Image Credit: Contributed

OKANAGAN - 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:

1. 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.

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

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

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

5. 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 or Lake Country. 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, February 14th, 2016 at 9pm.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015