Each category honours an emerging and established artist, all winners receive a cash prize of $1,000 and recognition at the MARTY’s award ceremony. Special awards are also presented to individuals who have nurtured the development of arts in Mississauga.
Here are your MARTY winners!
Creative Community
Frog in Hand
Frog in Hand was created by sisters, Noelle Hamlyn and Colleen Snell, who create multi-disciplinary community performances in unusual spaces. Because of their sponsors they have brought fun, spontaneous stories to the streets.
Hazel McCallion Volunteer of the Year
Arlene Paculan
Arlene Paculan creates soulful jazzy pop. Her recent album, Everything Begins with Love has been embraced by CBC Radio 1 and her company, LMG Productions produces WonderFest, which aims to spread empowerment through art.
Laurie Pallett Patron of the Arts
Eleanor Calbes
Eleanor Cables is a renowned opera singer and voice coach. She founded Opera Mississauga, City Centre Musical Productions and Fista Filipino Dance Company. Calbes has appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and lead roles in opera houses and Broadway roles such as South Pacific and the King and I.
People’s Choice
The Monster Rock Orchestra
The Monster Rock Orchestra (MRO) is a one-of-a-kind attraction exclusive to Mississauga. The MRO is a signature act of the Mississauga Waterfront Festival, from the vision of Artistic Director and Mississauga resident Vikas Kohli produced by Mississauga-based MonstrARTity Creative Community.
Literary Arts
Larissa Fleurette Ho
Larissa Fleurette Ho is a fourth-year English and Professional Writing and Communication students at the University of Toronto. Although she loves to play the piano and travel, she loves to write above everything. Writing allows her to discover more about herself and the world.
Anna Yin
Anna Yin has published five poetry books and has won a number of awards. She was a finalist for Canada’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award in 2011/2012 and is the current Ontario Representative for the League of Canadian Poets.
Visual Arts
Amanda Baron
Born in Mississauga, Amanda Baron is a mixed media artists who blurs the lines between painting and digital mediums. She graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in Drawing and Painting, and pursued a self-directed study in Florence, Italy for one year under the OCAD Off-Campus Studies Program.
Irene Monique Salehi
Born in Paris, France Irene Monique Salehi currently lives in Toronto. She has modernized silk painting by using lines for details and vivid, saturated colours for creating her unique artworks. The themes of her paintings are nature, social issues and personal experiences.
Media Arts
Nick Name
As a sound designer, audio engineer and film composer Nick Name has been featured in many international film festivals. He has been recognized for his music production with a number of upcoming Canadian artists.
Michael Kennedy
Michael Kennedy has directed shows all over the world. Kennedy has directed many 14 feature-length films and over 200 episodes of prime-time network TV including pilots for 12 different series and the entire first season of the hit comedy Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Performing Arts Group
BallRoom Babies
The BallRoom Babies are three brothers ignite on stage because of their love of the trade and the years of experience performing together. Their new CD released in 2013, Change to Silver has power driven riffs, dynamic harmonies and well crafted lyrics. The band is gaining attention from those searching for a new sound.
Clarkson Music Theatre
Founded in 1945 the Clarkson Music Theatre is a non-profit organization and is one of the largest and most respected community theatre groups in the province. Its mission is to enrich the cultural community of Mississauga. It has provided shows such as Legally Blonde and Hairspray.
Performing Arts
Frank Anthony
Frank Anthony is an R&B/Pop artist with a collection of hit-driven pop, R&B, dance and hip-hop influenced songs. Anthony’s repertoire of music and collaboration is what emerging artists could only dream of coming out of the gate. He’s also been influenced from his Italian heritage.
Carol McCartney
Carol McCartney has performed across Canada, the U.S., Hong Kong and Japan for three decades. Her CD’s are a favourite of jazz radio and she’s soloed with over 30 symphony orchestras and was vocalist for the JUNO-nominated recording Taking Flight.