A cackling puppet greeted guests as they hurried from the spitting rain into the Raven About the Arts Awards, Sept. 28.
Inside, poetry and music filled the Jasper Legion, as people sat chatting at tables, waiting for a new batch of local artists to be recognized.
The event, which is in its third year, has become one of the main attractions of Jasper鈥檚 Culture Days celebrations.
As usual, the awards featured musical performances, poetry readings and even a rhyming speech given by Mayor Richard Ireland.
Perhaps the best part of the awards was the artist interviews.
The presentation of each award was preceded by a short video with the artist. The interviews were a warm and candid glimpse into their processes, philosophies and experiences as artists.
The audience learned, for example, that many of Monkia Schaefer鈥檚 closest friends had no idea she played violin until she was much older.
鈥淚t was Jasper that afforded me the opportunity to come out of the closet, as it were, as a violin player,鈥� the music award winner said in her interview.
She also talked passionately about how the arts give life to a community, a sentiment repeated by many of the winners.
Winner of the dance award, Cheyenne Henderson, said in her interview 鈥渁 world without arts would be the scariest place to live.鈥�
While many of the artist gave beautiful defenses of the arts, there were more than a few red faces as winners sitting in the crowd watched themselves wax poetic on screen.
Despite some slight embarrassment, it was clear from watching the crowd that there is a great deal of support for local artists within Jasper鈥檚 artist community.
Master of ceremonies Jeremy Derksen told the crowd, 鈥渁rts can find a home almost anywhere.鈥� If this year鈥檚 awards are any indication, that is certainly true in Jasper.
Trevor Nichols
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