Mayors celebration of the Arts goes online for 2020

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Covid- 19  has forced the Allied  Arts Council to tweak their annual Mayor’s Celebration for Business and the Arts.

Gabe Thaine is among the performers at the Mayor's Celebration of the Arts, Sept. 10. Photo by Richard Amery
Instead of the traditional ticketed luncheon and awards celebration, there will be a free live performance, Thursday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m., which will be broadcasted on Shaw Channel 9 as well as on Youtube.
“We’ve been forced to pivot,” said Allied Arts Council communications manager, Kelaine Devine.
“So we’re going to be having live performances by Troy Emery-Triggs, dancers Claire Lint and  Catherine McLaughlin and local musician Gabe Thaine. This year we also have John Wort Hannam. They’ll be performing live from different spaces in Casa and they’ll be interspersed with the awards videos, She enthused.


“Troy is a dancer, performer  and visual artist  (He has created several of his own shows including ‘They Shoot Buffalo’ Don’t They?’. He’s from Fort Macleod who usually performs all over the world, but he hasn’t been able to because of Covid. So I’m really excited to see him.  He works a lot with Treaty 7 and he performed at the Lt. Governor’s celebrations a  few years ago,” she said.


Community relations manager and event organizer Dawn Leite is excited, because all of the performances will feature original music, as the Shaw broadcast requires  original copyrighted works.
“We asked why would people tune in to this broadcast. Usually the program is  an 20 minutes long, with people eating and then they have to leave because it is in the middle of their work day. So we decided to turn this event into a local artists showcase,” said Leite, who will be busy co-ordinating three different camera crews all over Casa, Sept. 10.


 The dancers have also arranged for original music.

“Catherine McLaughlin is also the bassist for the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra, so she may be dancing to her own music, Leite said.
“ It’s a great opportunity to show how multi-talented our artists are,” she said.

 
 She said no decision has been made about whether to do a live event again next year.
“When we were planning this event, we were all on Zoom and not allowed to congregate in person. it is still too early to call  what we’ll be doing next year,” she said, noting they hope to make a decision by Spring.


“ We have had a lot of sponsors who have supported us and who are looking forward to being able to congregate in person.”
This years winners are Aspiring Artist award winner pianist/vocalist Jannelle Wipf; young artist award winner, theatre designer and technician Nole Richardson;  Award of excellence winners Lethbridge symphony volunteers John and Lynn Gillat; Business Award winner North and Company LLP; Service Organization award winner The Helen Schuler Nature Centre and Joan Waterfield Memorial Award winner for “theatre mom” Mary -Lynn Muhly, who is an integral part of most local theatre companies.


“We’re recognizing people who have supported the local arts community financially or through their talents,” Devine continued.
 If you want to  augment  the experience, you can buy a ticket which includes a choice of apertivo, a bottle of wine and olive oil cake for dessert from the Italian Table. Tickets are $70 for a pair, $140 for four. The details will be included on the Eventbrite ticket. Leite noted pick up is  between 5-6 p.m. on Sept. 10.
More information is available at https://artslethbridge.org/events-programs/the-art-of-giving/

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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