Alberta Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani at the Speech from the Throne in February 2022. Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award ceremony will take place in Medicine Hat in September. (Photo From Flickr/Lieutenant Governor of Alberta)

By Chris Brown

Alberta

Medicine Hat to host 2023 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award ceremony

Feb 14, 2023 | 2:22 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – For the first time in the almost 20-year history of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Awards, this year’s ceremony will be hosted in Medicine Hat.

“We’re thrilled to be coming there,” says Kathy Classen, executive director of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation. “We want the event to focus on the awardees and to celebrate them but in so doing also show us more about Medicine Hat and to inspire the folks in Medicine Hat and give them a little bit more information about what’s happening in Alberta.”

Every two years up to three awards of $30,000 each are presented by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. The 2023 ceremony will be the second presided over by Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani.

Nominations for the awards opened in November and close on March 8. The award winners will be announced in the summer.

There are only a few restrictions for eligibility, Classen says. Nominees must be Canadian citizens; current Alberta residents, or those who have had a significant connection to the province over time; and artists who have achieved excellence in their discipline or arts supporters and builders who have contributed in a major way to the arts in Alberta.

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Self-nominations, nominations of family members and posthumous nominations will not be considered.

Classen says artists, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, authors and more are among the past recipients.

Those include former Medicine Hat resident and renowned puppeteer Ronnie Burkitt, Faye HeavyShield of the Blood Nation in southern Alberta and architect Douglas Cardinal. There have only been 23 recipients of the award since its creation in 2005.

“I would say the piece that you start to see when you look at the body of artists whom we have acknowledged is they’re Albertans,” Classen says. “They tell Alberta stories, they’re situated here they live here they work here they impact here. Because they are reflecting us back to ourselves but they’re also inspiring others and working with younger artists and helping support them and that’s the story and it’s a beautiful story.”

The ceremony in Medicine Hat is set for Sept. 16 at the Esplanade. Classen says they want to make a full weekend of it.

“I think the idea is to potentially launch something on the Friday evening when you have your Art Walk and then some events on potentially Saturday afternoon and then the awards event would take place later afternoon early evening followed by a reception,” she says.

The ceremony itself will focus on three artists who will be awarded. Tributes will recognize their art and a five-minute video to profile the artists and the recipients will have the opportunity to speak. Classen and the foundation will work with a local committee on other entertainment that will be interspersed during the ceremony.

Classen says when then-Lt.-Gov. Lois Hole founded the award she wanted to go to smaller communities. Previous host communities include Lethbridge, Banff, Grande Prairie and Lac La Biche, which hosted the most recent ceremony in 2021.