A LOCAL artist will be honoured with an award for his artwork.
Ken McNeil will receive a 2013 BC Creative Achievement Awards for First Nations' Art that celebrates artistic excellence in traditional, contemporary or media art.
"Over the past 30 years, carving in his Tahltan-Tlingit tradition, Ken has produced an impressive body of work that has been exhibited across Canada, in the U.S. and internationally. A master carver, Ken creates works from miniature to large-scale, from small sculptures to totem poles. He is a founding instructor of the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art at Northwest Community College in Terrace," said the government release about McNeil's accomplishments that led to this award.
McNeil and the other four artists named join 37 First Nations artists who have been recognized with the award in the past seven years.
The awards will be presented in a ceremony in Vancouver later this month.
The other 2013 recipients chosen by the jury are Dale Campbell, Prince Rupert; Marlene Liddle, Old Masset Village; Joe Martin, Tofino; and Sammy Robinson, Kitamaat Village.
Local carver Dempsey Bob was on the jury who chose this year's award winners and who received a 2004 BC Lifetime Creative Achievement Award for First Nations' Art.
The BC Achievement Foundation is an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province of B.C. in 2003 to celebrate community service, arts, humanities and enterprise. For information on British Columbia Achievement Foundation, visit www.bcachievement.com.