Awesome Ottawa

Parkways for People is a coalition working to transform the national capital parkways, with an emphasis on more active use.

September’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Olivia Wittenburg to support her project of making toadstool homes and mushrooms and leaving them around the city for people to find and take home. “I started back in May,” explains Olivia, “because I was temporarily laid off due to COVID-19 and I needed something artistic to do for […]

August’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Robin Vernell to support the construction of a full-size replica of the console that pilots the TARDIS—the time-travelling spaceship in the sci-fi television series Doctor Who.

July’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Fadhili Samba. Samba is the creator of the Princess Party Project, which aims to make royal visits more accessible for kids. Samba says, “Children should be able to celebrate their magical day regardless of their parents’ or guardians’ financial situations,” according to a press release. “I created this project so […]

Abdul is an Afro-soul artist who goes by the name KAR33M.

Merritt Decloux, Michaela Van Beinum, and Zainab Muse are working together as Tessellate Collective, which they describe as a group of creatively diverse individuals with a shared mandate

“I used to be a chef,” explains Richard, “but am now confined to a wheelchair and am no longer able to cook professionally… I started out making some meals for others, and eventually came up with the idea of teaching other people with disabilities how to cook—so they would feel and have more independence.”

March’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Don Kwan and John Cameron to support the distribution of a free drag queen colouring book featuring Ottawa’s very own China Doll.

February’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Alea de Castro to support a creative project for kids who are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

December’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Nicholas Amott, an Ottawa writer and theatre actor, to transform popular songs into works of Shakespeare.

November’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Nicholas Leno and Norah Paton to support an interactive audio play of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that Ottawa residents can enjoy in their own homes and neighbourhoods. “Audiences will have an audio track and bag of items delivered to them,” explains Nicholas. “The audio track will layer narration […]

October’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to David Narbaitz and Jesse Burcsik to support their facilitation of COVID-safe hugs in the city.

Kate Punnett, founder of City Love Flowers, creator of the Elderflower campaign, which was recognized by Awesome Ottawa and showcased by Ottawa Matters, is a multidisciplinary artist, activist, and community volunteer who gives back to the 613 daily in myriad ways.

September’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Ashley Proulx, Laura Wheeler, Steven Lafond, Garret Brink, and Zach Counsil to produce a fictional web series set in Ottawa that seeks to answer the question “In the wake of so much change, how can we stand for something better?”

August’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to the Elderflower Project, an initiative to bring flowers to isolated seniors; and building a social movement to do so at an even greater scale next summer.