Students in 5 provinces awarded Hnatyshyn Foundation arts grants
Performing arts students from Quebec, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan are the latest recipients of $10,000 grants each from the Hnatyshyn Foundation, a charity founded by the former governor general.
Gerda Hnatyshyn, widow of the late Ramon John Hnatyshyn, announced from Ottawa on Wednesday the names of nine recipients of the developing artists grants for students enrolled in post-secondary education.
Instead of the originally planned eight grants, organizers decided to award nine because of two exceptional finalists in the classical orchestral instrument category.
The 2007 recipients are:
Victor Fournelle-Blain, 19, violinist from Sainte-Julienne, Que.
Keith Dyrda, 18, a trombonist from Oakbank, Man.
Devon Joiner, 18, a pianist from Nanaimo, B.C.
Eli Bennett, 18, a saxophonist from Vancouver.
Alyssa Stevens, 18, a ballet dancer from Surrey, B.C.
Megan Nadain, 20, a contemporary dancer from Vancouver.
Lindsey Angell, 23, a stage actress from High River, Alta.
Claudiane Ruelland, 23, a stage actress from Quebec City.
Allison Cecilia Arends, 24, a soprano from Regina.
The grants are to be used for the students' studies in September.
A devoted arts partron, Ray Hnatyshyn, as he was known, established the foundation in the mid-1990s, after completing his term as governor general. The goal was to promote and support the arts and arts education.
Since Hnatyshyn's death in 2002, his widow has served as the foundation's president and board chair.
D'oh! Massive Homer Simpson next to fertility symbol riles pagans
A massive chalk drawing of a nearly nude Homer Simpson, sitting in the English countryside next to an ancient fertility landmark, has raised the ire of a British group.
Created by artist Peter Stuart, the 70- by 50-metre portrait depicts the famous cartoon patriarch dressed only in a pair of briefs and hoisting a beloved doughnut.
The Homer drawing sits neighbouring the Cerne Abbas Giant, the famed British landmark featuring a nude, club-wielding male figure carved into the natural chalk ground (located underneath the topsoil) on the hill above Cerne Abbas in Dorset.
Dating from at least the 17th century, the Giant is revered by pagans as a symbol of fertility.
In ancient times, some travelled to the Cerne Abbas to view the figure and pray for a child. Over the years, couples struggling to conceive have also been rumoured to sneak up the hill — now a protected site that tourists must view from below — for a romantic liaison.
Stuart, a fan of the long running TV series The Simpsons, began working on the massive Homer portrait — which uses water-based, biodegradable paint — early Sunday morning. He was commissioned by the publicity team behind The Simpsons Movie, set for release July 27.
However, the Homer drawing, its location and the accompanying encouragement for young couples to "do it in the doughnut" have angered members of the Pagan Federation.
A spokeswoman for the group has denounced the Homer artwork as an eyesore, "very disrespectful and not at all aesthetically pleasing."
Ann Bryn-Evans, the foundation's joint Wessex district manager, has told various news outlets the group will attempt "some rain magic" in hopes it will soon wash the offending portrait away.
The team promoting the upcoming Simpsons movie have engaged in a headline-grabbing campaign in the lead-up to the film's release.
They transformed a number of 7-11 convenience stores in North America into the Kwik-E-Mart store depicted on the show, and they have run a contest to pick which U.S. town of Springfield — one of the country's most common town names and home to TV's Simpson family — would host the film's premiere.