Outstanding BC First Nations Artists Honoured With Awards

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 5, 2016) - Premier Christy Clark and BC Achievement Foundation Chair Keith Mitchell announced today the recipients of the 2016 BC Creative Achievement Award for First Nations Art.

"The legacy of First Nations Art reaches back millennia," said Premier Christy Clark. "Today's artists are preserving and building on this proud tradition with works that inspire and resonate not just in British Columbia, but far beyond our borders."

Susan Point, a Coast Salish artist from Musqueam, will receive this year's Lifetime Achievement Award, an honour bestowed on individuals who have made a profound contribution to their First Nations culture.

The annual BC Creative Achievement Awards for First Nations Art celebrate artistic excellence in traditional, contemporary or media art. The 2016 recipients chosen by the jury panel are:

Corinne Hunt - Kwakiutl / Komoyue
Maxine Matilpi - Ma'mtagila / Tlowitsis
Corey W. Moraes - Lax Kw'alaams
Luke Parnell - Nisga'a / Haida
Xwalacktun - Coast Salish / Kwakiutl

"These 2016 award recipients, continue a tradition of excellence in First Nations Art that the Foundation has had the privilege of honouring over the past decade," said Mitchell. "We thank Polygon Homes, its Chair, Michael Audain, and its President, Neil Chrystal, for their tremendous commitment and support of the BC Creative Achievement Awards for First Nations Art."

The 10^th annual celebration of the awards will be presented later this fall at a ceremony in Vancouver.

Members of the jury panel included: world renowned carver and teacher Stan Bevan; Aboriginal Program Director at Emily Carr University, Brenda Crabtree; the Museum of Anthropology's Curator Emeritus, Bill McLennan; and celebrated curator and artist, Tania Willard.

The BC Achievement Foundation is an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province of BC in 2003 to celebrate community service, arts, humanities and enterprise. For information on British Columbia Achievement Foundation, visit www.bcachievement.com.

Detailed information about the 2016 recipients and a list of past winners is posted on the foundation's website at www.bcachievement.com.