Quarrington Arts Society Launched
October 26, 2009
Toronto, ON (October 24, 2009) ? The launch of the Quarrington Arts Society was announced today by Michael Burke, President and CEO of Cordova Bay Entertainment Group Inc., at a celebration honouring its namesake, author and musician, Paul Quarrington.
The Quarrington Arts Society – QAS – was formed to encourage and promote artistic endeavor and achievement by Canadian artists and Canadian students of the arts who work or have worked in more than one artistic discipline. The award which may go to one or more, as determined by the directors of the organization, will recognize all or any of the following ? a single work, a group of works, a body of work or a career of lifetime of work
The concept was born 4 months ago by Paul, longtime friend and music partner Martin Worthy and Michael Burke to recognize and encourage artistic diversity. A legacy that will be a part of the Canadian artistic fabric for generations to come, the physical award visually represents, writing, music, film – the 3 tenets of Quarrington’s professional life and was designed by Victoria’s Michael Tension — also a musician and composer.
In addition to Paul Quarrington, initial contributors to the Society include, Cordova Bay Entertainment Group, Inc, Sea Change Corporation, Maple Music Ltd, Torrent Investments and a long list of friends and family.
Paul Quarrington was born on July 22nd of 1953 in Toronto, Ontario, the middle son of Bruce Joseph and Mary Ormiston, both psychologists. He spent his teen years in the suburb of Don Mills and attended the University of Toronto from 1970 to 1972. He is also a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre. Music was his passion from an early age, and in 1980, he and his long time friend Martin Worthy had a #1 single in Canada called ?Baby and the Blues?. Quarrington toured and recorded with the notorious Joe Hall and The Continental Drift and more recently with the Porkbelly Futures. Paul?s songwriting talents soon led to screenwriting, winning him Gemini nominations and Genie Awards for Perfectly Normal and Claire with the Rheostatics as well as the CFTPA Indie Award for Moose TV (Showcase).
In many ways, Quarrington hit his stride as an author. His novels The Ravine and Galveston were nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize; Whale Music won the Governor General?s Award for Fiction and King Leary won the Canada Reads competition and the Stephen Leacock Medal. This year he was awarded the prestigious Matt Cohen Award for his body of work. Quarrington is a frequent writer on television series and over the years has ventured into the graphic arts, creating several paintings of note.
A novelist, musician, screenwriter and non-fiction writer, Quarrington continues to tour and record with the Porkbelly Futures, is working on a solo recording with friends Dan Hill and Matthew McCauley, a documentary film (BookShorts/CTV Bravo!) following the themes in his new non-fiction book Cigar Box Banjo (Greystone Books) that is expected to be released in 2010, as well as a television series Notebooks on Euphoria for Shaftsbury Films/TMN and a script for the adaptation of Galveston with Peter Lynch.
In making the announcement, Burke noted ?Paul has a plethora of talent and has always exercised it. In a way, he is the ‘poster child’ for this society.” The first award will be given in 2010. For further information and to make a pledge , visit www.quarringtonartsociety.ca
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Comments
Got something to say?