The 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards – NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN

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UPDATE: 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards

The Okanagan is showing a huge interest and response to the nominations call for the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards. The date of the awards has been moved to May 28th, and for the first time will take place at the popular downtown entertainment venue the Habitat in downtown Kelowna. In order to support the level of interest and the new date of the event, nominations for deserving artists and cultural practitioners has been extended to Sunday, March 6th at 9pm.

The Okanagan Arts Awards is run by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan (ARTSCO) The awards will bring together hundreds of the top creative talent in the Okanagan and their guests to celebrate a night of artistic excellence.

“We’re really excited about holding this year’s Okanagan Arts Awards at the Habitat. It’s a great networking event for artists, and anyone from the public can also come out to feel inspired and discover the huge creative skill set the Okanagan has to offer.” says ARSTCO board member Gillianne Richards, who hosted the awards with CBC’s Chris Walker for the past 3 years. “This year we’re mixing it up and trying new things, we want to give a fresh feel to the event and choosing the Habitat as the location is part of that decision. We want patrons to be able to get dressed up for a beautiful gala and also have fun mingling at a hip club while enjoying tasty samples from the food trucks we’ll have set up out back. It’s about bringing more culture to the Leon area and putting on a great event in the heart of town.”

The nomination process is very simple – submit the nominee’s name, email, and a minimum of one web link / url showcasing the nominee’s work. You can submit up to 3 in total. This a great option for performing artists – dancers, musicians, actors – as it allows the selection committee to see the nominee in action via online videos. The nominees finalists will have their names and work promoted before the show.

There are 12 categories in total for this year’s Okanagan Arts Awards.

7 Awards for Artistic excellence in 7 disciplines: visual arts, dance, music, theatre, applied art and time based media and 5 new award categories:  Emerging Artist, Innovation in the Arts, Art & Business, Business Supporter of the year and the Community Impact Award.

The Okanagan Arts Awards were created by ARTSCO to celebrate the highest levels in all disciplines of artistic and creative achievement. By publicly acknowledging the work of individuals and organizations, the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan places the efforts and contributions of local artists front and centre as an integral part of our vibrant community.

The 9th Okanagan Arts Awards nominations are eligible to residents of the Central Okanagan: Peachland, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation, Kelowna or Lake Country.

 Nominations close Sunday, March 6th, 2016 at 9pm.


New Categories added to the Annual Okanagan Arts Awards

Nominations are now open for the 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards.

The awards, put on by The Arts Council of the Central Okanagan (ARTSCO), recognize the highest levels of creative excellence in the Okanagan. Under the leadership of the new Executive Director, Katie Brennan, big changes have been made to the overall structure and design of the event.

This year five new categories have been created and nominations are being accepted for:

The Emerging Artist Award: acknowledges, encourages and fosters artists / practitioners who are early in their careers and have achieved a high level of professional quality in their work and demonstrate great potential for future works.

The Innovation in the Arts Award: acknowledges and encourages the exploration and refinement of new, and/or innovative practices in the arts.

The Art & Business Award: recognizes excellence in the combination of artistic and entrepreneurial practices.

The Business Supporter Award: acknowledges and celebrates a business that excels in their support and stewardship of the arts.

Community Impact Award: acknowledges the work of community groups who have created an artistic endeavour, project or work of art that has impacted the Central Okanagan community as a whole.

ARTSCO is also accepting nominations for Artistic Excellence in 7 disciplines: Visual Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Applied Arts and Time Based Media.

Other changes include relocating and revamping the entire ceremony. This will be designed by CATO students and overseen by ARTSCO and director Neil Facey. The physical awards, which in previous years were chosen from submissions made by local artists, will be created instead through a collaborative project with the Cool Arts Society and lead artist Lucie Parent.

The Okanagan Arts Awards were created by ARTSCO to celebrate artistic and creative excellence and achievement of artists, in all disciplines. By publicly acknowledging the work of individuals and organizations, the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan places excellence in artistic practice, front and centre as an integral part of our vibrant community.

“The creative and artistic soul of the Central Okanagan is alive and well,” says new Executive Director Katie Brennan. “The level of artistic excellence in the Central Okanagan is par with anywhere else in the world and gets better and better every year. We wanted change things up this year to have the Okanagan Arts Awards better reflect that. ”

The 2016 Okanagan Arts Awards nominations are eligible to residents of the Central Okanagan: Peachland, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation, Kelowna, Lake Country, Central Okanagan East and West unincorporated electoral districts (see nomination page for full details of electoral regions). The Arts Council of the Central Okanagan recognizes that these communities are located within the unceded territories of the syilx / Okanagan people.

All nominations can be submitted via artsco.ca  Nominations close Sunday, March 6th, 2016 at 9pm. 

The 9th Annual Okanagan Arts Awards will take place on the evening of May 28th at the Habitat, in downtown Kelowna.

GO HERE to see a list of previous winners