Honour in Culture Award

This award recognizes an individual, group or corporation who demonstrates outstanding support, advocacy, promotion or interpretation of Nanaimo’s arts culture and history.

2024 Recipient: Sukhi Sangha

More information to come.

2023 Recipient: Margot Holmes

Margot Holmes
Photo Credit: Sean Fenzl

Margot Holmes won the 2023 Honour in Culture Award for her long-time career as the Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Island Symphony, promoting Canadian culture and championing the performing arts community for over three decades. Holmes continues to develop community partnerships and find new ways of connecting the arts to audiences and sponsors.

Caline Artists International, owned by Holmes for the past 32 years, has played an integral role in developing the careers of hundreds of Canadian musicians. As an agent and manager for professional musicians, she’s toured artists, including the British Columbia Boys Choir, around the globe as cultural ambassadors for Nanaimo and Canada while assisting them to build successful long-term careers.

She has worked with a variety of non-profit arts organizations presenting hundreds of arts events both large and small. In 2015, she spearheaded the creation of Festival Nanaimo, coordinating an annual month-long festival each March. During the pandemic she kept Nanaimo culture alive by instigating Vancouver Island Symphony summer pop-up concerts, the Nanaimo Big Band Festival, the Chapters series of four multi-genre events at the Port Theatre and the Music from Edges of Canada series - 11 double bill concerts live streamed from theatres coast to coast.

Holmes is a dynamic supporter of veteran and emerging artists in our city and constantly creates opportunities for them to connect, grow and thrive. She has a long list of awards including the 2007 Arts and Culture Advocate of the year, the 2008 Agent of the Year, the 2014 Cultural Champion Award for Arts Leadership awarded by Business for Arts Canada, the 2014 City of Nanaimo Award of Distinction for her contribution to the Arts, and the 2015 Agent of the Year awarded by Canadian Arts Presenters.

Past Recipients

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