Belleville,Ontario, Canada
Cultivating Creativity

Arts Recognition Awards
2009 award winners

Join us as we honour our 2009 Award Winners
Thursday, October 15, 6 to 7:30 pm
John M. Parrott Art Gallery, Belleville Library (3rd Floor)
254 Pinnacle St., Belleville, Ontario
Tickets: $10 at the Quinte Arts Council, 36 Bridge St. E., Belleville
Call 613-962-1232 to order by phone
Sponsored by Wilkinson and Company LLP Chartered Accountants
 

In its 15th year, the Quinte Arts Council is pleased to be presenting Arts Recognition Awards to those who have made and continue to make a significant contribution to the arts in our community.  Being honoured this year are Bob Long, Don Pinder and the Quinte Symphony Orchestra. 

Bob Long has been an active member of the Belleville Theatre Guild for many decades.  Nominator Jim Alexander states that “his contributions to the success of our operation have been numerous.  Bob has not received the standing ovations awarded to actors nor the acknowledgements for directors or other members of the production teams.  The proper metaphor for Bob is his first involvement with me as the director.  In the early sixties, when Bob was a high school student, we were doing a play called Thurber Carnival and had constructed a revolving stage for the production.  We had no motor to run it, only a rope that draped around the lower platform.  Bob’s job, which was behind the scene platform, was to manually turn the heavy resolve to present the 24 scenes in the play – on time and in the rhythm that suited each presentation.  He was always perfect.  Like now, he didn’t request any favours or applause, he just did his job for the success of the production and the Guild,” Jim elaborates.

Over the years, Bob has been responsible for box office management, customer relations, putting together the programs, membership communications and attending all Executive Committee meetings. Current president of the BTG, Lise Lindenberg writes, “Bob has been on the board now through so many presidents that he keeps the guild on an even keel.  He is able to use his extensive experience to help the board move forward.  He is kind, patient and extremely hard working.  He has a keen mind and is actually running a small business when he takes care of the box office.  He works all summer for no compensation, to get the subscriptions ready for September”, she adds.   Well done Bob.  It’s time to take that well deserved bow.

Artist Don Pinder received the nomination and letters of support from many fellow artists, who wish to recognize him both for his work as an artist, as well as the contributions that he has made to local arts organizations and events. Nominator Anne Boyle writes about this graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design that he, “is known for his innovative, multi-level images of architectural details, as well as his distinctive pottery and photographs.

Don is an active member of the County’s growing cultural community.  He chaired the organizing committee for Art in the County for five years and has designed the show for ten.  He is head of design at Gallery One-Twenty-One in Belleville, where he regularly participates in exhibitions.  He has also served on the Macauley House and Church site board, the PEC Museum board, and was editor of the PEC Historical Society newsletter for three years.  He has exhibited in the South Side Co-op Gallery in Picton for two years and then managed the Co-op for anther two years,” she adds.  Barbara Whelan agrees, stating that “Don Pinder is the most talented person I have had the privilege of knowing.  He is a quiet, caring, strong-willed, generous and hard-working person.  From a jumble of paintings lined up against the wall of Gallery One-Twenty-One every six weeks, Don creates a show this is complementary to each artist but also makes our gallery look professional.”  Don is receiving this award for his role as an artist and as a volunteer.

Jack Evans nominated the Quinte Symphony Orchestra for their half-century of service and performance in this area.  “Formerly known as the Eastern Ontario Concert Orchestra, the symphony has brought many hours of spectacular performance to thousands of people throughout the area, including outstanding guest artists and the amazing talents of the orchestra itself.  The orchestra has served as an incredible training ground for many musicians, in all orchestra voices.  A number have gone on to successful and professional musical careers.  One example would be Kerry Stratton, who played violin in the orchestra in its early years.  Now a conductor-musicologist-broadcaster, he is recognized as one of Canada’s leading musicians,” enthusiastically states Jack.  “It is no exaggeration to state that this group changed my life,” writes Kerry Stratton, Conductor and Music Director of Toronto Philharmonia.  “Fifty years is quite a record of devotion to maintaining a good orchestra under all sorts of conditions, not always favourable, yet here they are in your midst and performing well,” he adds, urging that this beloved organization be recognized with the award that it has richly earned.  Congratulations, Quinte Symphony Orchestra, for 50 years of outstanding achievement!

CELEBRATION

Everyone is invited to the John M. Parrott Gallery from 6 to 7:30 pm on October 15, when the awards, hand crafted by glass artist, Mark Armstrong, will be presented.  Tickets for the reception, with cash bar, are $10 each, and can be purchased at the Quinte Arts Council office at 36 Bridge Street East or by calling 613-962-1232.

AWARD TROPHY

Sponsored by Wilkinson & Company.