The City of St. Catharines is excited to announce its 2024 St. Catharines Arts Awards nominees, recognizing some of the community's most talented creatives and their supporters. These outstanding individuals and organizations will be honoured at a celebration on Nov. 3, 2024, at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (FOPAC).

This year, an impressive 41 nominees are recognized across four categories: Arts in Education, Emerging Artist, Established Artist, and Making a Difference. Additionally, a special Patron of the Arts Award will be presented to a distinguished supporter of the arts. The Awards Ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. in FOPAC's Robertson Theatre.

SCAA is proud to announce 10 of its members have been nominated in the following categories:
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Nominees for the 'Arts in Education Award', presented to an individual, collective or organization committed to engaging residents through arts education activities include SCAA's Anne Reimer:

Anne Reimer (she / her)

Anne's paintings show a remarkable sense of colour, love, and understanding of nature. Her inspirations come from the beauty of area scenes and travels, depicting barns, mills, and capturing still life from her garden.

Anne was born in Paraguay, South America, and immigrated to Canada in 1955 at the age of 16. Her art training from Art Instruction Schools Home Study Course has helped her gain much understanding of the fundamentals of art. Feeling a deep love for fine art, she has been inspired to perfect her technique in oil, watercolour, and mixed media.

Over the past 45 years, Anne has exhibited in a variety of shows and galleries. Her works are displayed in many homes in Canada, the United States, and many other countries. Her paintings have gained her much recognition, including promoting the Pelham Art Show on the front cover of the St. Catharines Standard. She was also chosen to paint schools for the Niagara District School Board over a period of five years.
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Nominees for the 'Emerging Artist Award' is presented to an emerging St. Catharines artist working in any discipline, include SCAA's Tamara Lynn Sutton.

Shelley Locke (she / her)

Shelley is a creative with immeasurable ideas and finite time. Born with profound hearing loss, Shelley finds comfort in the stillness of her studio and the onomatopoeia of her brush strokes. She may be deaf but she hears colour.

Shelley is an award winning eco artist and poet, born and raised in St. Catharines, with art on utility boxes in Hamilton and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Her hope is that someone loves a piece as much as she does. Collectors of Shelley's art range from Dufferin County to the Golden Horseshoe.

Three years in a row The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce / NEXT Niagara chose Shelley's work for their Priceless Fundraiser Auction. Shelley's ECO Art, 'Only An Elephant Needs Ivory' won first place in the Links for Greener Learning's Eco Art Challenge. In 2019 Shelley's piece 'Ode to T-Cats' was chosen by the City of Hamilton for their Traffic Signal Box Wrap Public Art Project. In 2020 'The Glen' and in 2024 'Evening Voyage' were chosen for the Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro Box Beautification Competition. A two-time winner in the Mayor's Annual Poetry Challenge and Brock University's UNESCO's Annual Sustainability Poetry Contest.

Tamara Lynn Sutton (she / her)

Tamara was born and raised in St. Catharines and her works are inspired by nature and the beauty of the Niagara Region. Tamara's love of creating art started at an early age with her first exhibition going back to Kindergarten when a painting of hers was exhibited at Rodman Hall.

Currently, Tamara's medium of choice is encaustic, which is an ancient painting medium of beeswax, damar resin and pigments. She began working with encaustics in 2012 after studying under artist Jan Yates. Tamara has taken many online encaustics painting courses and is currently in her fourth year with 'Painting with Fire' (with 26 different artists). In 2023 she traveled to Ireland and attended 'The Essence of Mulranny Art' retreat to learn more about encaustics from artist Regina Quinn.

Tamara retired from her corporate position in August 2023 and is now pursuing art as a second career. Her first solo art exhibition held at Mahtay Café in St. Catharines in 2023 was a success, selling 11 paintings. At the 'Square Foot' group art exhibition held at Mann Gallery in St. Catharines in 2024 Tamara sold four out of five of her paintings.
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Nominees for the 'Established Artist Award', presented to a professional St. Catharines artist in any discipline who has received critical recognition for excellence in their art practice in St. Catharines and beyond, include SCAA's Matthias Bork, Preston Haskell, Brita Housez, Chandi Jayawardena, and David Rose.

Matthias Bork

MABO (Matthias Bork), born and educated in Bingen on the Rhine, Germany, is descended as far back as 1850 from a family of painters and artists. A professionally trained baker, pastry chef, chocolatier and food stylist, Matthias has studied art in Germany, Canada and Mexico. He became a full-time artist in 2000 but has painted continually since the 1970s. Between 2000 and 2023, Matthias created thousands works of art and has exhibited his work in Europe and America. Matthias specializes in non-objective mixed media; his style may be loosely described as Abstract Expressionism, but its fluidity allows for soupçons of surrealism, pointillism and action painting, using a great spectrum of assorted media. Matthias' style is readily recognizable, with a distinct "MABO" identity. With clients across the globe, Matthias' work can be found in residences and commercial establishments.

Preston Haskell (he / him)

Preston is a Master of Photographic Arts, a Fellow of the Professional Photographers of Ontario, and a Fellow of the Professional Photographers of Canada. Preston and his wife, Nancy, operate Preston Haskell's Millpond Studio of Photography. He and Nancy have self-published eight books: "Charter of Greed"; "Praetorian"; "A living work Environment"; "Children of Millpond", "News Alert Niagara" and three editions of "Portraits of Niagara", portraying the beauty of the entire Niagara Region. Millpond Studios has supplied images of Niagara to the commerce of Niagara for 50 years.

Brita Housez (she / her)

Brita was born in Germany and grew up in France and Quebec. After getting her BA from Acadia University, Brita moved to Grenoble, France, to pursue graduate studies. She resided there for several years before returning to Montreal where she raised her daughters and worked as a communications consultant before moving to St. Catharines about 30 years ago.

While dabbling with paint for many years, Brita's art took on a larger role in the 90s. Her painting style evolved from realistic nature scenes to impressionistic and abstract art. Her current creations are characterized by vibrant acrylic colours often combined with other materials such as molding paste, coffee grinds and crumpled aluminum foil. The varied consistency and luminosity of her work give her paintings a deep and richly textured look. More recently, she has incorporated her own colourful collage designs into her art and enjoys experimenting with pastels.

Brita gives much thought to the titles she chooses for her paintings, many of which express a social message or convey a basic human emotion. She uses her artistic skills to express feelings that people share when they experience not only joy and happiness, but also discord in love, war, and climate change.

Chandi Jayawardena (he / him)

Chandi's art is a narrative of his global odyssey to over 100 countries. Chandi studied visual arts at Ananda College in Sri Lanka, the University of Guyana, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica and at George Brown College School of Design in Canada. His early work celebrated Sri Lanka's natural beauty, while the 1990s saw him creating abstract pieces inspired by his time in South America. His move to the Caribbean in 1995, introduced impressionist landscapes and erotic line drawings. Since moving to Canada in 2001, his work has evolved to include landscapes and figurative art.

He held his first solo exhibition in 1994. Since then, Chandi has participated in 15 solo exhibitions (including three in St. Catharines and four in Toronto), and 32 group exhibitions across Sri Lanka, Guyana, Jamaica, and Canada. An accomplished author, newspaper columnist, and poet, Chandi published his twenty-second book, 'Emotions,' in Canada in 2022, featuring 45 of his paintings and 55 poems. Chandi currently serves on the Board of the Niagara Falls Art Gallery and St. Catharines Art Association as Vice President.

David Rose (he / him)

Born in Toronto, David studied at the Ontario College of Art and the New School of Art in Toronto, and later received a diploma in fine arts at St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Ont. He also earned a Master's degree in Canadian Art History from Concordia University, Montreal. He moved to St. Catharines in 2016.

David primarily prefers painting urban scenes, landscapes and occasionally focuses on specific themes such as the recent COVID pandemic. Although he has explored many different art media, his preferred technique now is acrylics on canvas or hardboard. As a legally blind, low-vision artist with age-related macular-degeneration, he often uses photographs as source material and employs visual aids when creating his pictures.

Over the years, David has exhibited work in solo and group exhibitions in both Ontario and Quebec. He is a member of the St. Catharines Art Association and the Visual Artists of Welland.
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Nominees for the 'Making a Difference Award', which recognizes a St. Catharines arts entrepreneur, arts administrator, arts organization, arts animator, or volunteer in the arts whose leadership and innovation have significantly contributed to the growth and development of arts and culture in St. Catharines, include SCAA's Helen Michlik and Brenda Sauder.

Helen Michlik (she / her)

Helen is primarily a self-taught artist working in pastels, watercolors, acrylics, oils, and encaustics. She has taken fine arts courses and participated in workshops at Niagara College, Mohawk College, and The Niagara Pumphouse Visual Art Centre, and has also studied the philosophy of art at Mohawk College.

Eager to pass along her knowledge and enthusiasm for art, Helen gives private lessons, oil painting classes, and has worked with schools for many years. She has conducted encaustic painting and life drawing workshops at The Niagara Pumphouse Visual Art Centre and has illustrated three children's books. Helen has also conducted workshops at the Walker Family Cancer Centre for their Arts in Medicine Program and led a Culture Days event there, leading clinic and hospital visitors and staff in large group paintings.

A long-time resident of St. Catharines, Helen has exhibited her works at various venues in Niagara, is an active member of the St. Catharines Art Association and lifetime member of the Niagara Pumphouse Visual Art Centre.

Brenda Sauder (she / her)

Brenda Sauder is a clothing designer, painter, and sculptor, who enjoys photography and loves helping people. While living in Toronto she sold her clothing to stores across Canada and took courses in watercolour painting.

Brenda moved to St. Catharines in 2007, became a member of the St. Catharines Art Association (SCAA) in 2008, and began her volunteer work as the "Social Director," humorously calling her job the "coffee and cookie lady." Eventually, she held positions as President and Treasurer. Her creative visions brought new and exciting shows and opportunities for the SCAA. As President, Brenda applied for ArtsVest landing a sponsorship with Millpond Studios where SCAA members held four-day art shows every spring for three years.

Brenda was instrumental in organizing a three-day "Art Lovers" art show at Hernder Estate Winery for 4 years, with many members volunteering to help. Bus trips, guest speakers, demos, and movies were brought to the members at the monthly meetings. Membership tripled during those years to over 100 and so many friends were made. Now in its seventy-third year, Brenda feels truly blessed that she was able to give 16 years of service to such a great organization.
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More information on the St. Catharines Arts Awards, complete list of nominees, and ticket reservations can be found in the link below:

Website: www.stcatharines.ca/en/news/city-announces-2024-st-catharines-arts-awards-nominees.aspx