Oshawa announces the 2025 Culture Counts Awards recipients

The City of Oshawa congratulates the recipients of this year's Oshawa Culture Counts Awards for their outstanding contributions to the community's creative and cultural scene.

The City of Oshawa has recently announced the winners for its annual Oshawa Culture Counts Awards. The program, which was launched in November 2017, aims to recognize and celebrate the creative and cultural contributions of the community. The awards were presented by the Oshawa City Council to the winners of three categories: Professional Artist, Emerging Artist and Innovation and Creation Champion Awards. The award presentations took place during the Council meeting held on Monday, May 26.

The Oshawa Culture Counts Professional Artist Award has been awarded to Oshawa artist Keisha “Keysha Freshh” Fanfair, in recognition of her outstanding creativity, originality, professional maturity and leadership in the arts community.

Danielle Alexander was selected to receive the Oshawa Culture Counts Emerging Artist Award, which recognizes emerging artists between the ages of 12 to 30 years old or who have begun their artistic practice within the past five years. The award encompasses all arts disciplines, recognizing those who are skilled and determined to advance their artistic capabilities and leverage these skills to inspire and enrich the lives of fellow citizens.

The third award goes to Oshawa Museum for the Innovation and Creation Champion Award. This award is presented to individuals, collectives or organizations in the creative and cultural industries who have made significant contributions to creating or improving an event, product, program or partnership in the past year.

To learn more about the Oshawa Culture Counts Awards visit oshawa.ca/CultureCountsAwards.

For more information on Culture Counts, visit oshawa.ca/CultureCounts. For City of Oshawa updates, visit oshawa.ca/NewsCentre to follow us on social media, subscribe to news and alerts, and have your say on Connect Oshawa.

Artist Biographies:

Professional Artist: Keisha “Keysha Freshh” Fanfair

Keisha “Keysha Freshh” Fanfair is a Juno Award Nominated Canadian rapper and one of the leading voices in Canada’s hip-hop scene. Keisha has been performing for 27 years and recording music professionally since the age of 14. Keisha is known for her sharp lyricism and bold storytelling; she blends her Caribbean roots with her urban upbringing. She has earned widespread recognition for her authenticity, tackling topics of empowerment, identity and resilience in her music.

Keisha is a Durham District Catholic School Board alumni and has been committed for over a decade to creating music programs for youth. She often returns to Durham to facilitate cultural events and speeches. She recently released a song, “905”, a proud ode to the Durham region.

As an advocate for women in hip-hop, Keisha continues to break barriers, earning critical acclaim and a loyal fan base. She has been a music educator, teaching hip hop and songwriting at the Royal Conservatory of Music, at local schools and at Trinity College in Connecticut. Keisha is currently the Chair of the Advisory Committees for Independent Music Production and Independent Songwriting production at Seneca College, making her the youngest person to sit in this position.

Emerging Artist Award: Danielle Alexander

Danielle Alexander is a graduating visual arts student, completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at York University this June. She is president of her university’s Visual Arts Student Association as well as employed part-time as a print media studio assistant. This year at York, she was granted ten awards for her art, community service and academic achievement. In high school, Danielle was awarded for her special dedication to the visual arts and the natural environment. She was a Canadian Art Inspiration Contest finalist with the Art Institute of Canada in 2021, and she won the Joseph Drapell Award for Artistic and Academic Excellence, York University in 2023.

Some of Danielle’s artwork has been on display in Oshawa and throughout Ontario, including a reproduction wrap of a rural scene on electric boxes in Ajax and Sunderland (2024), a banner depicting a ship in the harbour displayed at Lakeview Park (2020), a reproduction of an original painting at Convergence Music and Art Festival (2024), a linoprint at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (2024 and 2025), a mural at Mary Street Community School (2019), a screen print on display at the Legislative Building (2024 and 2025), a digital piece in a virtual gallery at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2021) and she participated in a RCSU Central Art Challenge at the Canadian Forces Base Borden (2020).

Danielle is currently a freelance digital artist for the Kids Hall of Fame in New York, drawing historical, extraordinary youth achievers.  She continues to exhibit her art in Oshawa and galleries in Toronto. Her hopes are to become an illustrator once she graduates. She enjoys selling her paintings, apparel, handmade stickers and writing original character comics.

Innovation and Creation Champion Award: Oshawa Museum

In November 2024, the Oshawa Museum launched its centennial project, “Untold Oshawa: An Expanded History”. This project represents over six years of dedicated research, writing and design. “Untold Oshawa” examines stories that have not been included in previous books on Oshawa’s history. The aim is to expand the commonly accepted narrative of Oshawa’s history, to develop a local history that broadens the perspective and to examine various aspects of the community’s past.

Within “Untold Oshawa” there are stories of some of Oshawa’s early settlers from marginalized communities, a look into the impact of labour unions in Oshawa on the experiences of children who emigrated without family and early efforts to breakdown gender barriers. “Untold Oshawa” also documents important moments for the Chinese community in Oshawa, the environmental impact of local industry and more.

The book and topics explored within were the basis for an on-site exhibit at the Oshawa Museum. This exhibit also addresses the gaps in the museum’s collection, to ensure the collection is representative of the city where we live, work, learn and play. Visitors are encouraged to consider if their own story is currently reflected in the museum’s collection.

“Untold Oshawa” has sold over 250 copies, with copies distributed to every school in the Durham District School Board, to Ontario Tech University and the Oshawa Public Libraries.