Norman Armour Receives Vancouver’s Civic Merit Award From Mayor Gregor Robertson

October 31, 2013

For immediate release: October 31, 2013

Norman Armour, the Artistic and Executive Director of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, has been awarded with Vancouver’s highest civic award by Mayor Gregor Robertson in a ceremony at City Hall on October 30, 2013.
Of this honour, Norman says, “I am proud of the work I have done. I am proud of our city’s art scene, of our Mayor, our Councillors, and proud of the staff in the Office of Cultural Services. Like—I am sure—many of my fellow recipients, this is something of a surprise. But surprises are often good.”

The award has been presented since 1942 to honour outstanding achievements or in recognition of service. Recipients are chosen unanimously by City Council and receive a medallion and inscription in the city’s Civic Merit Book.

Other recipients of this year’s award are Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks captain; Ken Lyotier, founder of United We Can; Wendy Grant-John, the first woman elected as regional chief to the Assembly of First Nations; retired obstetrician Dr. Madeline Chung; Eleanor Guerrero-Campbell, former executive director and CEO of the Minerva Foundation; Susan Tatoosh, executive director of the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre; Joe Wai, architect of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden; and Faye Wightman, philanthropist.

About Norman Armour

Norman Armour is a Vancouver-based curator and artist. Since graduating from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts in 1986, he has collaborated on over 100 projects for the stage and other media. Norman co-founded Rumble Productions, a mainstay of Vancouver’s independent theatre scene. During his 15-year tenure, the company’s mission embraced the creation and presentation of new works, innovative adaptations of classics, site-specific and large-scale interdisciplinary events, dance/theatre collaborations, live-remote radio broadcasts, and the aspirations of young artists.

In 2003, he co-founded the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and has been its Artistic and Executive Director since 2006. An annual, three-week, mid-winter festival, PuSh engages Vancouver audiences and artists with adventurous contemporary performance, while promoting cultural exchange and development. Through creative residencies, commissions and industry-focused initiatives, PuSh also looks to play a larger role in the evolution of new aesthetics and creative communities—in Canada and abroad.
He is the recipient of numerous awards, including Simon Fraser University’s Distinguished Alumni and the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts awards, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

About the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is Vancouver’s mid-winter festival presenting acclaimed local, national and international artists. The PuSh Festival presents groundbreaking work in the live performing arts with theatre, dance, music, and various forms of multimedia and hybrid performance.

The 2014 PuSh Festival takes place January 14 to February 2, 2014 at various venues in and around Vancouver. This year’s Festival includes works by artists and companies from Canada, England, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Lebanon, Portugal, and the United States. The 2014 Festival features more than 150 performances and events over 20 days, including 20 Mainstage shows, three weeks of performances at Club PuSh, networking events at the PuSh Assembly, film series, dinner/theatre experiences with Dine Out Vancouver, hotel/ticket packages through a new partnership with beVancouver.com, and many artist talks and other ancillary events.