Awards honour aspiring artists

John Langschmidt, President Picton Kiwanis with Makela Barnes, winner of the Kiwanis Visual Arts Award 2011.

Gabrielle Graham-Stevens, 2011 winner of the Prince Edward County Student Arts Award

The Prince Edward County Arts Council and Picton Kiwanis Club honoured two young women who will be pursuing secondary education in the arts.

Gabrielle Graham-Stevens, a resident of Picton who graduated from Centennial Secondary School, received the Prince Edward County Arts Council award for visual and performing arts/arts administration. She was introduced by Mary Tucker of the Student Awards committee. Gabrielle will be enrolling in the Theatre Performance Program at Redeemer University College in Ancaster and hopes to pursue a career as a professional actress.

Graham-Stevens says she thoroughly enjoys the excitement of dancing, singing and acting in live theatre. She performed in three large musicals at Centennial School where she studied drama and participated in various aspects of producing the shows. She also sang in the school choir, performed with the County Theatre Group, the Marysburgh Mummers and participated in a variety of other community groups.  Her teachers describe her a “sensitive and insightful drama student”.

Makela Barnes, graduating from Prince Edward Collegiate Institute, received the Picton Kiwanis Club visual arts award for 2011, administered by the Prince Edward County Arts Council. She was introduced by John Langschmidt, President of the Picton Kiwanis Club.
A resident of Hillier, she will be enrolling in Painting and Drawing at OCAD University in Toronto with the aim of becoming a museum curator or teacher.

Barnes gained experience through a range of projects, including a musical at PECI, working in the art department of CBC’s Republic of Doyle in Newfoundland, and on award-winning projects in visual arts, technological design and fashion and creative expressions. She is described by her teacher as bringing “excellent creative and unique solutions to her art work”.

The PEC Arts Council student award was founded five years ago when the council set up a fund to support and encourage students continuing into post-secondary education in the arts.
“We very much appreciate contributions made to this fund,” said the Arts Council’s Wayne McNulty. “We are also honoured that the Picton Kiwanis Club has chosen to work with the council by offering its own annual award for visual arts to support emerging visual artists in the community and their education.