Vancouver theatre director, dramaturg, and educator Jane Heyman named amid new Order of Canada appointments
Humorist and disability arts performer David Roche, Canadian College of Performing Arts founders Janis Dunning and Jacques Lemay among other BC honourees
Jane Heyman
Tomson Highway
David Roche
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL announced 135 appointments to the Order of Canada today, and amid them are some prominent names in BC arts.
Vancouver theatre director, dramaturg, and educator Jane Heyman, a longtime force at Studio 58, was appointed a member “for her long-lasting contributions to Vancouver’s cultural landscape through her various roles within the theatre sector”. The artist worked as a full-time member of Studio 58’s theatre-arts faculty between 1985 and 2005 and served as the department’s first associate director from 1991 until her retirement. She remains a member of the Theatre Arts Advisory Committee. She also co-founded Vancouver’s Performing Arts Lodge (PAL), the unique social housing and theatre complex in Coal Harbour that provides an affordable home and production opportunities for senior performing arts professionals.
Elsewhere in the announcement, Roberts Creek-based David Roche was appointed a member “for his pioneering contributions to the field of disability art, and for promoting acceptance, inclusion and diversity across Canada and the United States”. The humorist, performer, author, and keynote speaker has appeared everywhere from his signature one-man show The Church of 80% Sincerity, about his journey from shame to acceptance of his facial deformity, to Bonnie Sherr Klein’s documentary Shameless.
From Victoria, Canadian College of Performing Arts founders Janis Dunning and Jacques Lemay were recognized for their contributions to the arts and to young artists in Canada, while Lily Siewsan Chow received honours for preserving and promoting the history of early Chinese immigrants to Canada and their contributions to the country’s social and economic development.
Nationally, playwright and novelist Tomson Highway, of Quebec, was elevated to an officer of the Order of Canada for “his sustained and distinguished contributions to theatre and Canadian culture”, while guitar legend Liona Boyd, of Ontario, was named officer for “significant and sustained contributions to Canada’s musical landscape”.
The Order of Canada recognizes achievement not just across arts but business, politics, science, and other fields. You can see the entire list of 135 new appointments here.
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