Arts Champions - Youth, Artist and Administrator

Now in its 14th year, BC Arts and Culture Week highlights the vital contribution that arts and culture make in learning and in life. As part of the BC Arts and Culture Week events happening around the province, we honour those individuals making significant contributions to the arts in BC through the BC Arts Champion Awards.

Three awards honour an artist, administrator and youth making significant contributions to arts and culture in BC.

This year, award winners will each receive original commissioned artwork created by three BC artists.

Criteria for Arts Champion Awards

• Who can be nominated?

  Nominees may be individuals actively working or volunteering to enhance arts and culture in their communities or those making significant contributions to the arts in education.

  Candidates may not nominate themselves. At the discretion of the adjudication committee, should there not be a successful candidate in one of the categories, a second award may be given in any one category.

  Current board members of ArtsBC, BC Arts Council and ArtStarts in Schools are not eligible for nomination, as well as past award recipients.

• What are the criteria for nomination in the Youth category?

  Nominees meet any or all of the criteria:
  

  Youth - Ages 19 and under

  • Is age 19 or younger
  • Is actively involved in arts and culture as a volunteer, through school or employment

  • Students currently enrolled in formal study of visual or performing arts (e.g. music, drama, dance, fine art, etc.) with a recognized instructor or institution
• What are the criteria for nomination in the Artist category?

  Nominees meet any or all of the criteria:
  

  Artist

  • Artists must be *professional, a BC resident, Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

  • Priority will be given to artists who demonstrate they enrich their community by serving as a mentor, leader, teacher, connector or those who engage with their artistic community
  • *An artist is considered to be a professional if he or she:
    - has completed basic education, which may have been an apprenticeship or internship, instruction from elders, study at an art school or university, or other forms of guided learninghas produced a body of work
    -is recognized by his or her peers through public presentation of work; and
    - would, if it were feasible, work full-time at their art practice
• What are the criteria for nomination in the Administrator category?

  Nominees meet any or all of the criteria:
  

  Administrator

  • Advocates for arts and stimulates support for arts and culture in BC
  • Communicates effectively about arts and culture in community and/or education
  • Demonstrates an outstanding ability to inspire, motivate and mobilize others to actively support the arts
  • Is actively involved in advancing the role of the arts as an essential part of education and/or community development
  • Provides leadership in developing partnerships to build and sustain the contribution of arts and culture to our province
• How can I nominate someone?

  Nominations will be accepted using the on-line form on the BC Arts and Culture Week website. Information should include background, achievements, reasons for the nomination and any supporting documents (i.e. letters of support, articles, etc.).

• What is the deadline for nominations?

  Nominations must be received by Friday, March 8, 2013. All nominations will be acknowledged by email.

• How will my nominee be notified?

  Nominators will be notified by email if their nominee is selected for an award. BC Arts Champion Award recipients will be notified by email no later than Friday, March 22, 2013.

• How are the awards chosen?

  A committee of professionals with artistic and/or administrative expertise from the BC arts community will adjudicate the awards. Effort is made to include adjudicators from different disciplines, as well from various regions of the province.

• When and where will the awards be presented?

  BC Arts Champion Awards will be presented at the public launch event for BC Arts and Culture Week on Monday, April 22, 2013 in Vancouver. Recipients will receive artwork commissioned by a BC artist as part of the launch ceremony. If required, travel and accommodation expenses will be covered for recipients from outside of the Vancouver area. For the youth award, travel and accommodation may also include a family member or chaperone.

• Press & Other PR

  Recipients will be asked to submit a biography and photo for use in materials i.e. press releases, website. A press release will be sent to the media announcing the awards. As well profiles of each award recipient will be featured on the BC Arts and Culture Week website.

2013 Arts Champions in Youth

• Dianne Ocampo

  

  Dianne Ocampo is an 18-year-old aspiring musician. Since first joining jazz band in high school, she has become immersed in music and the business behind it. Branching off from the jazz program, Dianne, along with classmates, formed a rock band during junior year and they are still successfully continuing the project today. Along with performing and writing, Dianne adopted the role of managing the band, booking shows and entering them in multiple battle of the bands around the Lower Mainland, as well as networking and social media online. The band, now called Shadows, has placed in several competitions, the most recent being BC's Best Teen Band where the group came in second. The band has picked up steam and following the contest, Dianne has booked gigs ranging from small punk shows at pubs to large festivals such as Surrey's Fusion Fest.

  Apart from the band, Dianne volunteered at Youth in 57 Minutes, a local youth-run radio show at Vancouver's Co-op Radio, as a music writer. She is attending Simon Fraser University hoping to major in Communications and incorporate the skills she learns to the music scene.

2013 Arts Champions in Admin

• Bernice Heinzelman

  Director, Quesnel and District Community Arts Council

  

  Throughout her career as a teacher and principal Bernice Heinzelman encouraged students and staff to be involved in the arts. She promotes the arts at every opportunity and is passionate about the arts.

  Since retirement Bernice volunteers for eleven organizations including Quesnel/Shiraoi Twinning (Director), Community Futures of the North Cariboo (Director and Vice-Chair), founding member of Friends of the Library Quesnel (founding member and Secretary), Quesnel Theatre Action Group. In 2008, Bernice was instrumental in working to get the theatre as part of the referendum for an arena and theatre passed. She was a committee member of the North Cariboo Multi-Centre Task Force and is now the chair of the North Cariboo Multi-Centre Fundraising Committee and is actively fundraising for this $30 million dollar facility. As the Director, former President, and Treasurer of the Quesnel and District Community Arts Council, she and has written several successful grants to ensure that the citizens of our community have an opportunity to engage in the richness of the arts. In addition, Bernice assisted the Arts Council to partner in projects with First Nartions. As a member of the City of Quesnel’s "Our Quesnel" Sustainability Task Force, Bernice ensures that the Arts will have a high priority in the long range planning for sustainability. In addition, she has made a presentation to the provincial government's Standing Committee on Finance protesting the cuts to the Arts, discussed the importance of funding with local, provincial and federal politicians, and many letters have been written to various agencies outlining the importance of the arts.

2013 Arts Champions in Artist

• Dianna David

  

  Dianna David is a multi-disciplinary artist known to fuse traditional techniques with the modern tools to create entertaining pieces suitable for any crowd.

  As a Movement Storyteller, she is a multi-disciplinary artist who has performed since the age of 6 with the Philippine Barangay Performing Arts Group. She made up her career after she quit an engineering career. Stumbling upon Physical Theatre in London, street performing in Vancouver, 3 Hip Hop Dance Crews, Clown Conservatory in San Francisco, performing all over Canada with her one-woman interactive video show.

  She is a Canada Council for the Arts $25,000 Inter-Arts grant recipient. She's created a mulit-disciplinary show filled with her contact juggling, mime, clowning, shadow and interactive play with life size videos of herself. She has performed her show almost 200 times in the past 2 years.

  Aside from her Hip Hop Birthday Entertainment packages, you may have seen her performing in such credits as: Visa commercial, Puma's DDR Promo, MacDonald's Avatar Commercial, Telus World of Science's Disney Exhibit, Tops and Bottoms weekly Improv, International Children's Festival, New York's Performance Mix Festival, Brief Encounters Michael Jackson Routine, Dances for a Small Stage, Fringe Festival, For the Luv of it and so much more!

  She is the 2 time champion for the Experimental category in the Roc Da House Dance Competition and intends to compete internationally.

  Dianna is leader in the community who inspires artists to follow their passion and create the life they want to live. Everything is possible!

  Visit Dianna David's website.