November 7, 2015
Main Branch, Halifax Library
This was the fabulous venue for the Arts Out Loud gala and the moment we have been waiting for: who would win the Lieutenant-Governor's Masterworks Award????
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| Arts Out Loud gala |
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The new library is elegant, airy, and there was art everywhere: string quartet, pop-up craft gallery, videos, dancers, pink champagne, and hors d'oeuvres to die for!
After some imbibing and mingling, the dancer pirouetted us into the open auditorium for the awards presentation.
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| Lydia Zimmer |
And it was quite a presentation; Desiree Adams, a spoken word artist, was the emcee, while Lucas Pearse, Lydia Zimmer, Leigh Ann Vardy, and Arianne Pollet-Brannen performed before, after, and in between the various awards. After the Prix Grand Pre, Community Arts & Culture Recognition Award, and the Established Artist Recognition Award, the LGMWA was presented to Sue Goyette for her Ocean poems. While we were disappointed, we also recognize that Sue's work deserved the prize.
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| Sue Goyette and Gay Hauser |
Randy is introduced as one of the LGMWA nominees. Yaaaay!!! Drum roll! Thunderous applause!
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| LGMWA nominees |
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| Susan Tooke receiving the Established Artist Recognition Award |
Lucas Pearse, bassist extraordinare, had the LGMWA envelope tucked inside his fiddle!
Photos from the performance:
Final award of the evening was the Portia White Prize, which was won by our very own Wayne Boucher in 2006. Every award recipient received a white muslin cape and the Portia White protege received a short one!
More mingling and imbibing from Pavia, the on-site cafe.
This was the imbibing part....
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| Susan adjusts her clown nose. |
And this was the mingling part....
Guests were invited to dress LOUD! for the occasion; Randy's contribution was a tie and suspenders.
Katie Belcher, Wayne's Portia White protege. She is now the curator at Eye Level Gallery and a beautiful artist.
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| Terry, Katie, Wayne |
More mingling...
Randy, call home!
Mr. Sensitive (aka Nat)
David (Karen's son, visiting from Wyoming), Grace, and Karen
Sally and Chris Meijka (sp?)
Randy, Rich and their smart phones
Randy shares a moment with Dawn McNutt, who nominated him for the LGMWA.
There is a post-script to this evening: the saga of the Uniqlo coats. When I went to retrieve my Uniqlo ultra-light down coat (brown, no hood, size M) it had been replaced with another Uniqlo ultra-light down coat, but this one was black, had a hood, elastic at the wrists, and was size S. You have to know that there are no Uniqlo stores in Canada. There are several in the US and at least one in London, UK. I alert the catering staff, leave my contact details, the coat, and head to the hotel.
Segue to the next morning. Grace is driving us back to Annapolis, and we have picked up John, as Melissa is staying in to attend a work-shop. When I tell John about my coat, he says 'You're not going to believe this, but when we got home last night, Melissa realized that she had picked up the wrong coat AND it was from Uniqlo!' Wonderful coincidence, I'll get my coat back from Melissa.
Later that afternoon, John phones me and says, 'I've just talked to Melissa, and it's not your coat. It is from Uniqlo, but it's black, size XL, and has a pack of cigarettes in the pocket.' Melissa's cell phone was out of money, so she had called John collect from that rare thing, a coin-operated phone booth at the Dartmouth Sportsplex. John had then called the library to say that Melissa was coming in to pick up her Uniqlo coat (the one I left at the library) and drop off the smoker's coat; hopefully the owner of the smoker's coat will call/come to the library with my Uniqlo coat. A while later, John gets a call from the library asking where Melissa is, as the smoker's coat owner has called and is coming in to retrieve her coat and leave mine. While they are talking, they see Melissa patiently waiting in the cafe, with an extra coat over her arm. Oh joy! Melissa gets her Uniqlo coat ,purchased in London, I get mine, purchased in NYC, and the smoker gets hers, purchased who knows where!
What are the odds of three Uniqlo coats getting switched around like that? and having a library that is open on Sundays until 6 pm?
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| Black & brown Uniqlos |
