Arts Recipients

Writing, workshopping, and creating the final draft of a screenplay, The Sushi Family

Collaborative project with Emma Nishimura to construct a shrine to commemorate “Frog Paradise”

Creation of a book and exhibit about the artist’s maternal grandmother, her Babbi, tentatively titled Mémoire(s)

Creation of a Butsudan and Wedding Dress Tapestry with a family collaboration component

Creation of a historical fantasy-based graphic novel Ojiichan’s Dragon. The story takes place between the years 1942-1946 and is set in a Japanese Canadian internment camp in New Denver.

Collaboration with Ken Galloway, Curator, on the fourth edition of the JapanTown Series, a repainting of the original JapanTown Wall at Sanko Trading with the theme, “Building Blocks: Remembering Raymond Moriyama”

Developing and writing the manuscript for a book of poetry, Strand

Recording an album of original songs, a blend of indie rock and experimental modern classical music, titled Anybody

Development of a short documentary film, The Murder of Yoshi Uno, based on a little-known true crime story

Production of a studio album of original alternative R&B songs

Creation of a new series of large paintings for a public exhibition as well as a printed journal or book describing the creative journey from the artist’s beginnings as an abstract painter to the new works of 2025

Development and exhibition of sculptural washi/hybrid paper works

Production of an exhibition of new painting and sculptural work

Creation of a line of 18 traditional Japanese blades including five sushi knives (Yanagibaʼs), ten gyuto-style kitchen knives, and three samurai swords, with the goal of maintaining the traditional Japanese style, while incorporating a totally unique approach that focuses on transforming these iconic blades into original art

Creation of paintings and quilted textile pieces to be exhibited in a solo show

Creation and completion of a set of acrylic paintings with a Japanese Canadian theme

Creation of a collection of wood-fired ceramic tea bowls worthy of the tea ceremony originally inspired by zen buddhism

Production of a professionally staged presentation of the play God Said This

Creation of ghosts (of my family’s past), a visual essay combining photography and film mediums

Development of 千代 Chiyo: A Thousand Generations, an evening-length interdisciplinary solo performance work for speaking pianist

Development of a new poetry manuscript tentatively titled It Was Never That I Didnʼt Love You

Creation of a series of illustrated greeting cards and art prints inspired by the unique and evolving cultural identity of the Lower Mainland

Collaboration with twin sister Kiyomi Burgin to create a collection of six to eight knitting patterns for the hand knitter

Creation, completion, and exhibition of mixed media collage, portraiture, pattern design, and screen printing

Collaboration with Colin Boyd Shafer to create Retraced, a multimedia piece utilizing portraits, recorded movement, and live performance

A gallery exhibition of nine mixed-media works

Collaborative work showcasing surfboards with Japanese art and Japanese Artists at the Tofino Gallery of Contemporary Art

Creation and performance of a new piece of music on the theme of navigating cultural identity

Creating a series of book of sketches, limited edition prints and original paintings inspired by the artist’s return to his hometown of Ucluelet, BC, tracing the journey of his grandfather’s boat under the title The Missing Link

Creation of an exhibition, Natural Computing, that will consist of textiles, sculpture and displays made from wood

Development of No Idea, a musical short film

Creation of ten new musical works, to be released for the first time under the artist’s own name

Unraveling the mystery of Japanese songs, shigin, and family internment secrets with contemporary kōdan (講談), Japanese traditional storytelling

Creation of Following the Water, a painting on a 5ft high by 30ft long scroll, in an attempt to capture the essence of water in a range of its infinite manifestations, in addition to smaller canvases and sketches for exhibition purposes.

Collaborative readings from “From the Lost and Found Department”.

Creation of an original short film in collaboration with video artist Jeffery Chong to accompany new single, “Sundown Curfew”

Composition, development, and teaching of an original 30-minute musical work in the style of Japanese ohayashi, or festival music

Creation of a series of works in different mediums including risograph art prints, silkscreen prints, textile arts (embroidery and sewing), paintings and ceramics to honour the life that the artist’s grandma has lived, as well as the strengths and struggles that so many Japanese Canadians share

Creation and presentation of a new solo butoh dance performance choreographed by Denise Fujiwara

Recording of a soundscape album using theremin, voice and a self-built koto-like instrument with compositions that will correspond with a sci-fi/time travelling romance that explores the theme of nostalgia through a futuristic lens

Creation of a new script based on the life of First World War Japanese Canadian soldier Zennosuke Inouye

Research, creation, and presentation of a contemporary musical dance piece tentatively titled Mythological Shape Shifting: A Multi-Disciplinary Dance Creation Project that explores how three dancing, Canadian diasporic bodies engage with, become shaped by, and animate the artist’s Japanese mythological cultural inheritances

Researching and writing a novel for middle grade (8-12 years old) youth set in 1943 – 44, featuring a 12-year-old Japanese Canadian protagonist who turns to judo to keep his confusion and anger at bay

Production of a short film that takes place in the late 90s, looking at intergenerational trauma through a Japanese Canadian lens

Creation of a five-minute animated short film telling the tale of the artist’s grandfatherʼs life in Canada using a combination of stop motion and computed animated software.

Creation of a new play based on her grandparents, 孤村 LONESOME VILLAGE

Creation of a series of 20 paintings, screenprints, block prints and mixed media drawings looking at the portable cassette player from 1980 to 2000, examining the technology’s impact on society

Composition, recording, and performance of eight new instrumental music compositions inspired by the artist’s familyʼs experience before, during and after the war

A collaboration with shodo artist Yukari Snyder combining illustrations with the shodo practice

Development of a work of bio-fiction, Mejiro, Mejiro, Mejiro / (メジロ、メジロ、メジロ), comprised of a graphic novel and workshop performance with actors and musicians

A documentary focusing on the life of the artist’s grandmother

Post production work on film TEARS BURN TO ASH

Creation of The Picnic, a series of paintings based on found photographs

Development of musical compositions and demo recording for Ghosts in the Forest

Creation of Failure to Contain II, a large-scale suspended sculpture

Collaborate with Yoriko Gillard to create English-language translations of haiku and tanka written by issei in Canada

Presentation of a series of open table readings for feature film script development and cultural feedback for story ideas based in Japanese Canadian history

Creation of an audio + visual installation that explores the relationship between elemental memory, impermanence, and cataclysm

Creation and exhibition of Shape of Loss, involving a performative aspect of drawing the hulls of the 1337 fishing boats that were confiscated in 1942, along with the exhibition of the completed drawing

Development of still, not still, working with language to surface tangible works through curiosity and wonderings, intuition, and exploratory play

Development of a fiction manuscript interweaving the artist’s grandfather’s haikus with the artist’s storytelling

Creation of Our Home Is Now, a short film that combines elements of theatre and sculpture to tell part of the artist’s story and how it connects to our story, exploring history, memory and identity

Developing No gods gallery installation and video project utilizing the traditional form of a fairy tale and inspired by contemporary Japanese magic realism

Creation of When The Blossoms Fade, a 20-minute documentary that follows the search for the artist’s Japanese identity and explores intergenerational trauma from a Japanese Canadian perspective

Collaboration with Kerri Sakamoto and Leanne Toshiko Simpson to produce Out of the Silence, an anthology of Japanese Canadian writing

Creation of the film Ramen Boys, a short romantic comedy

A series of video monologues and a photographic essay, based on revised family journal entries

Creation with collaborator Kristos Seiler of a series of 3D sculptural pieces using ocean-rounded wood found on south coastal beaches

Through the creation of a book (hand-bound version and for sharing, digitally-printed and online copies), this project aims to help foster dialogue about the many layers of Paueru Gai and its history while adding to the materials, discourse, and educational potential created by sharing JC history through art and engagement. It will speak to underrepresented narratives, displacement and dispossession of communities, and how they might be understood.

Creation of an international sticker art exhibit, Stuck Together

Development of a sculptural structure, A Mediation: House of Dreams

Writing and illustrating a family memoir using a mashup of prose, poetry, and comics, combining collage, photos, and ink with the digital medium Procreate

Researching and crafting a multi-lingual screenplay, Osechi (working title)

Composing a collection of songs and poems inspired by waterscapes for a performance art project “Overflow” in a three-part collaborative process

Creation of a large interactive piece to facilitate understanding the weight of what it felt like to grow up as a Japanese Canadian in BC

Creation of a literary fiction manuscript, The Seven Sins of the Japanese Mermaid, structured around the Seven Sins, the Seven Virtues and some of the poisons in Buddhism

Development of script for Jewpanese Play (working title), an immersive one-person multimedia storytelling experience, exploring identity, ancestral roots, loss of language and access to culture, intergenerational trauma, and breaking from that trauma through discovering and healing

Research and creation of a large-format graphic art piece that reflects the heritage of the Japanese Canadian West Coast Fishing Community, particularly the artist’s familyʼs history in the industry

Creation of a 20-foot digital panoramic photographic image of an installation titled TL; DR (too long; didnʼt read) to be used as an insert for an artist book project housed within an exhibition catalogue

Engaging in a documented self-directed residency, providing community collage workshops, and launching an interactive public exhibition

Creation of three video performances featuring newly created self-portrait masks with music created by Hitoshi Sugiyama

Creation of a sculpture series based on gaman or ganborou, to endure

Research and creation of a poetry collection tentatively titled re:location, with a public reading

Creation of a short film, Asahi Brothers

Creation of a film, Withdrawal