The ACT’s executive and artistic director, Lindy Sisson, has taken home the top honours at the Canadian Arts Presenting Association awards, held recently in Halifax.
Sisson’s was named tops in the country for the 2013/14 recognizing her excellence and achievement in the field of live performance touring and presenting.
The national award is given for demonstrating outstanding commitment to superb programming and professionalism that has made a significant contribution to community life and the touring sector in Canada.
Sisson said she was flattered to be recognized alongside some of the best programs in the country.
“It was such an honour to be nominated for the first time along with programmers from the Yukon, Halifax, Burlington and Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre,” she said. “Now to join the ranks of past presenters of the year is really a thrill. We all work so hard to bring artists to our audiences in the most engaging ways possible – recognizing the complexity and dedication behind that work is what this award is all about.”
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows board president Korleen Carreras said the award is recognition of the bridges Sisson has built in the region.
“Lindy gives to our community not only through the creative and inspiring performances she programs at The ACT but also by building relationships with local organizations and the larger arts network through the arts council,” said Carreras. “In her planning, she is continually trying to find new ways to engage people and create more accessibility to the arts. She is a leader that this organization, and our community, should be very proud to call our own.”
Sisson’s 30-year career in the arts spans all artistic disciplines, with particular focus on dance, theatre and the performing arts for young audiences. Sisson, who has been the executive and artistic director of the ACT in Maple Ridge for the past six years, previously ran the Vancouver International Children’s Festival for a decade, developing international tours, commissioning new work, and promoting the importance of arts and culture to our youth, in schools and society. From 1998 to 2000, she was the executive director of Arts Connect Arts Council in the Tri-Cities.
This is not Sisson’s first award. She was the 2012 B.C. Arts and Culture award winner for outstanding champion of the arts In B.C. schools and communities. In 2013, she was bestowed the B.C. Touring Council’s peer-nominated presenter of the wear award.
As well as her role with the ACT, Sisson sits on the board of the B.C. Alliance for Arts and Culture, is the president of the Dancing on the Edge Festival, and is on the host committee for Western Arts Alliance Conference in Vancouver. She’s also involved in the Tri-Cities Dancers 4 a Change.
