Calgary’s emerging artists are well represented with a mix of words and movement garnering acclaim in a prestigious provincial arts award ceremony.

The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation highlights developing artists of various art forms across the province with a prize pool of $100,000 given to the 10 finalists at $10,000 each. 

The awards were created to invest in Canadian artists to recognize and support art creators allowing each recipient the opportunity to advance in the early stages of their professional career.

The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation was created in 2003 and has awarded $1,620,000 to 84 Emerging Artists and 26 Distinguished Artists based in Alberta. The Distinguished Arts Awards are given in odd years while the Emerging Artist Awards are given in even years. 

This year out of the 10 final artists chosen to receive the rewards a total of four were from Calgary. The award recipients from Calgary include Nicole Charlton Goodbrand, Dance; Lynda Williams, Writer; Skylar Kay, Writer/Poet and James Odin Wade, Playwright.

The ceremony took place in the Government House, Edmonton. The awards were given out by Her Honour, the Honourable Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

Pushing boundaries in writing and dance

Lynda Williams is a short fiction writer who enjoys writing stories that don’t have a definite ending, making her work unique.

“I need the discovery to keep driving me. I think we write often to work things out for ourselves in our heads to make sense of the world, so that’s very much why I need to not know,” said Williams.

Feminism is another important aspect that Williams likes to include in her work. She incorporates “unlikeable” female characters in her works as a standout aspect.

“That has a lot to do with my background as an English major studying English literature, meaning I was exposed to the very traditional male, white, dead literary canon.”

Williams chooses to express her art in short fiction as she enjoys the challenges that come with tight guidelines.

“I really enjoy what you can do with compression in terms of short stories, I find there’s so much fun to write like it’s such a challenge to layer as much as you can and be cutting out words at the same time,” said Williams. 

Winning The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award has allowed Williams to be open to future ventures that she is hopeful for.

“As someone who wants to go on and mentor other emerging writers, it definitely gives me a measure of credibility that isn’t easy to just get anywhere. It takes a lot of publications a lot of books to persuade people that, yes, I can help you on your journey,” said Williams.

“The other part to me is really a promise because this is an award for emerging artists. So, it is being awarded based not only on what you’ve done but as much on your potential. So, now I feel like I have to fulfill that potential, I have more than ever something to prove in a good way.”

Nicole Charlton Goodbrand is a contemporary dancer who finds it important to focus on incorporating curiosity and intimacy about the body that she enjoys including in her art form. 

“I find it helps me understand the world around me a little bit better and being able to investigate the arbitration between conflict and compromise and harmony,” said Charlton Goodbrand.

“I find within the intimacy there is a real duality between beauty and with the grotesque and I feel like the human body has that innately within it and within a lot of its relationships. I try to kind of use that juxtaposition and duality between those two (curiosity and intimacy) to kind of highlight that.” 

As there are many different avenues of dance, Charlton Goodbrand believes contemporary dance is in a league of its own in terms of expression dance.

“There’s a freedom and a humanness in contemporary dance that I feel for myself anyway, it allows you to explore anything and use movement in less structured, more unique ways to kind of get what it is that you’re saying across and feelings,” she said.

Charlton Goodbrand is also a dance teacher and shares how the educator role provides her students with learning but also finds herself learning new aspects.

“There’s something really special about that relationship between learner and mentor and that there’s always something new to learn in those roles,” said Charlton Goodbrand.

With The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation, Charlton Goodbrand and other local artists can continue their love and passion for their craft.

“It really shows that the community of Alberta is deeply invested in the development of prairie artists by having an award like this for emerging artists,” said Charlton Goodbrand.