Press release
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and the Conseil des arts de Montréal
unveil the winners of the Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal - 2007 edition
Montréal, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 Today, Isabelle Hudon, president and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, and Dany Laferrière, vice-chair of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, unveiled the winners of the 2007 edition of the Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal during a business luncheon titled The future of Montréal belongs to us. The winners of the 2007 Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal are as follows: SSQ Financial Group (Large enterprise category), TP1 (SME category), and Florence Junca-Adenot, UQAM professor, (Arts/Business personality category).
Just a few days before the start of Rendez-vous November 2007 Montréal, cultural metropolis, the Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal is a well-timed opportunity to reward business people who contribute to cultural and artistic organizations. With these awards, we wish to underscore the importance of mobilizing business leaders in support of the extraordinary asset that is our cultural vitality to stimulate the development of Montréal and place it among the world's great metropolises, declared Isabelle Hudon, president and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and co-chair of the Honourary committee of the Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal.
This is a wonderful way to give back to those who give. The Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal provide a great opportunity to enhance the relationship between the art world and the business sector. This event highlights the interests that both communities share and reveals the fundamental qualities that are necessary to the development of any society: generosity and solidarity, added Dany Laferrière, vice-chair of the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
The candidates were nominated by Montréal cultural and artistic organizations wishing to thank members of the business community who have provided them with exceptional support. The SSQ Financial Group served as principal partner to TOHU, la Cité des arts du cirque, lending both financial and moral support to its mission; TP1 provided financial and technical support to the Pont Bridge theatre company, building a Web site meeting the specific needs of the theatre troupe; Florence Junca-Adenot, UQAM professor, earned the title of Arts/Business personality of the year for her commitment to the world of contemporary dance, particularly by setting up a creation fund for Agora de la danse.
The support of the private sector enables cultural organizations both large and small to develop creation projects, present them to the Montréal public, and even export them overseas. Most of the time, these alliances between business and the arts go beyond mere financial partnerships to become a real sharing of values, ideas, and talents, explained Hudon.
The jury of the Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal was composed of Lise Bissonnette, president and CEO of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec; Marie-Josée Gagnon, ARP, founding president of CASACOM; D Kimm, artistic director of Les Filles électriques; Elliot Lifson, vice-chair of the board of Vêtements Peerless Clothing Inc.; and Paula de Vasconcelos, co-artistic director and general manager of the Pigeons International theatre company.
In the Large enterprise category, the finalists for the 2007 Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal were Power Corporation of Canada, sponsored by the CCA; the Société de transport de Montréal, sponsored by the Board of Montreal Museum Directors; and the SSQ Financial Group, sponsored by TOHU.
In the SME category, the finalists were Fjord marketing interactif, sponsored by Festival TransAmériques; TP1, sponsored by the Pont Bridge theatre company, and Vasco Design, sponsored by the Groupe de la Veillée theatre company.
In the Arts/Business Personality category, the finalists were Marcel Côté (founding partner of Secor and chair of Compagnie Marie Chouinard), sponsored by Compagnie Marie Chouinard; Jean-Marc Eustache (president and CEO, Transat A.T. Inc.), sponsored by the ESPACE GO theatre, and Florence Junca-Adenot (UQAM professor), sponsored by Agora de la danse.
In 2006, the winners were Quebecor Inc. (Large enterprise category), the Caisse populaire Desjardins du Mont-Royal (SME category), and Alvin Segal, president and CEO of Vêtements Peerless Clothing Inc. (Arts/Business personality category). A citation of excellence was also presented to the Fasken Martineau law firm.
About the Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal
The Prix Arts-Affaires de Montréal are an initiative of the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, in partnership with Quebecor Inc., SITQ, in collaboration with daily newspaper Le Devoir, to reward businesses and individuals who have shown their support for Montréal arts and cultural organizations. A multidisciplinary design collective called Rita, composed of Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard, Karine Corbeil, and Francis Rollin, created the work of art that is presented to Prix Arts-Affaires winners.
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has some 7,000 members. Its mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montréal and to provide individuals, merchants and businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is the largest private organization in Quebec dedicated to economic development.
A dynamic partner of Montréal artistic creation, the Conseil des arts de Montréal supports and recognizes excellence in professional artistic creation, production, and distribution through financial support, advice, and cooperative and development actions. For over 50 years, the Conseil des arts de Montréal is contributing to the development of "Montréal, cultural metropolis."
NB: Photographs will be available upon request this afternoon.
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For information and photographs:
Sylvie Paquette
Coordinator, Media relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4015
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca
Christian O'Leary
Directeur des communications et du développement
Conseil des arts de Montréal
Tel.: 514 280-3991
christian.oleary@cum.qc.ca