The Sunshine Coast Arts Council (SCAC) awards evening was a festive affair at the Arts Centre in Sechelt on Oct. 26. The recipients dressed in their finery, the refreshments flowed, and Anneke Bonser performed splendidly on the piano.
The evening began with the SCAC’s annual general meeting at which Sheila Page was offered a lifetime membership in the Arts Council. She first became involved in 1966, and although she skipped a few years before returning as a volunteer, her contribution makes her their longest serving member.
The Louise Baril Award honours the memory of a musical member of SCAC who was active in the Coast’s concerts and programs. The recipient, violinist Simon Gidora, did not attend because of commitments in Calgary, but his mother, Dianne Gidora, accepted the award and read from his nominator, Patricia Greenfield, who had taught him from the age of five.
“He is a gift as well as gifted and deserving,” she wrote.
Michael Klein was in attendance to talk to the audience about his parents who lived in Roberts Creek in the mid-1980s and for whom the award is dedicated. Philip Klein was a sculptor who worked for Disney then switched to metal sculpture. Anne Klein was a weaver and spinner and Michael was happy to see that a fibre artist, Yvonne Stowell, had won the award this year, given to those who realized their artistic passions late in life.
Fibre artist Jennifer Love introduced Stowell, who is the founder of Fibreworks Studio and Gallery in Madeira Park. Stowell thanked the community of artists who have trusted her to show their work and said she looks forward to being in the Studio creating in the future.
Gillian Lowndes was a promising dancer on the Sunshine Coast and past vice-president of the Arts Council. The award in her honour was given to Janice Williams, visual artist and writer, and it was presented by her nominator Paul Clancy.
“I’ve been a prolific artist, yet am probably getting more money tonight than I’ve earned in my whole career!” she said. (Each award includes a cheque.) Williams went on to say: “I believe that art is love, that love is community, and that community is communing with each other. And you people are walking works of art personified.”
She enumerated many of the inspirational and artistic folks on the Coast who give back to their community and who have been touchstones in her life. As a final gesture she displayed a hand-knitted coat for her dog, Moose, that had been made especially for her by fibre artist Verna Chan.
