Charlotte Wilson-Hammond Wins Portia White Prize

TOURISM, CULTURE AND HERITAGE--Charlotte Wilson-Hammond Wins Portia White Prize

Charlotte Wilson-Hammond, a visual artist from Clam Harbour, is the 2003 recipient of Nova Scotia's Portia White Prize.

Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Heritage Rodney MacDonald presented Ms. Wilson-Hammond with the $25,000 award at a ceremony at Province House today, March 31.

"Winning the Portia White Prize has given me, at this point in my career as a visual artist, a significant boost," said Ms. Wilson- Hammond. "Receiving this wonderful award has also led me to reflect on the intrinsic value of arts, heritage and culture to our lives and the importance of support to these sectors from our funding agencies and governments."

Ms. Wilson-Hammond said she will establish the Charlotte Wilson- Hammond Visual Arts Nova Scotia Award through the Nova Scotia Talent Trust. That award will make $1,000 available to a visual arts student of exceptional ability for each of the next seven years.

The extensive productions of Wilson-Hammond span several media, including video, sculpture, painting, installation, drawing, audio, performance and printmaking. Her artistic achievements are highlighted by two retrospectives of her work at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Her work is in collections as diverse as Shell Resources of Canada, Norcen Energy Corporation, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Dalhousie University Art Gallery, Trans Quebec-Maritime pipelines and the Nova Scotia Art Bank. Her work is also in private collections in Canada, the United States and Europe.

"Charlotte Wilson-Hammond represents talent, commitment, and generosity -- the qualities we recognize in awarding the Portia White Prize," said Mr. MacDonald. "This prize is named after one of this province's outstanding artists, a woman who worked hard, achieved greatness and shared her gifts with others."

The Portia White Prize is awarded every year by the province to recognize artistic excellence and achievement by a Nova Scotia artist. The prize honours the memory and example of Portia White, a Nova Scotian artist who rose above adversity to achieve international acclaim as a classical singer on the great stages of Europe and North America. Her artistic achievements and dedication to teaching young artists stand as models to all Nova Scotians and continue to foster pride in African Nova Scotian communities and in all Nova Scotian artists.

The $25,000 prize will be awarded in two components. The first part -- $18,000 -- is awarded directly to the primary recipient, Charlotte Wilson-Hammond. Ms. Wilson-Hammond named The Nova Scotia Talent Trust as the protégé to receive the secondary award of $7,000.

Nominations for the 2004 Portia White Prize will be accepted until Oct. 1.