News release

Nominations Open for Prestigious Arts Prizes, Awards

Tourism, Culture and Heritage (Dec. 2003 - Jan. 2011)

Members and supporters of the province's arts and culture community are being encouraged to highlight creative excellence through nominations for several prestigious prizes and awards.

The prizes will be awarded at the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council's fifth annual Creative Nova Scotia Awards Gala on Oct. 29, in Halifax.

"Nova Scotia is home to many talented artists and art organizations who strengthen our communities and help make life better for families," said Percy Paris, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "It is important that we recognize their creative excellence and acknowledge that they make our province a better place."

Nominations are being accepted for:

  • Portia White Prize, deadline July 15, is one of the province's largest and most prestigious cultural awards and is recognized as one of Canada's major art prizes. The recipient must be an established artist, either born in Nova Scotia or a resident in the province for the past four years. The prize is $18,000 and includes the opportunity to name an emerging Nova Scotian artist or cultural organization to receive a protégé prize of $7,000.
  • Prix Grand Pré, deadline Aug. 15, is an annual award of $2,000 for Acadian Nova Scotian artists. It recognizes creative or interpretive artists in any medium whose work reflects Acadian cultural values while demonstrating excellence and originality.
  • Community Arts and Recognition Award, deadline Sept. 15, is presented annually by the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council to a community that demonstrates the value it places on the presence of arts and culture. Funded from the Nova Scotia Arts Endowment Fund, the award carries a cash value of $10,000.
  • Established Artists Recognition Award, deadline Sept. 15, is presented annually by the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council to five artists considered to be in mid-career. Funded from the Nova Scotia Arts Endowment Fund, each award carries a cash value of $5,000.

"The awards presented at the gala are Nova Scotia's opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution that artists, as well as the healthy communities which support them, make to the well being of Nova Scotia," said Joella Foulds, chair of the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council.

For more information or to obtain a nomination form, visit the department's website at www.gov.ns.ca/dtc or contact Peter Kirby at 902-424-3422 or kirbypc@gov.ns.ca .