Toronto, May 6, 200 On behalf of the K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation, Martin Hunter is proud to announce the winners of this year's $40,000 K.M. HUNTER ARTISTS AWARDS:
LITERATURE: Ken Babstock
THEATRE: Ross Manson
MUSIC CO-WINNERS: Eve Egoyan, Martin Tielli
VISUAL ARTS CO-WINNERS: Florencia Berinstein, Kelly Mark
DANCE: Yvonne Ng
These awards for literature, theatre, music, the visual arts, and dance were presented to up-and-coming Ontario artists by notable Torontonian artists including, Dennis Bock, Aaron Davis, Ted Dykstra, Barbara Klunder, and Veronica Tennant at The Indian Motorcycle Café and Lounge in Toronto. The celebration began at 6:30 p.m., with the Awards ceremony at 7 p.m.. Entertainment featured special video presentations of the winning artists’ work and performances by a number of the winners.
The K.M. HUNTER ARTISTS AWARDS are designed to support and encourage artists who have completed their professional training and have begun to establish themselves and make an impact in their chosen field.
Every year five awards of $8,000 each are presented to artists living in Ontario in each of the fields of dance, literature, music, theatre and visual arts. The awards are administered by the Ontario Arts Council Foundation, a public charitable foundation that encourages and facilitates private giving to the arts. Winners are selected by juries of experienced artists from applicants recommended by Ontario Arts Council juries.
K.M. HUNTER 2002 Award Winners
KEN BABSTOCK
A Newfoundland born poet whose witty poems have appeared in Saturday Night, THIS Magazine, The Malahat Review, Sub-Terrain and PRISM international, among others. He juxtaposes images from everyday life with swift perceptive takes on nature to often startling effect. His first book of poetry, MEAN, was published in 1999 by the House of Anansi Press. Babstock has won a gold National Magazine Award, and MEAN won the 2000 Atlantic Poetry Prize and the Milton Acorn People Poet Award. His second book, also from Anansi is DAYS INTO FLATSPIN. It was short listed for the 2002 Winterset Award. Babstock has worked as poetry faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts. He will be attending the Rotterdam poetry festival this summer.
ROSS MANSON
A theatre director who trained in England and Germany. Ross Manson is the founding director of VOLCANO, a Toronto-based independent theatre company, as well as GO7, which specialises in multidisciplinary work. He has directed works by Wendy Lill, Michael Redhill and Sean Reycraft, among others as well, as texts by e.e. cummings and Buchner. He has also acted for theatre s across the country including: Blyth, Theatre Calgary, Canstager, Centaur, Neptune and Tarragon. He is currently working on a project with texts supplied by Andre Alexis, Thomson Highway, Paul Quarrington and Carol Shields.
EVE EGOYAN
A native of the West Coast, Eve Egoyan was trained as a classical pianist studying in Victoria, Berlin and London before completing her studies in Toronto with Patricia Parr. She specializes in 20th century music and has interpreted the work of Maria de Alvear, Gavin Bryars and Masahiro Miwa among others and has commissioned Canadian works and performed works by many Canadian composers including Ann Southam, Jose Evangelista, James Rolfe and former Hunter Award winner Linda C. Smith. Her debut album thethingsinbetween was selected for The Globe and Mail’s top ten discs of 1999 and nominated for a Juno Award in 2000.
MARTIN TIELLI
Recently voted best guitar player by NOW Magazine, Matin Tielli is best known as lead guitar and voice of the RHEOSTATICS. Italian born, but Canadian bred, he has toured extensively, written soundtracks and appeared with many leading Canadian musicians including The Barenaked Ladies, Ashley MacIsaac and Jane Siberry. His solo albums include Circo and Farmer in the City.
FLORENCIA BERINSTEIN
Born in Buenos Aires, the visual artist’s subject range from Jews in Argentina at Toronto’s Jewish Discover Museum to Vitamin Q, a visual art/theatre piece about historical moments in the gay, lesbian and bisexual and transgendered youth under 25 and involves the use of multiple site in and around metropolitan Toronto.
KELLY MARK
Educated at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Kelly Mark has had more than 20 solo exhibitions since 1992. Her work has been seen across Canada as well as in Taiwan, Christchurch, New Zealand, Chicago, Sydney, Australia, Madrid and Detroit Combining media from video, photography, and sculpture to graphics, installations, and soundscapes her work is an eclectic mix of images and ideas and recently been shown at the Koffler Gallery on Spadina Avenue. For more information visit: www.ireallyshould.com
YVONNE NG
Born in Singapore, she studied at York University as well as at the Beijing Dance Academy in China. She cites as influences Chinese Opera, Indian cinema and Hollywood movies of the 40’s and 50’s. She has performed in a variety of styles and roles in works by Danny Grossmann, Susan McKenzie and Marie-Josee Chartier. Her own company princess productions has produced three dancefilms and her own works garam shift, Brocaded Clouds and Blue Jade. Most recently she appeared in the experimental Hundun, with choreography by Peter Chin and music by Lee Pui Ming, at Toronto's Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
For more information contact: Janet Stubbs, Director, OAC Foundation
Tel: (416) 969-7413. Toll-free outside of Toronto: 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7413.
E-mail: jstubbs@arts.on.ca
OAC Media Contact: Kirsten Gunter, Manager of Communications
Tel: (416) 969-7403. Toll-free outside of Toronto: 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7403.
E-mail: kgunter@arts.on.ca