ONTARIO, CANADA:

Applications are now open for the 2024 edition of the Denise Jones Memorial Award for the Performing Arts and will close on September 30.

Jamaica-born businesswoman, the late Denise Jones, with her husband, Allan Jones, co-founded Jones and Jones Productions, the largest black-owned company in Canada, specialising in event management, marketing, and promotion. She passed away on December 3, 2020. A former student of Titchfield High School, and daughter of Portland, she was well-known as a fearless champion of Jamaican culture and Reggae music.

A release from the Titchfield Past Students Association of Ontario noted that ‘many reggae artistes, and others in the entertainment industry, benefitted from Denise’s mentorship and her ability to open doors where none previously existed’.

The Denise Jones Memorial Award, it said, was established in 2023 to continue Denise’s mentorship by providing financial assistance for a Titchfield student who has exhibited the same love and talent for the performing arts that she had. The award is presented with the collaboration of the Jones Family/Jones and Jones Group.’

The donors have commended the two beneficiaries of the inaugural award for continuing Jones’ legacy of excellence.

The release describes Mikhayla Brown, the 2023 awardee as: “An exceptionally talented young lady, she has been blazing her own trail in dance, speech, and drama, amassing several medals and awards from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC). She has just completed her first year at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA). Continuing to set the bar high, Mikhayla was one of a select few first-year students cast in the March 2024 production of the Children’s Theatre Workshop’s ‘Riding Haas’ and ‘Dog & Iguana’, playing the role of Anansi. This is notable because first-year students are seldom cast in productions.”

Awardee Kemar Haughton was also recognised for his growth and commitment to the performing arts. The release continued: “Kemar has garnered medals from JCDC for speech, drama and playing drums. Like Mikhayla, Kemar has just completed his first year at Edna Manley. He was also one of the first year students selected for this year’s production of the Children’s Theatre Workshop.

We wish Mikhayla and Kemar continued success and look forward to their future accomplishments.

The association expressed thanks to those who made donations in Jones’ memory, and invited people to visit its website at tpsaontario@gmail.com for more information on the memorial award.