Ottawa, January 24, 2011 – The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that former contemporary dancer Mary-Louise Albert, now Artistic Managing Director of the Norman Rothstein Theatre and Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver, and Eva Cairns, Managing Producer for Catalyst Theatre in Edmonton, are the 2011 winners of the John Hobday Awards in Arts Management. The Awards celebrate established and midcareer arts managers.
Ms. Albert's award will enable her to pursue a mentorship with Howard Jang, Executive Director of Vancouver's Arts Club Theatre Company. The mentorship will allow them to work together on a series of specific themes such as financial control and budgeting in a large organization, board governance, management of multiple venues, donors programs and corporate sponsor relationship building as well as exploring the executive director's multifaceted role in supporting artistic vision.
Ms. Cairns's award for professional development will enable her to take three Leadership Development Programs at the Banff Centre. The programs will focus on effective leadership, how to draw out the best from a team and each individual on it, and on how to nurture a culture of strategic thinking in an organization.
Download images of Mss. Albert and Cairns.
Stephen Bronfman, President of The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Foundation, offered his congratulations: "In order to help arts organizations survive and thrive in an environment in constant flux, there need to be opportunities for arts managers to renew and enhance professional skills," he said. "The John Hobday Awards in Arts Management offer such opportunities to outstanding and committed Canadian arts managers. I congratulate the winners of these awards and wish them insight and growth as they pursue their arts management initiatives."
The winners were selected by a peer assessment committee consisting of Amir Ali Alibhai, Executive Director, Alliance for Arts and Culture (Vancouver); Diane Davy, President, Castledale Inc. (Toronto); and Louise Poulin, President, ArtExpert.ca Inc. (Montreal).
The jury was impressed with the high caliber of the applications in this competition. "We recognize the tremendous need for senior level training in the arts management profession and opportunities to contribute concretely to both the revitalization of experienced managers and the transfer of knowledge to the next generation through mentorship."
Mary-Louise Albert is now in her seventh year as the Artistic Managing Director of the Norman Rothstein Theatre of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and the international performing arts festival Chutzpah!. She has worked as the Campaign Director for the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation's national fundraiser, Jeans for Genes Day, and was a former professional dancer for many years working locally, nationally and internationally as a solo dance artist and as a company member with the Judith Marcuse Dance Company,
Anna Wyman Dance Theatre and Karen Jamieson Dance Company.
Ms. Albert has performed works by choreographers Mark Morris, Lar Lubabvitch, Robert North, Serge Bennathan, Allen Kaeja, Christopher House, Tedd Robinson, Peter Bingham, and Crystal Pite, to name a few. Transitioning from performing and teaching into arts management, Ms. Albert won the Eric Bruhn Memorial Award from the Dancer Transition Resource Centre and is a graduate of Capilano University's Arts and Entertainment Management Program. She graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) School of Business with a Post Diploma of Technology in Business Administration and upon graduation received the BCIT School of Business Dean's Award.
After training in classical dance, Eva Cairns made a transition to arts administration as Tour Coordinator for Judith Marcuse Dance Company in Vancouver and then as Director of Touring for Montreal's O Vertigo Danse. Between 1993 and 1998 she worked for Harbourfront Centre in Toronto on international projects and as the Administrator for performing arts. Relocating to Edmonton she became the General Manager for Shadow Theatre and then the Edmonton Associate for the 2004 Magnetic North Theatre Festival.
Since April 2006, Ms. Cairns has been the Managing Producer for Catalyst Theatre where she has eliminated a significant deficit while overseeing a challenging and exciting period of stabilization, renewal and expansion. With Catalyst, she has been responsible for the producing and touring of new works Frankenstein and Nevermore and the company's upcoming production Hunchback. Outside of Catalyst she has provided project development and tour market development assistance to independent theatre artists in Edmonton and served on the Executive of the Edmonton Arts Council where she is currently past Chair.
The $10,000 awards, administered by the Canada Council, allow recipients to enhance their own professional development by taking part in a recognized program, seminar, workshop or mentorship with another experienced arts manager. Introduced in 2006, they were made possible by a $1 million endowment from The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation. John Hobday was executive director of the Foundation between 1983 and 2002, before becoming director of the Canada Council for the Arts from 2003 to 2006.
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council is committed to raising public awareness and celebrating these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and an international level.
Find a complete listing of these awards.
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