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A senior architectural designer at the University of Waterloo, Brian Dietrich helped re-establish the Grand Valley Society of Architects executive and also manages its website. He serves as a Board Member of Waterloo Regional Arts Council and is a member of Arts, Culture and Heritage.
Maxine Graham moved to Kitchener in 1995, joined Waterloo Region Arts Council in 1997 and was President 2001-2007. Her position entailed public speaking, chairing board and committee meetings. She attended studio tours, exhibitions, fundraisers, artist and writer workshops, signed cheques and designed the office!
Kimberly Manning is looking to further her career in both the music therapy and music special education fields. She aims to do so by continuing to develop the company KiJengle, of which she is cocreator and co-owner.
After three decades of volunteer work in the local music community, Jean Narveson created The Music Times, a free bimonthly, region-wide classical music publication designed to promote music and musicians. The Music Times contains articles and a comprehensive concert calendar.
textile, fibre and quilting | AMY HALLMAN SNYDER AWARD
It has been an honour for Kathleen Bissett to participate in numerous exhibits but her most meaningful moments have been in the classroom, locally, nationally and internationally. Volunteering as a leader in major quilt-related events has been the ‘icing on the cake’.
Ann Marie Hadcock is a visual artists and community educator in Kitchener. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Windsor. In 2009 Ann Marie was awarded an Emerging Artist grant from the Ontario Arts Council and a SSHRC grant in 2005.
new festival or event | SCOTIABANK NEW FESTIVAL OR EVENT AWARD
IMPACT, a biennial international theatre festival, showcases national and international contemporary intercultural works. It creates a space for contemporary theatre, which facilitates the communication of cultural, social, philosophical and artistic concepts through performance.
The inaugural year of New Hamburg Live! Festival of the Arts attracted significant musical and dramatic artists and presented nine events. The festival presented concerts involving Juno winner David Francey, Grammy nominee Ken Whitely, classical comedian Mary Lou Fallis and Stratford alumnus Barry MacGregor, among many others.
Perimeter Institute Quantum to Cosmos Festival is an independent, non-profit, scientific research and educational outreach organization. In partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, Perimeter is a successful example of public and private collaboration in science research and education.
literary | Gowlings Literary Award
Hilary Abel is the creator of local magazines, Quatalyst and RQ. A long-time arts advocate, RQmagazine.com reports on regional news and events as Hilary strives to connect and enrich the lives of young people in our community through cultural experiences.
Poet, essayist and professor Tanis MacDonald is the author of five books of poetry, is a frequent contributor to literary journals, and is the winner of the 2003 Bliss Carman Poetry Prize. She is a popular public speaker and performer at literary and community events.
Pat the Dog Theatre, a playwright development centre, focuses on the playwright and, among other things, acts as a resource for both writers and producing theatres to further the art of dramaturgy and new play development. Pat the Dog works to create an active link between the production draft of a play and its staged production.
Dennis Yanke is a financial advisor who has served many individuals and arts-related boards for three decades. Witnessing the impact of divorce on families, this experience led him to pen his first self-published book Love Your Wife – Get Better Sex!
mentor | Wagner Livock MENTOR AWARD
Judy Allred has served on Kitchener Waterloo Musical Productions executive, as well as board member, stage manager, assistant stage manager, properties designer and creator. She has served: The Community Players of New Hamburg as stage manager, properties designer and technical assistant for The Singers Theatre and parent volunteer for the Philharmonic Youth Choir.
Leslie Bamford is a published writer of short stories, creative non-fiction, poetry and plays. She mentors local writers through creative writing classes and editing circles. Many of her students return year after year for more encouragement through Leslie’s inspiring classes.
Julie Baumgartel performs on both modern and period instruments with the K-W Symphony, Nota Bene Period Orchestra, at the Festival of the Sound and the Elora Festival. She conducts theKitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s Youth Sinfonia, and teaches at WLU.
Establishing connections within networks, enabling and advising all who wish to contribute to the cultural experience of our community, are part of the commitment of Brian Scott to the arts. Brian goes beyond and above his job to ensure support.
Tri-City Music is owned and has been operated by David and Moya Spruce in downtown Kitchener for over 16 years. It sells new and used musical instruments while operating a music school out of the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum.
leading edge
Meghan Bunce completed her Honours Bachelor of Music, in Composition from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2009. She has composed extensively for voice and theatre, and has had her works performed by Kimberly Barber, Nadina Mackie Jackson and the Penderecki String Quartet.
Brad Cook grew up in Kitchener Waterloo, graduated with an Honours B.A. from the University of Waterloo Theatre Arts Program, and most recently received his M.A. from the Movement Studies Program at The Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England.
Joel Cox has played Oliver in Oliver! a Drayton Entertainment production, been a member of the Children’s Choir in Joseph and the Amazing TechniColour Dreamcoat for Kitchener Waterloo Musical Productions and starred as “Boris the Bee Boy” in a Post Honey Comb cereal commercial.
A grade 11 student at Kitchener Collegiate Institute, Thomas Putman has a passion for singing, acting and the performing arts. Some career highlight roles include Tommy in Tommy, Ferdinand in The Tempest, Pep Squad 1&2, A High School Musical, Evan Goldman in 13, Diabetes in God and Roger in Rent.
music
Michael Brown is an accomplished pianist with over twenty-five years of musical experience and an appreciation for many different styles of music. He has been involved with several local community organizations as an accompanist, arranger, and music director.
Cheryl Lescom has paid her dues to sing the blues, performing with Ronnie Hawkins, Long John Baldry, Downchild, Jack de Keyzer and Jeff Healy. She has recorded 5 solo CDs, 3 with the Detroit Women. She’s an AMPA Award and the Mel Brown Award winner.
Top Pocket Quartet has been a driving force in the local jazz scene since the early 1990s. Performing to sold-out crowds in the region in recent years, they released their first CD of original material on April 9, 2010.
Mark Willms has performed for millions all over the world. From Dubai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Lulu’s Roadhouse, to performing in Oscar-winning “Lost In Translation”, Kitchener is represented brilliantly. His CD RELEASE embodies his proficiency and passion for music.
festival or event | CHRISTIE DIGITAL FESTIVAL OR EVENT AWARD
The KW Hip-Hop Expo displays hip-hop as a culture. With all 5 elements of hiphop on one stage, KW Hip-Hop Expos showcases the talent that exists in our community and gives our local artists a chance to be heard by a large audience.
Michaelmas: A Numinous Feast for all Angels is a production of the Chestnut Hall Camerata, a collective of professional musicians, poets, artists and other disciplines that produces collaborative music projects. Michaelmas featured a commissioned work by Timothy Corlis with numerous well-known musicians including Daniel and Barrie Cabena, Katherine Hill, Terry McKenna and Kevin Ramessar, conducted by Leonard Enns.
Perimeter Institute Quantum to Cosmos Festival is an independent, non-profit, scientific research and educational outreach organization. In partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, Perimeter is a successful example of public and private collaboration in science research and education.
Tooney Tuesdays provides a carnival atmosphere of crafts, face painting, stilt walkers and music. Free, quality entertainment on Kitchener Civic Square is offered every Tuesday in July to the community. It has something to offer for everyone.
visual arts | MFX PARTNERS VISUAL ARTS AWARD
Juan Bohorquez has been an active member of the arts community in the Waterloo Region since launching his business Cynosure Jewelry with his partner at Globe Studios in 2000. He has been a member of the Kitchener Arts and Culture Advisory Committee since 2008.
For the past four years Kelly Borgers has been documenting the changing landscape of Canada’s Boreal forest in an effort to educate others on the affects of man’s footprint on our planet and raise awareness of the forest in our own backyard.
Linda Brubacher has been a member and president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Society of Artists, started a rotating arts program with Township of Woolwich. She won 3rd in the International Juried Artflight exhibition at the Canadian Aviation Museum, Ottawa. She exhibits her work throughout North America.
The multidisciplinary projects of Swiss-Canadian installation artist Ernest Daetwyler have been awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, Pro Helvetia, Presence Suisse, the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, N.Y.
Kathryn Forler is a University of Waterloo graduate who has lived in Kitchener most of her life. She is an arts advocate and visual artist working in various media. Kathryn’s sculptures and paintings can be found in several galleries and collections.
Alumni of the Master of Fine Arts program at University of Waterloo, Sheila McMath maintains a studio practice in her Kitchener home exhibiting her assemblage sculptures at regional galleries and across Ontario. She is also the Director of Education at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery and an active arts advocate.
Sheila Macdonald Roberts is increasingly concerned about the ring of fire where she works every summer and the future of our Northern forests. Massive ore deposits, possible ecological disaster, natives worried about a raw deal and the destruction of the environment.
John Rula has been creating art for most of his life. By age 16 he had dabbled in fashion design, miniatures and models as well as a few commercial illustrations. At the University of Waterloo he pursued fine arts while mastering set design; he later focused on painting, sculpture and exotic jewelry. He has operated CircleWorks Gallery in Waterloo for over 20 years.
performing arts | HEMMERICH FLANAGAN PERFORMING ARTS AWARD
Helen Basson loves music and working in the arts. The collaborative process of staging an Opera and creating the perfect costume, or finding her own voice with the concerts of the Grand Philharmonic Choir feed her soul.
Kari Kokko has long been involved in the Kitchener-Waterloo arts scene in a multitude of capacities. She now focuses her energy on working professionally with a variety of arts organizations as a lighting designer, stage manager and musician.
Flush Ink Productions, challenging the boundaries of traditional theatre since 2006, has established four unique projects; She Speaks, women’s work, women’s words; Unhinged, Kitchener’s Festival of Site-Specific Theatre; Urban Scrawlers, promoting playwright development; and its signature event, Asphalt Jungle Shorts.
Pat the Dog Theatre, a playwright development centre, focuses on the playwright and, among other things, acts as a resource for both writers and producing theatres to further the art of dramaturgy and new play development. Pat the Dog works to create an active link between the production draft of a play and its staged production.
festival or event – community achievement | ST JACOBS COUNTRY INNS FESTIVAL OR EVENT – COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Performed in alleys, local shops, parking garages, garbage dumpsters and through the ventilation grate beside Kitchener City Hall, Asphalt Jungle Shorts continues to engage the Waterloo Region with its theatrical diversity.
During the past three years, the Multicultural Cinema Club Film Festivals has organized nine free film festivals. Audiences are treated to different cinema from around the world and close to home. A discussion is held after each screening.
The Old Chestnut Song Circle has met monthly since 1995 for open and informal community singing and began hosting concerts in 1996. In 2006 it settled at the Registry Theatre where Folk Night at the Registry has presented the best in touring and local folk musicians.
