Welcome to a special series of Art Pays Me interviews with the winners of the 2025 Creative Nova Scotia Awards. Presented annually by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, these awards celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki.

Award categories are as follows:

• Creative Community Impact
• Prix Grand-Pré
• Established Artist
• Emerging Artist
• Black Artist
• Indigenous Artist
• And finally, The Portia White Prize that is given to a person who has made outstanding and significant contributions to Nova Scotia’s creative community over a sustained career – much like the incredible woman that the award is named after. The winner will also choose a protege, an emerging artist or cultural organization that will also receive funding.

Collectively, the awards are worth $75,000! Visit artsns.ca for more information.

This series would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz.

About Nicola

Saxophonist and Composer Nicola Miller (she/her) is based on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, where she has become a vital part of the maritime creative music ecosystem. Weaving endless sonic curiosity into a jazz foundation, the music she plays and writes effortlessly traverses boundaries of style and approach. Miller has appeared in performances alongside a diverse cross-section of artists including Nicole Rampersaud, Charlotte Hüg, Terri Hron, India Gailey, Enrique Luna, Sam Wilson, Uri Caine, Tim Crofts, Glenn Patscha, and Nick Halley. She's been featured at the Open Waters Guelph and Halifax Jazz Festivals and also performed in contexts that span Berlin's Volksbühne and Jazz Am Helmholtzplatz to Acadia University's Physics Department. She is the winner of the 2025 Paul Cram Award and will be debuting her first piece for symphony in January of 2026 with Symphony NS.