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Some of the city’s most adventurous creative thinkers figure among the nominees in the 29th annual Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Awards, to be handed out April 21 at City Hall.

Patrick Lundeen, an actor/director who combines his work as the executive director of the Common Ground Arts Society with his ventures in artistic outreach at the Citadel Theatre, is up for the Telus Courage to Innovate award. So is A.J.A. Louden, the highly original painter/muralist who founded The Aerosol Academy, designed to educate youth about art history through the optic of street art and graffiti.

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Photo by Fish Griwkowsky

Also on that six-name list of artistic innovators is Sebastian Barrera, the guitarist/singer who founded Creart, the free school of music and art that runs Saturday mornings at the Parkdale Cromdale Community League. And the artist collective CRIPSiE, who create multi-disciplinary work that challenges disability stereotypes — most recently Love in the Margins, a play/wedding reception combo that played the new Chinook Series in February — gets a nod, too.