Dean Schutz is currently painting a mural at the small park on the waterfront by Wharf Road in Sechelt in honour of the District of Sechelt’s 30th anniversary. He earned this juried commission partly because of his record of creating colourful murals all over the Sunshine Coast. His Davis Bay mural is prominent; he’s painted the inside of the Roberts Creek school gym, the Halfmoon Bay school foyer, Shorncliffe, Sechelt Animal Hospital – and the list goes on.
On June 20 the Sunshine Coast Arts Council awarded Schutz the Gillian Lowndes Award for long-standing achievement, innovation and recent growth in his field.
“I am very fortunate to be able to paint public places: parks, schools, recreation facilities,” he said, thanking those who had given him this opportunity and asking them to keep supporting public art.
The Lowndes Award was created to honour the life and talent of Gillian Lowndes, a promising young Sunshine Coast dancer and vice-president of the Arts Council who died of cancer in 1981. The cash award is financed by government bonds donated by Gillian’s parents and by a smaller donation from the Arts Council.
The annual awards were handed out during the Community Foundation’s 2016 Granting Ceremony. The Arts Council was given a special place at this year’s ceremony in recognition of their ongoing investments with the Community Foundation.
Each year the Arts Council considers applications submitted by Sunshine Coast music students for the Louise Baril Memorial Music Award. This year it was awarded to Breanna Picard, bassoonist, who is studying for her degree. The award honours the memory of Baril, a revered member of the Arts Council board and program director of Countryside Concerts from 1990 to 1994. There are some tough criteria for musicians: those selected to receive this award must be undertaking advanced studies and submit a history of their accomplishments and proposed course of study.
Picard first heard the bassoon played live in a Coast Recital Society concert by bassoonist Mathieu Lussier. She was inspired to study the instrument and now attends the music department at the University of British Columbia.
The Arts Council solicits nominations annually for the Anne and Philip Klein Visual Arts Award, created in 2000 to honour the memory of the Kleins and to encourage artists to continue their artistic passion late in life. After active careers, the Kleins became art students in retirement, she as a spinner and weaver, and he as a sculptor. They settled in Roberts Creek and Anne Klein became a member of the Arts Council. The award is financed by donations from the Klein family, friends and other supporters. This year the award went to artist turned writer Janice Williams, also known as Junco Jan, her artist’s name.
At the ceremony, she told the audience: “It took me over two years to assemble this art book, and all the courage I had to publish it, and now I have 30 seconds to thank the Kleins for offering this award, supporters for nominating me, the jury for selecting me, and my friend for saying, ‘Just be Janice, get out there, and kick ass!’ Courage, creativity, and love are transforming my world, so thanks again!”
