Every year, the Barrie Arts Awards celebrates the individuals and organizations that contribute to the arts and culture community. The 2024 Barrie Arts Awards gala took place on Tuesday, November 12, and featured unique performances in addition to the presentation of artist-designed award statuettes to six stand-out individuals.
The awards were given out across six categories: Artist Beyond Barriers, Business Champion, Contribution to the Community, Emerging Artist, Excellence in the Arts, and Most Promising Youth. This year’s award, carved from wood with an intricate feather design, was created by local artist Aylan Couchie, a Nishnaabekwe interdisciplinary artist, curator and writer hailing from Nipissing First Nation.
Let’s learn about how it feels to win a Barrie Arts Award and what’s next for our winners!
Carolyn M. Boyd, Artist Beyond Barriers
Carolyn is a landscape artist who is passionately involved in the community. She is an active member of the Barrie Art Club, teaches art classes and workshops, and exhibits her work across the region.
Carolyn shares, “It is such an honour to have been recognized by my own community and my heart is full.” Some career highlights include live painting sessions at the Barrie Art Club, Quest Art School & Gallery, and Art Battle Toronto; being featured in the Coldwater Studio Tour; becoming the chair for the Art in Town project, where artists are stationed at local businesses for two months; teaching art through OMAH, Creative Nomad Studios, and North Simcoe Arts; a solo exhibition at the Women’s Art Association; and many more upcoming solo and group exhibitions.
Bruno Smoky, Excellence in the Arts
Bruno’s art style is sure to be recognized by any downtown Barrie visitor. Individually, as well as with his wife and artistic collaborator, Shalak Attack, he has contributed to many vibrant murals in our city. He is an internationally renowned muralist and multi-media artist, who has also worked in various organizations and NGOs teaching the history of graffiti and its role in society to at-risk youth.
Bruno shares what winning has meant to him: “As an established, immigrant, Latin artist and father, it is pretty incredible. It makes me feel like I’m being recognized not just a muralist, but as a local protagonist for whole culture of the craft that I chose to make a living off of. All throughout history it has been proven that public murals are one of the most powerful forms of art expression, and when done in the right way, they can have a great impact.”
A highlight of the ceremony for Bruno was having his family there, and his daughter on stage with him to accept the award. Through the winter months, Bruno will be busy doing indoor works on canvas, providing artwork writeups and designing tattoos. He and Shalak are also on the lookout for new and exciting projects for Clandestinos in 2025 and beyond.
Ryan Farley, Business Champion
Ryan is a self-taught entrepreneur with nine years experience working with live music and music administration. He founded his company, Hubris Entertainment Inc., in 2022 which has grown to serve a wide variety of artists and businesses in the music industry.
Ryan shares, “I have worked tirelessly to help artists navigate the complex path towards making a sustainable career out of their passion. Being recognized locally here in Barrie means a lot and has already opened so many doors for me to further my mission in such a short time.”
Ryan’s upcoming projects include working on the music for a film by a local filmmaker, and collaborative launching a licensing agency to help musicians secure placements in film, television, ads, and more. Additionally, he continues his work helping artists receive grant funding.
“I am very excited to be working more within the Barrie community and helping local artists and musicians to take steps towards advancing their careers. We have a great arts community here and I am proud to be a part of it.”
Iain Moggach, Contribution to the Community
Iain is an award-winning professional theatre producer, director, and educator, best known for his work as Artistic Director of Theatre by the Bay. He shares: “Being recognized with the award is an incredible honour. I also recognize that none of my achievements/impacts have been entirely self-driven. I am deeply grateful to all of the amazing people that made projects like the Barrie Theatre Lab, the local Indie Producer Co-op, the Simcoe County Theatre Festival, and the Barrie Arts Alliance (to name a few) happen.”
Iain continues his contributions with his work as a consultant for the Huronia Symphony Orchestra’s new fundraising strategy, and for Pirate Life, a pirate ship (that can be spotted on Barrie’s waterfront) which offers immersive family-friendly theatre experiences. “Because of awards like this, it seems companies have taken note […] and are interested in working with me.”
He also continues his involvement with the Barrie Arts Advisory and plans for the Performing Arts Centre; and looks forward to projects as such directing an upcoming play called Bluebirds at Theatre on the Ridge in Port Perry.
Sarah Hancock, Emerging Artist
Sarah Hancock is a contemporary eco-artist concerned with sustainability in a Eurocentric environment. By exploring critical ecology Sarah finds the intersection of femininity, nature and science emerging in her art. She uses hybridity to connect womanhood to environmental advocacy in her detailed yet confrontational watercolour paintings of wildlife, mycology/vulture culture-inspired installations, and textile arts exploring natural dyes.
Sarah notes that “Winning the Barrie Arts award felt different from other accolades because it was in my community, it means a great honour to represent something so close to you. Although winning this award was a goalpost for me, I don't plan on slowing down; this has motivated me to take on even more. I am working on funding my residency in Iceland, where I will be researching textile traditions and folklore as alternative knowledge, collaborating with the Essa Public Library to introduce Angus youth to various eco-art practices and hopefully returning to school to obtain my Master of Fine Arts this September.”
Stay tuned for a future blog post about the exciting projects coming up for our Most Promising Youth Award winner, JULES IS DEAD!
Nominations for the 2025 Barrie Arts Awards open in late Spring. Make sure you are subscribed to the Culture Pop newsletter and are following Creative Barrie on Facebook, Instagram, or X to keep abreast of all things Culture in Barrie!