January’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to Brenda Dunn and Shawn MacDonell, to support interactive art that the entire Hintonburg community can build and play with together.

"I will be placing small monster sculptures in Hintonburg businesses — Hintonbeasts," Brenda explains. "The monsters will all be different and each will come with a unique story. If you find them, you can tag them on Instagram and share where you spotted one. You'll also be able to read their individual stories and see more photos of them out and about in the neighbourhood."

"Loam Clay Studio has signed on to partner with the Hintonbeasts," Brenda continues, "and I will be hosting a day for people to come out and make a monster guardian of their very own. People will upload images and stories for their own monsters to the site, and suggest places that a guardian might be needed."

Brenda and Shawn are thinking about other kinds of interactivity as well — a 'Burg Beast Bingo game, collective decision-making around where Hintonbeasts "looking for work" belong, 'Burg Beast apparel made by and sold at local clothing stores, and more.

Brenda is an artist who learned a lot of busy words during a masters in English literature, but prefers the visual to verbal when it comes to communication. Shawn is the founder of a creative agency, and spends his time kicking people out of their comfort zone. You can follow their progress on Instagram, as well as on Brenda and Shawn's websites.