2008 Civic Award Winners The Civic Awards Ceremony was held in April 2009. The awardees, shown above, were GeorgeCwiklewski and Evan Kascak. For more, click here. The 2007 Civic Awards honourees, shown below, were Gayle Liman and Melissa Wilmot. The 2006 Civic Awards honourees, shown below, were Neal Facey and Carmen Harris. The 2005 Civic Awards honourees, shown below, were Hugh Parsons and Josh Ferguson.

Programs:
Honour in the Arts

Nomination forms for the next Civic Awards Ceremony must be submitted by noon on February 16, 2007. Nomination forms must be typed or neatly printed. Nomination forms are available online from the the City of Kelowna website or here or may be picked up at the following locations:
» Johnson-Bentley Memorial Aquatic Centre
» Kelowna Chamber of Commerce
» Kelowna City Hall
» Kelowna Family YMCA-YWCA
» Lake Country District Office
» Okanagan Regional Library branches
» Parkinson Recreation Centre
» Peachland Community Centre
» Regional District of Central Okanagan
» Volunteer Kelowna (Kelowna Community Resources)

Nomination forms can also be faxed or mailed to you by calling Wendy Serko at 860.5828 ext 184.

Bursaries

Arts Council of the Central Okanagan generously supplies over $5000 annually in bursaries to students who have demonstrated talent and interest in the arts, and who intend to pursue an education in the field.

School Certificates

The School Certificate Program for School District 23 grades 7 to 12 honours and recognizes excellence in art, music and drama


2008 Honourees

George Cwiklewski Honour in the Arts Award

As former president of Viva Musica Society, George Cwiklewski has been an integral part of making sure the show must go on, even going so far as to billet performers in his house.

A five-year member of the Viva Musicia socitety's board of directors, it was George's idea to host a special thank you performance of Beauty & the Beast to which he invited a theatre full of firemen and volunteers who had worked on the Okanagan Mountain Park Fire the summer before.

In the year they produced Cats, George once again took the lead and initiated a fundraiser for the SPCA to coincide with the show. In 2008, when they opened A Chorus Line, George turned it into a support and fundraiser for hospice, inviting over 400 supports of hospice and the arts community.

In 2008, George was asked to be a judge on the inaugural Okanagan Arts Awards. He was also actively involved with the Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art, sponsoring both the On Common Ground Indigenous conference for arts and media as well as an award for the Wearable Art Gala. He also sponsored the opening of Mission Dance Centre's Dance Artistico production.


Evan Kascak Teen Honour in the Arts Award

Despite the minimum age being three, Evan Kascak joined the class at the age of two because he was already dancing along anyway, watching his sister. Hopefully the dance teacher who bent the rules got to see him last summer in Viva Musica's A Chorus Line.

The grade 12 Kelowna Secondary Student made his debut appearance with Viva Musica at age of 9, in their production Showboat, then went on to perform in Music Man, Evita, Beauty and the Beast, Miss Saigon, and in 2008, A Chorus Line.

Evan has also been active with Theatre Kelowna's productions over the years, including Seussical, Juniper Mud Pie and Snow Queen. At school, he was accepted into the KSS theatre ensemble and as such appeared in Maybe Baby it's You and most recently, in 2008, in Around the World in 80 Days and Moliere's Shorts.

Aside from being onstage, Evan can also be found volunteering off stage with both Viva and KSS shows where he's directed and been an assistant stage manager.

Evan's next role will be with Shakespeare Kelowna as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet.


2007 Honourees

Gayle Liman Honour in the Arts Award

The Smithsonian Institute and United Nations are just two places where you'll find traces of Gayle Liman. One of Gayle's pieces hangs in the Smithsonian and in 2006, she was invited to an international forum on indigenous issues at the United Nations in New York.

Gayle guest curated an exhibition of first nation art called 'In the Spirit of N'Ha-a-itk' for Kelowna Art Gallery, then put together educational bundles using components of the exhibit which she was then invited to present at the United Nations.

Gayle sits on the Public Art Committee for the City and in 2006, initiated the transformation of Duggan Park. A retaining wall traditionally covered in graffiti became her target and, working with a young aerosol artist, the surface is now a bright, vibrant piece of art which has been completely left alone by graffiti since.

The Whispering Pines Native Garden project is another gift Gayle gave our community, complete with a giant lake serpent made of recycled rebar and cement and filled by children with indigenous medicinal plants.
Winner of the 2006 BC Museums Award of Merit, Gayle currently is associate director of exhibitions and public programming, and putting her artistic talents to use curating as well as still finding time to create her own pieces of art.


Melissa Wilmot Teen Honour in the Arts Award

Melissa Wilmot's first violin was made by her sister out of driftwood and string. She played it so much she wore the strings out. By five, her mother relented and bought her a real one although these days, she still wears out strings, practicing four hours or more every day.

At age nine, Melissa joined the Youth Symphony of the Okanagan and by 13, was playing so well she was invited to join the Okanagan Symphony, where she continues to play first violin. As co-winner of the Kiwanis symphony soloist class she also performed a concerto with them as guest soloist.

2006 was truly Melissa's year. She earned First Class Honours in her ARCT degree in Performance for the Royal Conservatory and won Top Overall Strings awards in Penticton and Kamloops Kiwanis. She was also chosen for the National Class in Kiwanis and won the President's Choice award for best overall performer of the entire festival. Add to that, she performed live with Ballet Kelowna, gave concerts with the Okanagan Symphony, the Minstrel Strings, duets with her sister, and solo recitals.

Melissa takes the arts seriously and attended the Culture Matters community forums to offer a youth perspective. She also teaches young children violin, instilling the kind of love that will no doubt make their younger siblings want driftwood violins to play too.


2006 Honourees

Neal Facey Honour in the Arts Award

Like Gilbert is to Sullivan, or Juan Valdez is to coffee, when you say Neal Facey, you instantly think of the Kelowna's theatre scene. And for a good reason. Since moving to Kelowna in 1977 to take up the position of drama and choir teacher at KLO Secondary, Neal has become an integral part of Kelowna's theatre community.

From 1977 to 1991, he directed 15 major shows before transferring to from KLO to Kelowna Secondary to create their award winning drama department with Don Keith . Neal still teaches and directs at KSS, with over 20 productions under his belt and was awarded Theatre Educator of the Year by the Association of BC Drama Educators.

Neal has directed several community theatre productions and in 1991 co-founded Viva Musica and became artistic director, last year bringing us the big hit show, Beauty and the Beast Recently, Neal adapted the script for A Christmas Carol for the Discover the District with Dickens project and directed it with great success for the City of Kelowna and the Downtown Kelowna Association. Then, in 2005, Neal was chosen to direct Kelowna's centennial play, Forging Paradise.

Neal's next big project will be Viva's presentation of Cats this summer. Always behind the scenes, its time Neal came out and took a bow!


Carmen Harris Teen Honour in the Arts Award

When Carmen Harris opens her mouth, people listen because a voice such as hers isn't something you come across very often. You couldn't help but miss the rave reviews she garnered last fall in the lead role of Dorothy in the musical Wizard of Oz or earlier last summer as Hodel, the middle daughter in Fiddler on the Roof.

Carmen admits she was surprised at landing her first theatre roles because she'd never taken acting classes. Instead, she's taken classical voice lessons with renowned soprano Alexandra Babbel since she was 9 years old and hopes one day to follow in her teacher's footsteps and enter the elite world of opera. Getting to perform in shows such as Wizard, Fiddler, Chicagao, Music Man and Beauty & the Beast has given her the chance to share her vocal talents with Kelowna.

Other places Carmen has contributed her talents to include a fund-raiser for the AIDS Resource Centre and singing O Canada at Stockwell Day's campaign office when the results were announced during the previous election.

A grade 10 student at Kelowna Christian School, Carmen also plays the piano and clarinet and is currently preparing for her next role as Tuptim in the upcoming production of The King and I.