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This year’s Richmond Arts Awards winners are being profiled in online campaigns over the summer in lieu of an in-person awards ceremony.

Photo courtesy City of Richmond

2020 Richmond Arts Awards winners announced

By Richmond Sentinel

Published 4:08 PDT, Tue July 21, 2020

Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021

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The 2020 recipients of the annual Richmond Arts Awards have been revealed.

Now in its 12th year, the awards presented by the city and arts council recognize achievements and contributions to the arts community.

“The arts are vital to the overall health and resiliency of our community,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “This has been demonstrated now, more than ever, as we see artists and arts organizations put their creative talents towards everything from supporting our front line workers to lifting our spirits in a time of uncertainty.”

This year, the selection committee reviewed 65 applications to determine the recipients in each of the six categories. The 2020 Richmond Arts Awards recipients are:

Artistic Innovation (Tie)

Direct Theatre Collective

Direct Theatre Collective is Richmond’s newest independent theatre company. They received critical acclaim and praise for their inaugural project Hysteria, which was created for the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 2018, and developed further in 2019 for their first independent theatre season. This award-winning show is due for an inaugural performance in Richmond in the near future. The company is spearheaded by artistic director Jill Raymond alongside founding directors Isa Sanchez and Jenna Grubaugh.

Dawn Lo

This freelance illustrator’s works and artist talks have been featured throughout Richmond in locations that include the Richmond Public Library, Children’s Arts Festival and Thompson Community Centre.

Arts Education

Richmond Music School

Established in 1979, this non-profit association is committed to a high standard of professional music instruction with a focus on accessibility.

Business and the Arts

Jason Ko/Viva Pharmaceutical

This business has supported arts and youth through annual sponsorship of the Richmond Media Lab since 2015.

Cultural Leadership

Terry Point

As a Musqueam cultural educator and advisor and Aboriginal student support worker with the Richmond School District, Terry Point has worked collaboratively with numerous cultural projects and locations in Richmond including Terra Nova Park, Richmond Arts Strategy Task Group, Richmond Public Library, Children’s Arts Festival and Richmond Art Gallery.

Volunteerism

Ray Chin

This long-time volunteer has been involved in a variety of local arts and culture initiatives including Richmond Maritime Festival, Branscombe House Artist-in-Residence program and arts projects at numerous community centres.

Youth Arts

Rotem Levy

Levy is a digital and visual artist, and leader in the Richmond Youth Media Program and Youth Art Mart. She also works on Foundry Richmond's communication team and is currently studying 3D animation at Emily Carr.

The awards ceremony would normally have taken place in council chambers, but was cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In lieu of the ceremony, each recipient will be profiled in an online campaign over the summer highlighting their work and contributions to the Richmond art community via the @HowArtWorks Instagram account. The honourees will also be invited to join future recipients in person when the ceremony can once again be held in person.

For more information on the Richmond Arts Awards, visit www.richmond.ca/artsawards.