Honouring Jennifer Mascall & Lynn Johnston
http://www.fborfw.com/news/lynn-thanks-fans-award/
As usual, I will quote the article and then put in my comments
On November 4th, Lynn won accolades from FANS (Fund for the Arts on the North Shore). Here’s a note about her experience:
Over the years, I’ve been given some wonderful awards, all of which I am extremely proud to have received.
Well, I think there were a few honorary doctorates that she publicly denounced, but that was a long time ago. Nevertheless, this appears to be very similar. The award is given as a part of a fund-raiser for the arts and they want to bring in big names to attract a crowd and sell the tickets.
The one I received on the 4th of November was especially meaningful, as it was not only a recognition of the work I have done, but a sincere and joyful welcome home.
I don't like the way she words this, because it seems like she understands when she got the award, but she doesn't know the name of the award or the organization. The award is the 2016 Distinguished Artist Award at the FANS Tribute to the Arts. I actually had to get the official name of the award from another website.
I have come back to North Vancouver, to the place I grew up; the same neighbourhood where some of my elementary school friends still live. I settled in to a place where everything was familiar, but I had stayed away from galleries and from the venues where I knew I’d meet the artists in the community. I just didn’t know how I’d fit in.
First of all, the idea that artists spend their time hanging around art galleries is fairly amusing to me. Second of all, I would be surprised if Lynn really knew where the artists hang out in North Vancouver. My impression is that North Vancouver is a very expensive place to live. It doesn't seem to me that it is a place where starving artists hang out. Third of all, Lynn doesn't seem to understand who is giving her this award. It's the FANS (Fund for the Arts on the North Shore). It is not a group of North Vancouver artists, but the people who raise money for the arts.
Pictured: Mayor Richard Walton, District of North Vancouver, Lynn in her comic faces dress (ick!), Councillor Mary Ann Booth, representing West Vancouver, Mayor Darryl Mousatto, of the City of North Vancouver.
The people in this picture tell the real story about what kind of award this is. It is the kind of award where the mayors and the councillors go to get their pictures taken with celebrity artists.
I didn’t go to them, but the artists have found me. Not only have they embraced the work I do as being art, they have opened their doors to my friendship as well. For this I am humbled, honoured, and most grateful.
The artists may still consider Lynn's work not to be art, but the fund-raisers for the arts are not so picky. I expect they are very happy that Lynn's name helped sell out the house.
“They” are wrong. You CAN go home again!
Lynn J.
If by "they", Lynn means Thomas Wolfe, then she might be right. You Can't Go Home Again is a novel by Thomas Wolfe. The novel tells the story of an author, who writes a book that makes frequent references to his home town. The book is a success but the residents of the town are unhappy with the way the author portrayed them. Imagine if you will what it would be like if Lynn Johnston went back to Lynn Lake, a town that she has regularly raked over the coals in public (Lynn Lake land of adulterers). While Lynn has beaten up on the Vancouver School of Arts, she is mainly complimentary about growing up in North Vancouver. I think you can go back to places you don't insult.
As for her comments, Lynn is complimentary, but she really comes off as if she got this award and did not really know what was going on.
http://www.nsnews.com/community/fans-ified-1.2425475
Lynn Johnston and Jennifer Mascall are each set to receive the 2016 Distinguished Artist Award at the FANS Tribute to the Arts Friday at Griffin Art Projects. Johnston, who grew up in North Vancouver, is the cartoonist behind the comic strip For Better or For Worse. Dance choreographer Mascall is known for work that “consistently challenges accepted notions of dance,” according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.
I notice that the article makes a point that Lynn grew up in North Vancouver, as if that needs to be explained to the people who would say, "Oh, she didn't deserve that award. She doesn't live in North Vancouver!"