SYDNEY, N.S. — An Eskasoni-based artist and a blacksmith/sculptor were the major winners at the 14th annual Creative Nova Scotia Awards Gala held in Halifax recently.
Ursula Johnson of Eskasoni won the $25,000 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award for her work entitled Moose Fence. Johnson is a winner of the Sobey Art Award, the first Atlantic Canadian to win the national prize for artists aged 40 and under.
John Little of East Dover won the $25,000 Portia White Prize for cultural and artistic excellence. The prize includes $18,000 to the artist and a $7,000 protege prize to be donated to an emerging artist or a supportive institution, which Little awarded to the Halifax Music Co-op.
Arielle Twist of Halifax won the Indigenous artist award.
The gala is hosted by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council. Awards worth $95,000 were announced at the event.
“We are home to a thriving arts and culture community,” Minister of Communities, Culture and Heritage Leo Glavine said in a news release.
“It’s important we recognize our local artists for their achievements both here at home and on the world stage.’’
