New Vintage Theatre and the pop culture festival KFX / Kelowna Fan Expo. A member of LMDA and Playwright’s Guild of Canada, Bonnie has written over 20 professionally performed plays, is an acclaimed instructor/resident artist who writes and performs in television and film projects, and is also a published author with an arts column called Bonnie On Stage.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Julia Trops is a multi-disciplinary artist and outspoken arts advocate. Kelowna Museums director for many years, she founded Livessence Society for Figurative Artists and Models, Studio 113 Cooperative in the Rotary Centre for the Arts, the popular Okanagan Erotic Art Show and is a founding member of the Suk’wtemsqilx’w West Kelowna Arts Council (SWAC) — which was instrumental in bringing the provincial launch of Culture Days 2016 to West Kelowna. Julia has written and published eight books, including the well-received Art & Money, all of which are in the National Library and Archives. Julia was also a part of the team with the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan that formed the Okanagan Arts Awards 10 years ago.