Runaway Moon Theatre’s Cathy Stubington and mixed-media artist Judy Sims have joined the likes of Chris Cran, Steve Mennie and Gail Anderson-Dargatz as recipients of the Marie Manson Memorial Arts Award.
Stubington is known for her ambitious community plays and original productions as artistic director with Runaway Moon.
“Community contribution is the way I think of artistic practice,” says Stubington. “I believe it is vital that people in communities get together through common cultural practice.”
Stubington says she hopes to use the award to undertake a smaller-scale project that would allow for reflection, or perhaps to finance a directing tutorial with James F. Tait.
“I would like to spend less time organizing things, and more time using my hands, to refine my puppetry skills through simple yet beautiful shows,” Stubington adds.
Sims, a visual artist who works primarily in acrylics, views art as a method of storytelling.
“Having spent the past 20 years telling the story of art as a process, I have recently expanded my experience to include art as a product,” says Sims, who has worked to share the value of art as a method of storytelling with at-risk youth and other marginalized community groups.
Sims would like to use the award to participate in workshops and retreats on Gabriola Island, her goals include a two-year commitment to produce and show her work, and to achieve the next level with the Federation of Canadian Artists.
Another Shuswap artist, Hannah Gomme, will be getting some assistance to help further her music career.
Gomme is this year’s recipient of the Blair Borden Memorial Award. Gomme is a talented vocalist who will be attending the UBC Bachelor of Music Voice Performance program in the fall.
Gomme has been singing in festivals and concerts, and has already received several awards. Last year she organized a benefit concert at the SAGA Public Art gallery, through which she managed to raise $400 for Free the Children.