In 2002 Imago celebrated its 30 year anniversery with a national visual arts competition.
The competition entitled, A New Heaven And A New Earth, recieved hundreds of entries using dozens of medium.
The first place award of $10,000.00 was given to Erica Grimm-Vance for her graphite, pastel, and steel work, Only Say The Word(shown).The second place award of $5,000.00 was given to Adrian Huysman's negative collage, Come To Pass. Third place and $3000.00 was awarded to Gerald Folkerts oil, Waiting For Eternity.
About Imago
Imago's current mandate articulates our intent to engage in promoting artistry of high caliber that will be both enrich and carry positive influence on the Canadian cultural landscape. Art is critical as a resource for bridging our differences and offering some threads of hope in the deeply troubling situations we face. Imago is committed to participating with artists and those interested in the art to do all it can to facilitate a thoughtful and practical program of support for the arts in Canada.
An Imago Board Meeting
Incorporated as a registered charity over thirty years ago Imago has engaged in advocacy for the arts, addressed social issues, engaged in science/religion dialogue, and called for reflection and practical action on a wide range of topics that bear on Canadian cultural life. As a faith based organization our values are rooted in the Judeo- Christian tradition. In the fall of 1997 the Board of Imago refined its original vision calling for a more focused attention to the arts. Imago advocated for an open but not uncritical engagement of social and cultural trends and for art that manifests both relevance and integrity. Imago strives to affirm the artistic gift and find ways to encourage and facilitate creative initiatives in the arts that will make a contribution to Canadian cultural life.
"Art thaws even the frozen darkened soul,opening it to lofty spiritual experience ". -Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
A MESSAGE FROM THE executive DIRECTOR
John Franklin Executive Director
Imago, is Latin for image. In our context it alludes to the belief that all people are created in the image of God, and are called to ‘image forth’ in word and deed a lifestyle consistent with the best of the tradition it affirms. This community identifies with the theme of incarnation – making the invisible visible- characterized by integrity even as it struggles to discern the shape of faithfulness. It also affirms the grace of hope – believing that art at its best is a resource for hopefulness present in the human community. Our mandate is to affirm the artistic gift and find ways to encourage and facilitate creative initiatives in the art that will make a contribution to Canadian cultural life. In order to foster and sustain new creative projects, Imago has been an umbrella for new arts initiatives.
Those who fund Imago or the projects it adopts are eligible for a tax deductible receipt. Art serves as a humanizing presence in human culture and that role has been underappreciated in our culture. Given the current state of affairs in our global community it should be evident that the presence of art is critical as a resource for bridging our differences and offering some threads of hope in the deeply troubling situations we face. An ambivalence concerning the arts remains as we live in a society where technology and the pressures of a consumerist culture shape our thinking devour our time and often leave us less imaginative than we might otherwise be. Some have suggested we have had our imaginations co-opted by the images and icons of a media driven society while other have grown impatient with a faith that appears to ignore the imagination. There are signs of change. Imago is committed to participating with artists and those interested in the art to do all it can to facilitate a thoughtful and practical program of support for the arts in Canada.
