Alberta Northern Lights Volunteer Recognition Program
Honouring the everyday heroes who are helping to make life better in communities across the province
On July 21, 2022, Carolyn Steeves was recognized for commitment to the Arts in Strathmore
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Carolyn Steeves was just the kind of spark needed to ignite the creativity and empower the youth of Strathmore.
In her role as a piano teacher, Carolyn helped her youthful students hone their creative skills. As president and one of the founders of the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival, she now strives to give those same students and aspiring artists from the region an opportunity to share their talents with others. The festival struck a chord with performers and audiences, and the inaugural event in 2019 attracted more than 200 entries, involving more than 600 children and youth as individual performers as well as members of choirs, bands, and musical theatre groups. Strathmore and areas showed their support with several thousand in attendance over the course of the weekend series of performances. For Carolyn, the festival is more than a showcase for budding musicians, but a way to encourage and empower young people, giving kids an opportunity to build their confidence as artists and as people. Along with the annual festival, Carolyn helped to strengthen the community’s cultural foundation, taking a key role in establishing Arts on 817, a concert series based in Strathmore United Church that hosts fine arts events to Strathmore and area residents. While the path to stardom is a long and arduous one, Carolyn is doing her part to prepare those who choose to take on the challenge for the road ahead. That deserves a round of applause for the recipient of Northern Lights Volunteer Recognition honours, Carolyn Steeves. |
Carolyn Steeves recognized for Arts development in Strathmore
Written by Monique Massiah, Strathmore Now, Wednesday, Jul 27 2022, 4:00 PM
A long-time supporter of the arts in Strathmore has been recognized for her efforts by the province of Alberta.
The Alberta Northern Lights Volunteer Recognition Program highlights the achievements of everyday heroes who try to better communities in the province. In her role as a music and piano teacher and being one of the founders of the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival and the Vault Cultural Collective, Carolyn Steeves has been able to share her passion for the arts with an entire community.
Steeves has also helped establish Arts on 817, the concert-based series held at the Strathmore United Church, and has enabled many children in the community to have access to arts programming through her teaching career at École Brentwood Elementary School.
She explained that she found out she had been nominated by a former Brentwood School and piano student and former board member of the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival, Greg John. Then, out of the blue recently she was contacted by the province to provide more information. It wasn't long after that she was told she won the award on July 21.
“I'm just passionate about the arts. Some people might say I'm obsessed with it. As a small child, I took piano lessons. I was involved in school choirs and school bands and those kinds of things decided I wanted to do a music degree," she said.
“I had a 41-year teaching career, raised children that were all involved in arts and two of them now professionally and one of my other children is a music teacher in Calgary,” she explained.
Music and the arts is something that she loves and wants to be involved with.
“It’s just something that drives my spirit. I'm passionate about it. I think it's vitally important to our world today. I just want to make sure, I guess in my inner being, that there’s arts for the whole community, young, older, whatever it is that floats your boat.”
The Alberta Northern Lights Volunteer Recognition Program highlights the achievements of everyday heroes who try to better communities in the province. In her role as a music and piano teacher and being one of the founders of the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival and the Vault Cultural Collective, Carolyn Steeves has been able to share her passion for the arts with an entire community.
Steeves has also helped establish Arts on 817, the concert-based series held at the Strathmore United Church, and has enabled many children in the community to have access to arts programming through her teaching career at École Brentwood Elementary School.
She explained that she found out she had been nominated by a former Brentwood School and piano student and former board member of the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival, Greg John. Then, out of the blue recently she was contacted by the province to provide more information. It wasn't long after that she was told she won the award on July 21.
“I'm just passionate about the arts. Some people might say I'm obsessed with it. As a small child, I took piano lessons. I was involved in school choirs and school bands and those kinds of things decided I wanted to do a music degree," she said.
“I had a 41-year teaching career, raised children that were all involved in arts and two of them now professionally and one of my other children is a music teacher in Calgary,” she explained.
Music and the arts is something that she loves and wants to be involved with.
“It’s just something that drives my spirit. I'm passionate about it. I think it's vitally important to our world today. I just want to make sure, I guess in my inner being, that there’s arts for the whole community, young, older, whatever it is that floats your boat.”