Wearable Art Awards- 2010 Announcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2009

PORT MOODY TO BECOME NORTH AMERICAN WEARABLE ARTS CAPITAL THROUGH WINTER
OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES

PORT MOODY, BC - The Port Moody Arts Centre Society is seeking help from the
City and other partners for plans to make this Greater Vancouver community
the North American capital of Wearable Arts, starting this May and extending
through the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Andrew Danneffel and Paddi Solem, Society directors who are chair and
vice-chair respectively of the Wearable Arts Committee, have set out the
plans in a presentation to Port Moody City Council. They said the planned
program will start Saturday, May 9 and Sunday, May 10 with two 2009 Wearable
Art Awards performances at which a panel of selected jurors will recognize
winning entries with a total of $5,000 in cash awards donated by community
and corporate partners.

The performances, set for the Galleria in Port Moody City Hall, will be
followed by a presentation of entries at the Port Moody Arts Centre from May
14 through June 28. Danneffel said the Society intends to build from this
base to invite additional entries from across Canada and internationally for
a city-wide display through February and March, 2010, a period that includes
the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"We are aiming high," Danneffel said. "We believe the City of the Arts can
benefit artistically and economically from such a unique exhibition during a
time when world attention will be focused on British Columbia.

"Some 6,000 media members, not accredited to cover the games events
themselves will be seeking newsworthy events to cover and we believe we can
encourage many of them, as well as other visitors, to come to Port Moody to
see our Wearable Arts."

Artists from previous Wearable Art Awards will be invited to show their
creations along with entries from 2009 and those created for 2010.

The event, last held in September 2007, generally attracts up to 100 entries
from communities across Canada, in the United States and elsewhere. The
entries will be shown by models during Galleria performances. Deadline for
2009 entries for this off-the-wall art event is March 6 - and tickets for
the two performances will go on sale at the Port Moody Arts Centre after
March 10. Details are available at www.wearableartawards.com.

There are five categories - Open, Recycled, Headdress, Brassiere and
Olympic. Recognition also will be given for Best in Show, Student
participation, Conceptual Idea and "People's Choice", the latter based on
votes by the public at the awards performances and during the following
exhibit at the Arts Centre.

The Wearable Art Awards, begun in 2002, are presented by the Port Moody Arts
Centre Society - with support from businesses and sponsors who currently
include the City of Port Moody, the City's Spirit Committee, the BC Gaming
Commission, the Port Moody Arts Centre, Pacific Coast Terminals and Pasta
Polo - to encourage local, Canadian and International artists of all mediums
to submit evocative, imaginative and thought-provoking creations for the
human body. The imaginations of the participating artists are the only
limits on entries.

The works are juried in a three step process, initially by electronic
submissions, then by a panel of jurors drawn from the fashion and textile
arts industry. Each piece is examined for its creativity, originality,
skill in construction and conceptual idea. The final jurying takes place at
the performance presentations.