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Sound & Art Contest at Hear Well be Well focuses on performers

April 20, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Many of the arts rely on sound to deliver their message or enhance a performance.

Music, film, and theatre all rely on sound moving between the artist and the audience, while the presence of sound improves fine art, street art, and dance to bring the audience together for a shared experience.

The Sound & Art Contest launched on Saturday, Apr. 15, with a focus on artists.

“Sound improves our experience of the arts in diverse ways,” said John Tiede, a Hearing Instrument Specialist and Co-CEO of Hear Well Be Well, with his wife, Kathleen. “The experience of looking at a painting on a wall is enhanced by hearing the conversations that go on around and about it. Dance is beautiful even in silence, but it’s so much more engaging when accompanied by sound.”

As Speech and Hearing Month approaches in May, Hear Well Be Well, in partnership with manufacturer Beltone Canada, is delivering support to artists and those who enjoy the arts with the Sound & Art Contest.

“May is Speech and Hearing Month,” Kathleen Tiede said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase local artists and the effect the arts have on our lives. “When someone has hearing loss, they often choose to stay away from the arts because they can’t experience it the way they used – particularly music and spoken-word arts. And we can’t forget the artists who have hearing loss as well. Their experience of the world changes, and so does their art.”

The Sound & Art Contest offers a chance for artists of all disciplines, amateur or professional, to win one of two grand prizes of $500 or two secondary prizes of $250. All the prizes come with a hearing test for the winner, and in the case of the grand prizes, a set of hearing aids is included if the hearing test determines there is hearing loss.

To enter the contest, artists are requested to upload a short video sharing their thoughts on the importance of sound for their art. The contest for artists closes on Apr. 30.

The second part of the Sound & Art Contest runs for May and focuses on how people who love the arts have their experience enhanced by sound.

Entrants are asked to provide a short video or a written submission to participate.

The grand prizes and secondary prizes are equivalent to the art contest.

This contest closes on May 31.

“Art, like sound, can connect us,” said Rob Boucher, head of Beltone Canada, co-presenter of the contest, along with Hear Well Be Well. “Our ambition is to spark conversation and awareness of sound and hearing care while supporting and showcasing the local artist community to help bring people closer.”

Visit HearWellBeWell.ca/contest for more details.

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