Mission, B.C. – The Mission Arts Council and Mission Cultural Resources Commission are hosting the Celebration of the Arts Awards (formally the Muse Awards) on Friday, September 28.

The Mission Arts Council and Mission Cultural Resources Commission have teamed up to host the Celebration of the Arts Awards on Friday, September 28, 6:30pm at the Best Western Mission City Lodge. These awards, formally the Mission Muse Awards, honour those individuals or groups who strive to make our community resonate with creative forms of artistry. The event brings together the arts and culture community, artists, and advocates to ensure the cultural richness of Mission is celebrated.

This year’s celebration will kick off with guest speaker, Shelley Stefan. Shelley is the UFV Visual Arts Department Head and will share some insights in regards to the relationship between the arts and the community. Shelley spent several years working and living as an artist before pursuing graduate work and moving into the educational sector. She has published, lectured, and exhibited her artwork in Canada, the United States, Italy, and China.
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New this year, is the Lifetime Achievement category which will recognize an individual for their continued outstanding support of the arts in the community. Other categories include: individual/group awards for visual, performing, literary, and musical arts; emerging artist awards for visual, performing, and musical arts; arts advocates awards for business, organization, individual, and educator. The evening will also feature musical entertainment by the nominees in the musical category for individuals or groups, and be serenaded by the Mission Arts Council Community Orchestra. This year’s awards were individually crafted by Sto:Lo Nation artist Alex Giroux and are a special recognition of the local aboriginal talent that exists in Mission.

The Celebration of the Arts Awards are a great lead in to the Culture Days activities taking place September 28-30 in Mission. Facilitated by the Cultural Resources Commission, Culture Days showcases the vibrant arts and culture community we live in with over 60 different activities happening throughout the community.

Tickets for the Celebration of the Arts Awards are $10.00 and are available from the Mission Arts Centre and the Mission Leisure Centre.

For more information on the 2018 Celebration of the Arts Awards, visit missionculturalresources.ca or missionartscouncil.ca on social media

Mission local fashion designer Tammi Anne Barker has been selected as the first ever Canadian to compete in Portland, Oregon at FashioNXT Week on October 3rd. FashioNXT was named the #1 production in the United States after New York Fashion Week by TIME Magazine. Designers and brands from across the US and the world will be coming to Portland to premiere what's next in fashion and fashion tech.
 
Tammi Barker grew up in Mission; her mother Marlene Maguire was a co-founder of Diggety Dog Grooming before she lost her battle with cancer in 2005. Tammi is a master tailor, trained in fashion at Kwantlen Polytechnic, as well as under Belgian couturiere Helen Lefeaux. After a few years in Vancouver, she moved back to Mission in 2008, putting her creative drive into raising her three children while they were little, until the time was right to re-emerge into the fashion world. 
 
Her technical design abilities caught the attention of the FashioNXT show producers, who invited her to audition in July of this year, where she placed as one of seven finalists who will be sending eight full looks down the runway in the UpNXT Finale on the opening kickoff to FashioNXT Week. In addition to showing in Portland, she has been receiving mentorship in costing, marketing and more through the organization's incubator program. 
 
"FashioNXT along with being a leading international runway showcase fulfills its service to the emerging designers by organizing a leading fashion accelerator, UpNXT", says FashioNXT CEO Tito Chowdhury, "Vancouver BC designer Tammi Anne Barker being the first Canadian designer as an UpNXT finalist shows her trailblazing determination to take her talent to the global competition. I join my friends of my favorite Pacific Northwest neighboring city in wishing tremendous success of her growth".