The Sunshine Coast Arts Council oversees a number of Annual Awards, funded through generous donations made to various endowments managed by the Sunshine Coast Foundation. Recipients are selected by a committee, based on community recommendations.
Below are our 2021/22 recipients.
The Gillian Lowndes Memorial Award: Jessica Silvey
Jessica Silvey grew up with her paternal Grandmother, spending many hours in the forest. It is still her favourite place to be, surrounded by cedar trees and silence. Her love of Coast Salish Basketry comes from the cedar root baskets in her Grandmother’s home, baskets of various shapes, sizes and patinas that were woven by her Aunts and Grandmothers. She harvests and prepares her own materials as well as traditional plants for dyes and medicines. Her love for weaving and fibre arts, coupled with a background in museum curating inspired her concept for a unique Weaving Studio. In 2016 she opened Red Cedar Woman Weaving Studio (an art, craft and lifestyle studio) where she facilitates immersive weaving workshops in Coast Salish basketry, Salish weaving on the floor loom and harvesting traditional use plants for dyes and medicines. Through Red Cedar Woman Weaving Studio, Jessica also offers workshops in macrame, tapestry weaving, natural dyes and medicines as well as hosts guest artists to facilitate their own unique craft workshops.
Frances Wasserlein Community Leadership in Arts & Culture Award: Jane Davidson
Jane Davidson has been the Artistic and Executive Director of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Art since 2007. Prior to that she commuted to Vancouver where she was General Manager of the Vancouver Writers Festival. Jane and her family have lived on the Sunshine Coast for almost 30 years.
Louise Baril Memorial Music Award: SPāDE
SPāDE is a 17-year-old drummer who originally enrolled in ukulele lessons at Steve Wright’s studio in Sechelt at the age of nine. A year later, they started playing the drumkit. SPāDE recently released an album with Steve Wright called: Title the document. This is a culmination of an eight-year collaboration that began with music instruction leading to a full-fledged creative partnership. SPāDE is scheduled to perform next at the Rogue Arts Festival on August 20th.
The Anne and Philip Klein Visual Arts Award: Eleanor Mae
Eleanor Mae is a photographer who works in both film and digital photography. She has been a member of the SCAC since 2000 and has submitted works to our Friends of the Gallery Exhibition continually since 2000. She is drawn to the patterns and beauty in the natural world, and with the unexpected ephemeral images that the camera captures.