The 2023 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Awards will take place on Saturday, September 16 in Medicine Hat from 4 to 6 pm.
Her Honour Salma Lakhani will be speaking, along with the recipients of the awards – Mieko Ouchi, Michelle Thrush, and Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby.
Mieko Ouchi is an award-winning writer for the stage and screen. Her play The Red Priest premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary in 2003 and became a Governor General Award nominee.
“I am so excited to head down to Medicine Hat, to connect with the Lieutenant Governor, and award recipients,” Ouchi says. “With life in theatre and T.V. it is great to have the opportunity to create my own work, to write own plays and to write own T.V.”
Ouchi’s most recent play was Burning Mom, which had a theatrical production in April to May 2023 at the Royal Manitoba Theatre in Winnipeg.
It is a play about her mother Dorothy Ouchi who decides to make the journey to Burning Man a year after the death her father.
Along with each artist receiving $30,000 they also will have artist residency at the Leighton Centre, which is part of the Banff Centre.
“The award is impactful,” Ouchi says. “The financial prize lets me have time to take off work, and I write really well in writing retreats.”
Ouchi will be working on a new project during the retreat which involves an alternative history of Canada, and a young Queen Elizabeth.
Michelle Thrush is a Nehiyaw performing artist known for her work in television, film, and theatre stage. She is currently the artistic director of the Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society, and is the founder of Southern Alberta Indigenous Youth Awards.
Her CV includes Arctic Air, Moccasin Flats, North of 60, Northern Exposure and Blackstone.
Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis are Calgary-based animators. Their recent short animation, The Flying Sailor is the latest of their works to be nominated for an Oscar in 2022. The animation was produced through the National Film Board, as were their previous works.
“The award is an exciting moment for us,” Forbis says on the phone. “We have travelled around the world, and the recognition is always more meaningful to be recognized by our own province.
The weekend for the award recipients begins on Friday, September 15 with a luncheon at the Medalta ceramic factory. At the award night on Saturday will be music, a jingle dancer, and each Distinguished Artist Award recipient will choose another artist to support with $3,000