Award Category: Applied Art and Design Award

Victoria based McCauley Wanner and Ryan Palibroda, of Alleles Design Studio, create prosthetic covers for amputees transforming something mechanical into something “mechani-chic”. McCauley has a background in industrial design/ux/fashion, while Ryan has a background in fine art and architecture. The duo met while completing graduate degrees at the University of Calgary in 2011 and based their business on McCauley’s Industrial Design thesis. The result is unique and beautiful prosthetic covers that are individual works of art, as well as a life-changing product that goes beyond regaining functionality. Their goal is to help clients fulfill an emotional need while regaining confidence through self- expression from the custom designed pieces. McCauley and Ryan have received international recognition through museum exhibitions and fashion shows for their innovative methodology and commitment to the environment.

Gordon Hutchens first became intrigued with pottery at the age of 14 during a visit to Japan where he watched potters at work and saw the revered position of pottery in that culture. Following this path, Gordon studied ceramics at the University of Illinois and, for the last 46 years, he has gained a reputation as a master of his craft in British Columbia. Gordon is also an esteemed instructor sharing his knowledge throughout the province, across Canada and internationally through classes, workshops and exhibitions. Since 1999 he has taught ceramics at North Island College, School of Fine Art and Design. Based on Denman Island, Gordon produces a variety of work from sculptural to functional and utilizes an extremely broad range of techniques. His studio is open to the public where museum quality pieces among more utilitarian works can be viewed. Gordon formulates and blends all his own clay bodies using many different clays from across North America as well as clay from his own property. His work is well known for the depth and diversity of his glazes and the strength and refinement of his forms. Gordon’s pottery allows everyday objects to transcend their practical nature with magic and beauty.

Afshin Mehin is a leader in designing smart products. Growing up in BC he was always connected to the outdoors, whether it was weekend mountain bike rides on the North Shore, summer hikes up Black Tusk, or winter ski adventures in the interior. That’s why, when he began to pursue his passion for design and technology, he naturally gravitated towards designing products that use technology that help people live more active and healthy lives. Now with his studio WOKE based in Vancouver, almost every project that the team works on is focused on making technology products that are philosophically intended to help people improve their overall well being by living more active, healthy and sustainable lives. Whether it’s designing wearable tech to help improve mindfulness or a 3d printer that recycles children’s plastic toys, he’s constantly looking at ways to use technology to help people lead healthier and happy lives.

Claudia Schulz arrived in Canada 16 years ago from her home in Berlin, Germany. Living in a new city, she wanted to explore the idea of tradition set in a new landscape. Claudia studied the fine craft of millinery design and began her own practice using the same solid wood blocks as the ones she apprenticed on. Claudia hand-forms each one of her hats following minimalistic design principles with simple lines and form. The result is a series of clean line designs that are sought after by an international clientele. Claudia’s muse comes from the city’s architecture and modern structured lines which informs her artistic practice. She sees herself as a collaborator of traditional skills practicing her craft and its applications in a new, modern city, bridging both fashion and design.

Henry Norris has always had a passion and an eye for furniture design. He began honing his craft as a teenager, creating crude yet functional art pieces. He spent much of his early career in construction, metal-working and making bicycle frames, all of which influenced his interest in working with and manipulating metal. Henry opened his own Vancouver manufacturing and design firm in 2012 precipitated by a desire to have more freedom, more control, and most importantly, more opportunity to create. He has a constant curiosity to explore new materials, forms, and methods in which to convey these abstracts into tangible objects. A self-taught designer, Henry has exhibited locally, and at the Architectural Digest Design Show and Sight Unseen in New York.

Bill Pechet has dedicated himself for over thirty years to creating environments that bring people together in refreshing and unexpected ways. He has made his mark on public spaces across the country through his street furnishings, lighting, urban infrastructures, public art and memorial design. Many of his contributions can be found around the lower mainland, including seating and lighting on Granville Street and the Shipyards in North Vancouver. In all his projects, Bill has extended the possibilities of merging social space with sculptural invention and sound ergonomics. Since 2000, as a faculty member of the architecture and environmental design programs at UBC, Bill has encouraged his students to consider how manners of contemporary urban social practice intersect with material and spatial invention, all impacting the experience of the built world. As an artist and mentor, Bill frequently lectures on the critical role that public space plays in healthy and vibrant cities. Bill’s work emanates from a desire to generate a generous sense of simultaneous recognition and pleasurable strangeness in the public realm, giving individuals the permission to see the world as a little bit wondrous.

Sam Carter has dedicated himself to the trumpeting of BC’s vibrant applied arts and design community for the past four decades. Artist, mentor, curator, advocate and educator, Sam has guided and inspired scores of young artists and provided them with international opportunities through his work as Professor Emeritus at Emily Carr University and beyond. Determined to define design in BC, to educate British Columbians and Canadians about the exemplary work happening in their backyard, Sam sees design as a life force, integral to our quotidian tasks and unique experiences. Through his curatorial work, Sam embraces both cutting edge technology and ancient techniques, seeing all excellence in design as worthy of celebration. His efforts have challenged and changed the conversation around local applied art and design and helped focus an appreciation of the role of functional art within the province’s cultural economy. Sam continues to mentor students, serve on civic boards and committees, travel extensively as curator and educator, while devoting his time to art and design initiatives throughout the world.

Anita Sikma grew up the daughter of an automotive technician and it is this experience that informs both her design aesthetic and love of handcrafted labour. Her most recent collection is named after her father’s automotive shop in Saskatchewan and features jewellery inspired by muffler clamps, cold connectors and sprockets. With her intuitive understanding of mechanical design, Anita has developed her collections using the traditional process of ‘lost wax casting’, blending contemporary elegance with Art Deco influence to create her androgynous classics. Starting in her East Vancouver apartment and growing into an independent studio space, Anita’s use of raw materials and hand tools supports a shrinking handful of local, family-run businesses. Her work has been featured widely in numerous publications and has a strong following of jewellery lovers and dedicated collectors.