Cindy Stelmackowich and nichola feldman-kiss
photo Rémi Thériault

Artists' Awards presented by the CAO at the Annual General Meeting

The Council for the Arts in Ottawa is pleased to announce that visual artist Cindy Stelmackowich has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 CAO Mid-Career Artist Award, which includes a $1,000 cash prize. Visual and media artist, nichola feldman-kiss has been selected to receive the Corel Arts Endowment Award. She will receive $1,500 to support her project the camera eye.

The Selection Committee felt that Cindy has a strong exhibition record dating over 10 years and that her career has been gaining momentum with recent successful exhibitions on the national stage as well as internationally. Her work has been reviewed in several North American newspapers (Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, Hour (Montreal), and The Los Angeles Times), as well as several periodicals most notably an upcoming issue of CV Photo.

Cindy is a constant fixture in the Ottawa arts community attending many events and often volunteering at events and exhibitions. She is an active member of the Enriched Bread Artists Studio and a board member at Gallery 101. As a lecturer at Carleton University and a past part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Cindy has been a mentor to the next generation of Ottawa artists and art enthusiasts.

nichola feldman-kiss received the 2009 Corel Endowment for the Arts Award in support of her project the camera eye an interactive sculpture and robotic vision system. The Selection Committee recognized that the project pushes the boundaries between art and engineering, and has significant potential to enrich both these fields. nicola's artistic practice blends performance, installation, objects, and technology as a means to explore concept and ideas based in self-reflexive narratives. She has worked as an artist, administrator, curator, and lecturer–nicola has exhibited her work in Canada and internationally.