Local arts supporters open their wallets
A few generous Calgary arts patrons are looking for some artists to support.
The Mayor’s Lunch for Arts Champions won’t take place until Feb. 21, but there are still a few opportunities for Calgarians to nominate their favourite artists for one of the five awards to be handed out that day.
Five different awards, worth $5,000 apiece, have been sponsored by various donors, including Sandstone Asset Management, Enbridge, the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, Doug and Lois Mitchell and the MacLachlan family and will be given out over the next four years.
The awards will honour everyone from artistic-oriented newcomers to community builders, and emerging artists to those wanting to grow Calgary’s arts reputation abroad.
Each of the five donors agreed to fund $10,000 apiece, each of which was matched by Calgary2012 for a total of $100,000.
“We had been gaining quite a bit of support from the private community,” says Calgary2012 executive director Karen Ball, “to fund programs for the Cultural Capital year, so we thought perhaps we could use some of our board leadership and some of our goodwill in the community and partners, to build a little bit of a legacy for CADA (Calgary Arts Development Authority) to be able to have an arsenal of awards that they could give out for the next four years.”
Nominations for the MacLachlan Family Community Beacon Award, the Doug and Lois Mitchell Outstanding Calgary Artist Award and the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society New Canadian Artist Award can find out more about the award guidelines by going to mayorslunch.com/awards.
“Calgary has tremendous momentum right now,” says Mayor Naheed Nenshi, “and our dynamic arts scene and the artists who call this place home are a crucial part of this city’s energy.
“This is our chance to come together as current and potential arts champions to invest in an aspect of this city that is truly amazing.”