Arts Culture and Heritage Award Program
The City of Oshawa is proud to celebrate the individuals, collectives and organizations that contribute to making Oshawa a great place to live, work and play. Two award programs, the Community Legends Award and the Oshawa Culture Counts Awards, are awarded each spring annually.
Community Legends Award
Each year, a Community Legend Award recipient is selected and recognized by Oshawa City Council. In addition, a temporary display will be available at the Delpark Homes Centre, along with a permanent plaque.
Eligibility
The Community Legends Award recognizes a person of any age or an organization/group who:
- made a significant contribution to an activity, sport or community initiative as a volunteer
- contributed to improving the quality of life of the Oshawa community
- made a significant impact on the Oshawa community at a grassroots level through arts and culture, sports or community initiatives
Nomination Form
The nomination period for the 2023 Community Legend recipient is closed. Nominations for the 2024 Community Legend will open in January 2024.
Review Process
Nominations for the Community Legends Award are reviewed and selected by the Community Services Committee for recommendation to Council for final approval.
2023 Recipient |
Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Durham Region Branch
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Previous Recipients |
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Culture Counts Awards
The Oshawa Culture Counts Awards celebrate and honour the creative and cultural achievements of the community in three categories:
- Oshawa Culture Counts Professional Artist
- Oshawa Culture Counts Emerging Artist
- Innovation and Creation Champion Award
Selected recipients are acknowledged at a City Council meeting in the spring.
Work Sample Submission Criteria
- Visual, Fine Craft, Multimedia: Include up to five images. All images must be in JPEG format, no larger than 2 MB each. Please include an image list containing the title, dimensions, and date of the artwork.
- Music – performances, technical, or production (all genres): Include up to two songs as a web link to YouTube videos, Soundcloud files, etc.; if an album is submitted, please note two songs you would like the Jury to listen to and for all include appropriate production credits, such as the publisher and performance dates.
- Theatre, Performance, Dance: Include five minutes of a recent work via web link. Please cue media to the starting time, and include appropriate production credits such as the director, writer, and performance dates.
- Writing: Include up to two samples of current work (Word/PDF), no more than ten pages. Please include appropriate production credits, such as the date, publisher, and editor. Please note any passages you would like the Jury to read.
- For an organization or collective, please provide work samples that support the nomination. This could be a web link to the website with notes on the areas you would like the Jury to focus on or PDF/Word files of brochures or other marketing materials explaining the organization's impact.
Eligibility
- Applicants and nominees must be current or former residents of the City of Oshawa, work in the City of Oshawa, or collaborate with an Oshawa-based organization
- An applicant or nominee may be the recipient of only one award per year
- City of Oshawa staff are not eligible for an award but may nominate individuals
- An individual cannot be nominated posthumously
Nomination Form
The Culture Counts Award recipients for 2023 have been announced. Nominations for the 2024 Culture Counts Awards will open in January 2024.
Review Process
Nominations for the Culture Counts Awards will be peer-reviewed and selected by a subcommittee of the Cultural Leadership Council.
For each category noted above, City staff will develop an evaluation matrix and guideline for assessing the recipient of the awards.
Applicants will be required to demonstrate their artistic merit, critical acknowledgement of the work/ initiative, evidence of recognition by the local community, and describe their career path/ organizational background and association to the arts discipline/ initiative.
Oshawa Culture Counts Award: Professional Artist
This award recognizes an established artist of any arts discipline (including performing, visual, cinematic, design, architecture and literary arts) who has demonstrated creativity, originality, professional maturity and artistic leadership in the community.
The following criteria will be used to select the award recipient:
- Artistic merit / interest
- Critical acknowledgments of the artist's work (e.g. exhibition/performance opportunities, publications, reviews, articles, etc.)
- Recognition by local arts community
2023 Recipient |
Susan Campbell Susan Campbell is an Oshawa-based interdisciplinary artist. She obtained a Masters of Fine Arts in Art, Media and Design from OCAD University after extensive studies in design and digital media in Ireland. Susan now teaches art and design at OCAD University and at Durham College. Susan’s artwork investigates signs and patterns of urban intensification as played out on development sites, parking lots and sidewalks. Her art frequently explores physical mapping practices as a means to interpret and reflect on the design dynamics found within the urban landscape, confronting issues brought about by the intensification of urban development. She has exhibited across Canada and internationally, including at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, Cambridge Galleries and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Susan has received numerous grants, including from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. |
Previous Recipients |
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Oshawa Culture Counts Award: Emerging Artist
This award recognizes an artist in the early stages of their career in any arts discipline (including performing, visual, cinematic, design, architecture and literary arts) who is skilled and determined to advance their artistic capabilities. This individual understands the value of their gift within the community, and leverages these skills to inspire and enrich the lives of fellow citizens.
The individual must be between 12 to 30 years or have begun their artistic practice within the past five years.
The following criteria will be used to select the award recipient:
- Artistic merit / interest
- Evidence of commitment to artistic practice
- Career path in an artistic discipline
- Critical acknowledgments of the artist's work (i.e., exhibition/performance opportunities, publications, reviews, articles, etc.) (see above comment)
- Recognition by the local arts community
2023 Recipient |
Diana Nadia Lawryshyn Diana Nadia Lawryshyn is a Ukrainian-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist from Oshawa. Diana is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, blending traditional and modern technological methods. Her music uses thoughtful arrangement of sound to tell a story full of imagery. Diana attended Queen’s University, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in music, education and visual art. Upon graduation she was awarded the Maurice Dubin Prize in Composition. She is continuing her studies of the arts at the University of Toronto. Her visual artwork focuses on cultural iconography, visual cryptography and magnifying perceptions of the ordinary. Diana produces a unique style of visual art by utilizing many techniques including surrealism, abstraction and texture. Her works have been featured in exhibitions at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Whitby’s Station Gallery and Kingston’s Storefront Gallery. Diana is an active volunteer with the Ukrainian-Canadian community in Oshawa. She has displayed her artwork at various community events, donated prints to raise money for Ukraine, and volunteered her time as piano accompanist for concerts performed by students at the Ivan Franko Ukrainian School of Oshawa, as well as led art and music workshops. |
Previous Recipients |
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Innovation and Creation Champion
This award honours an individual, collective and/or organization in the creative and cultural industries who has created or enhanced an event, product, program or partnership in the past year. In addition, the award recognizes work that is unique, transformative, and positive in its impact on arts, culture, and heritage in Oshawa.
The following criteria will be used to select the award recipient:
- The level of creativity and innovation of the event, product, program or partnership
- The community impact of the event, product, program or partnership
- Notable achievements relevant to event, product, program or partnership
2023 Recipient |
Anushka and Arushi Bhattacharjee Anushka Bhattacharjee, 10 years old, and Arushi Bhattacharjee, seven years old are published authors from Oshawa. Anushka’s love of reading at a very early age led to her becoming a young author. When she was unable to borrow books from the library during the pandemic she decided to write her own story so she would be able to read it. Anushka published her first book, “My Magic Mirror” at eight years old and won the Readers’ Favorite Gold Award. Inspired by her sister, Arushi started writing her own book when she was five years old. Her book, “T-Rex Trouble!!!” is a first place Firebird Book Award winner. The Bhattacharjee sisters hope to inspire many young readers to become authors. They visit local schools, including Alexander Graham Bell P.S., Claremont P.S., Stephen G. Saywell P.S., and more. They also have one-on-one sessions with other children to help them in their writing process. Anushka and Arushi give back to their community and donate part of their proceeds to charitable organizations like Durham Children’s Aid Association. |
Previous Recipients |
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