Mayor's Arts Award for Volunteerism
2017 recipient
Henry Lau
Henry Lau is a longtime resident of Renfrew-Collingwood and a strong believer of the positive impacts of community arts. He attended Windermere Community Secondary School, where he led projects that ranged from coordinating the Organic Garden to organizing festivals.
Lau studied at UBC’s Dietetics program and co-founded the Roots on the Roof rooftop garden at UBC’s Student Union Building. Lau’s involvement with various projects and events to boost arts and culture in the City includes his pivotal role in organizing the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival since 2010 and co-founding Renfrew-Collingwood’s first Arts Council. He currently serves as the Vice-President of the Still Moon Arts Society, chairing a number of core organizational committees and spearheading many projects to further the Society’s vision of inspiring vibrant and connected communities by creating art and nurturing a passion for nature.
Mary Jane Morita spent 40 years as a lab technologist before pursuing a new path of art studies and community service. Her journey began with a 1000 Origami Crane Project in memory of the victims of Hiroshima.
Gladys Lee was born in Vancouver across from Oppenheimer Park. Her father was Chinese-Canadian and her mother was Cree. When Gladys was younger, she was an active participant in arts and crafts workshops. In her own words, “Instead of looking for trouble, I started going to arts programs. Art saved my life from the street.”
Merle Smith was a founding member of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in 1977. She identified a need to make the Jericho Beach site accessible to people with disabilities and in 1980 launched the festival’s Disabled Access Committee, which she led for 30 years. Her vision for creating an inclusive outdoor festival became a model widely adopted by festivals and other public events.
Erik Graff arrived in Canada from Scandinavia 50 years ago. Since volunteerism was not a part of Nordic culture, he was excited to find people giving of themselves to worthy causes. Over the years he became an active volunteer with numerous cultural and charitable events in Vancouver. In his 20 years as a bus driver, Graff enjoyed meeting people and keeping on top of events in the city.
Roy Sumpter is widely known by Vancouver audiences and event organizers as "The Man in the Red Jacket", his trademark outfit, having been ubiquitous for the past 20 years at The Cultch, the Fringe Festival, the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival, the Vancouver Museum, the PuSh Festival, Ronald McDonald House, Friends for LIfe, and dozens of other local cultural and charitable events.
Betty Lou Phillips moved to Vancouver from Ontario in 1978 and joined hiking and folk dancing clubs before becoming involved with the artistic scene. She soon became a regular subscriber to the symphony, ballet, theatre, film, jazz, and opera.
Annalies Camfferman was born in the Netherlands and came to Canada with her family at a young age, settling into the Pitt Polder area, where her family was involved in the dairy farming and cheese making business. With a BScN from UBC, the majority of her professional experience has been working in psychiatry at UBC.