2012 MARTY Award Winners Announced!

 

The spotlight shone on Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre on May 31 as leading artists were honoured with an unforgettable evening of red-carpet glamour at the 2012 MARTY Awards! Top artists were lavished with praise, recognition and media attention at the 18^th annual event.

Produced by the Mississauga Arts Council, the MARTYS filled the Living Arts Centre with an ecstatic crowd who gathered to celebrate the winners of the coveted award. The excitement was palpable as the winners were announced from a roster of over 90 talented nominees. Some of the high-profile winners included So You Think You Can Dance Canada’s Season 3 finalist, Amanda Cleghorn, JUNO nominated Johnny Max Band, and the internationally celebrated Vandana Vishwas.

 

The MARTYS awarded a grand total of $10,000 collectively to the 13 artists in the categories of literary, performing, media, creative community and visual arts. 12 artists received honourable mentions. Winners received a cash prize, extensive media coverage and recognition from the community.

The MARTYS began with some networking on the red-carpet. Over 90 nominated artists walked the carpet and mingled with the numerous media companies who covered the event. Following the red-carpet launch, the MARTY award ceremony was hosted by celebrity writer Kathy Buckworth who had the audience in stitches with her infectious brand of comedy. The audience enjoyed performances by the Davor Jordanovski Band, the Mississauga Festival Chamber Choir and the Axé Capoeira dancers. Kathy proudly announced the winners of the award.
 

2012 MARTY AWARD WINNERS

EmergingLiterary Arts	Anna Konareva	Anna Konarevais an ambitious nonfiction writer, editor and blogger in Mississauga. Anna writes on her Russian upbringing and her current life in Mississauga. Anna is constantly working towards the competitive forces of the writing world and hopes to make a change in the field one day.
EstablishedLiterary Arts	Kristen McKendry	Kristen McKendry has been writing since her teens and her work has been published in the U.S. and Canada. She has written three published novels and a biography, and a fifth book is being released in July 2012. A voracious reader and dedicated vegetable gardener, Kristen is interested in sustainable living, urban homesteading, folk music, and family history and incorporates those interests in her writing.
EmergingMedia Arts	Dany Gehshan	A graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design, Dany works as a freelance artist alongside his full-time career as a corporate graphic designer, all the while expressing himself through film. He lives and hopes to inspire, and to be inspired.
Emerging Performing Arts	Amanda Cleghorn	Born to perform, Amanda is a well-rounded dancer, teacher, choreographer, judge and, overall, performer. She also does regular community and charity work. Her credits include movies, Camp Rock and Honey. She also appeared in Blake McGrath’s Stage Fright music video, an episode of Nikita and a Dove commercial. Most notably, Amanda recently finished So You Think You Can Dance Canada Season 3 as Canada’s top female dancer.
Established Performing Arts	Vandana Vishwas	World musician Vandana Vishwas is known for her mesmerizing melodies based on North Indian classical music and her flawless vocals. Since its release in October 2009, her critically acclaimed debut album, Meera- The Lover… has put Vandana and Mississauga into the international world map through a series of national and international nominations for prestigious awards including the Canadian and US Indies.
Emerging Performing Arts	Vibonics	Fusing elements of Hip Hop, R&B, Indie Rock and Funk, Vibonics is a six-piece band blending a range of styles into their own signature flow. Vocalist Kubota brings a soulful croon to the mix, as well as solid rapping skills that provide a feminine foil to MC Crossword’s streetwise slang.
Established Performing Arts	The Johnny Max Band	To listen to Johnny Max tell it, and to watch The Johnny Max Band present it, you understand very quickly that there’s more to creating good music than simply performing a first-rate piece of music well. It’s much more all-encompassing than that. The JMB’s music doesn’t always follow conventional Blues lines. Rather than be confined to the traditional 12 bar influenced forms, this veteran of the musical wars favours substance rather than convention.
Emerging Visual Arts	Sherry Prenevost	Sherry’s formative years were spent richly entrenched innature and family while growing up with a deep sense of humanity and love of nature. Her art has been presented to the Queen of England, Governor General of Canada, President of Sierra Leone and accepted into the permanent Archives in Canada.
Established Visual Arts	Pat Hertzberg	After extensive training and experience in Fine Art, Fashion and Textiles, Pat Hertzberg has carved out her own niche in the contemporary art world. A Resident Artist at Mississauga’s Living Art Centre, Pat produces unique, textile based, mixed-media work which reflects a mastery over her medium.
Creative Community	Noelle Hamlyn	Noelle Hamlyn is a graduate of Sheridan College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work in contemporary textiles has earned her numerous awards and exhibitions in both national and international venues. Notable projects include the International Craft Biennale, South Korea, and the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.
Laurie Pallett Patron of the Arts	Pieter Kool	Pieter Kool has been heavily involved in the local arts community as a volunteer and arts patron for over 20 years. A proud member of the Mississauga West Rotary Club, Pieter has given residents of Mississauga the unique opportunity to experience international travel by running the Rotary’s Adventure Travelogue Series run out of the Port Credit Secondary School Auditorium.
Hazel McCallion Volunteer of the Year	Arshad Mahmood	Arshad Mahmood has an extensive portfolio in volunteer work. A banker by profession, he is also the founder of the Mosaic Festival, the largest South Asian festival of North America. Last year, Arshad was elected to the board of Directors for the CNE as the first South Asian of Pakistani origin on the board. He is the President of Board of Directors for the Mississauga Art Gallery and the Director of the Canadian Community Arts Initiative. He also served on the committee of Peel portal for new immigrants and was selected as one of the prominent new immigrants to Canada by the Canadian Immigrant magazine. He also established the Brampton Rose Festival in 2009.
People’s Choice	Andre Anthony Reid	Andre Anthony Reid is a talented singer and actor and is recording his first Big Band Jazz CD. He received a diploma in Jazz Music from Humber College, and a degree in Music from Thompson Rivers University. Andre is a proud member of ACTRA and the Mississauga Arts Council.

Honourable mentions included Matt Miller in the emerging literary arts category, Ian Stout in established literary arts, Tristan Barrocks in emerging media arts, Julia Juhas and A.J. Saudin in performing arts, Tom Barlow in established performing arts, I Rock With The One in emerging performing group arts, Little Peter & the Elegants in established performing group arts, Michael Pape and Hyun Ryoung Kim in emerging visual arts, Huibert Sabelis in established visual arts, and Pat Hertzberg in the creative community arts award category.

For more information on the 2012 MARTY Awards, please contact the Mississauga Arts Council at 905-615-4278 or by emailing [email protected]

NOMINATED and… our very own CINDY ASHTON – WOMAN of ACTION

The Marty Awards 2012 (42 PHOTOS)

I was nominated in the “Established Performing Arts” category.

Thank you to my stylist Cindy Roemer for dressing me up: http://cindystyles.com/ — at Living Arts Centre.