Welcome to the relaunched version of gporter.net.

 Gerald C. Porter (1962-2016) was a talented visual artist, designer, and humorist who made an indelible impact on the arts scene of his hometown, St. John’s, Newfoundland. The website’s purpose is to display Gerry’s work and to celebrate the life of our beloved husband, father, and friend. We hope you enjoy it.

Read Joan Sullivan’s obituary for Gerry in the Globe and Mail.

Watch Lorraine Michael’s tribute to Gerry in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly.

Questions? Comments? Get in touch with us at contact@gporter.net.

 

 

 

Gerry Porter Award for Creative Improvised Music – 2020 and 2022

The Gerry Porter Award for Creative Improvised Music was again announced on July 21, 2022 at the LSPU Hall. Due to COVID-related delays, an award was not given out in 2020 as intended, so there were two prizes to give out this year. Both winners received a cash award of $1000. Congratulations to you guys, and keep keeping it noisy! —Chris McGee

Tiber Reardon is a multi-instrumentalist sound designer based in St. John’s, NL. He creates evocative, ambient soundscapes that elicit a feeling, mood, memory, or image, often all at once. He is an active collaborator with many artists in the music and visual arts community.”

Big Space is an instrumental jazz-rock trio from Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. Featuring guitarist Grant King, bassist Ian Murphy, and drummer Ashley Chalmers, the band plays an original mix of modern jazz with other genres like post-rock, math rock, and progressive rock. Improvisation is a key part of their sound, and the trio is all about taking chances and catching moments of inspiration.”

The Gerry Porter Prize for Comix

The Gerry Porter Prize for Comix was awarded to artist Mike Feehan at the Pure Comix Festival of Graphic Literature on June 27, 2019.

The prize for outstanding contributions to graphic literature in Newfoundland and Labrador was conceived by comic artist Wallace Ryan, who along with Gerry Porter, created Zeitgeist, Newfoundland’s first comic book, in 1979.

Mike Feehan, best known for Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, published by DC Comics, was thanked by Wallace for “forging a path for others here in this province to follow and for putting our little Colony of Comix Artists on the map.”

The Gerry Porter Award for Creative Improvised Music 2018

This award was established according to Gerry’s wishes, and is intended for an individual, group, or organization based in Newfoundland and Labrador producing or supporting creative improvised music of any genre.

Through the generosity of Gerry’s friends and family, the award has been established with a $1000 prize, and is given out every two years at Sound Symposium in St. John’s. To contribute to the Award, go to http://www.cfnl.ca/ and select Gerry Porter Award Fund from the menu “Ways to Give”.

On July 13, 2018, the inaugural prize was awarded to Craig Squires. A leader in the St. John’s free jazz and improv scene, Craig is the co-ordinator of the monthly Night Music series, a concert and improv session at The Ship Pub. Night Music has been a cornerstone of the St. John’s music scene for almost two decades.

thedesigners award

Gerry was posthumously given the inaugural ‘thedesigners award’ in 2017. From their website: 

“The highlight of the night however, was probably the presentation of the first ever ‘thedesigners award’ – a new award presented to a local individual that has contributed greatly to the advancement of our creative community. Unfortunately Gerry Porter passed away last fall, but his work, story, humour and enthusiasm will live on forever. He was a pioneer in many ways for our province, one of the first to try many new things as they became a reality. A graphic designer, an illustrator, a comic book writer and artist, a political satirist, loving husband, father and grand-father. Gerry Porter was a great friend to our design community and will be missed.”

Also, make sure to check out this video made by Benjy Kean for the event!