Island artists receive grants 

Melissa Peter-Paul says receiving an arts grant from the provincial government gives her more time to focus on creating her quillwork boxes – made out of birch bark, sweet grass, porcupine quills and spruce root all harvested by her and her family.

Peter-Paul is among 15 Island artists who recently received a total of $50,000 through the provincial Arts Grants program.  

“I’m so grateful for the support from this arts grant,” Peter-Paul said. “Being able to follow in my ancestors footsteps means so much to me and makes me feel so proud to be a Mi’kmaq from Epekwitk.”

The successful applicants were selected by a six-member jury of their arts community peers and follows the same model used by the Canada Council of Arts.

“We’re noticing a very positive ripple effect from the Arts Grants program. The grant helps the artist develop their project or practice, then their work benefits others in the community with the art they’ve created. We’re committed to keeping this momentum going because art is incredibly valuable to our province’s culture and economy.”

- Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture Minister Matthew MacKay

Media contact:
Hillary MacDonald
Department of Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture
902-394-6368
hpsmacdonald@gov.pe.ca 

Backgrounder 

Successful Applicants

Gerald Beaulieu
Creation, Visual Art, $6,500
To build a large mechanized dinosaur skeleton, covered in black tar, drinking from an oil drum full of black crude.

Catherine MacLellan
Dissemination, Music, $2,500
To perform at two festivals in Australia (Woodford, Cygnet) as well as two music conferences (Folk Alliance International in New Orleans and Americana UK in London England.

Damien Worth
Creation, Visual Art, $2,500
To create eight large-scale paintings exploring the structures that exist 'below the surface' of natural environments and their potential for metaphor in relation to psychology.

Atlantic String Machine 
Creation, Music, $5,500
To develop a program of music for Atlantic String Machine based on the life of William Critchlow Harris made of original compositions, classical repertoire, and arrangements of traditional and popular music. 

Emma Fugate
Creation, Film, $3,050
To help create While Time Is Passing, a short musical film based on a single song by Island musician Jill Chandler in which she plays Lydia, a weary woman who has a final conversation with her husband, Ian Sherwood, before they go their separate ways. Funding will be used to complete the post-production.

Melissa Peter-Paul
Creation, Visual Art and Fine Craft, $6,000
To create a nesting set of six quillboxes using birch bark, porcupine quills, sweet grass and spruce root all harvested by the artist and her family. 

Rebecca Griffin
Professional Development, Interdisciplinary $2,000
To attend the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Puppetry intensive in January 2020.

Jordan Beaulieau
Creation, Visual Art, $3,000
To reflect on how locality affects Island artists by producing a photo series and accompanying publication over 12 weeks from November 2019 to February 2020. 

Kinley Dowling
Creation, Music and Film, $4,500
To create a new music video for KINLEY’s song, “Washington”. The music video will be directed by Prince Edward Island filmmaker Jenna McMillan and will be about women's empowerment and equality. 

Brielle Ansems
Creation, Music, $3,500
This project will be a full length album recorded at The Hill Sound Studio. Subject matter will focus primarily on the complexities of self-worth told through thirteen original songs.

Troy Little
Creation, Writing, $2,500
To complete the colour and design of his next graphic novel and have it ready for print by mid 2020.

Evan Furness
Creation, Visual Art, $2,500
To create New Texts, an artist book that uses digital collages of poems, drawings, and photographs to explore the habitual collecting of images in the digital age.

Dave Stewart
Dissemination, Writing, $1,132
To produce 100 limited edition first run copies of the short story collection entitled "Monster Man". 

Bren Simmers
Creation, Writing, $1,818
To write a new manuscript of poetry and prose that explores living with uncertainty.

Ariel Sharratt and Mathias Kom
Creation, Music, $3,000
To create an album of contemporary folk songs about work within the context of automation and the gig economy.