Deepa Mehta (pictured) and Mary Walsh are among the 2012 recipients of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award (GGPAA) for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, announced Tuesday in Calgary.

Director Mehta, known for her elemental trilogy of films, Fire, Earth and Water, will receive the lifetime artistic tribute just as she collaborates with Salman Rushdie on a film adaptation of his novel, Midnight’s Children.

Writer, director and comedian Mary Walsh will be recognized for her contribution to Canadian broadcasting.

Walsh is the creator of CBC satirical series This Hour Has 22 Minutes, where she performed iconic characters like Dakey Dunn, Connie Bloor and Princess Warrior Marg Delahunty.

Other GGPAA award winners include concert pianist Janina Fialkowska, dancer and choreographer Paul-Andre Fortier, theatre and artistic director Denis Marleau, and the Canadian rock band Rush.

Each laureate will receive a $25,000 cash prize contributed by the Canada Council for the Arts, and a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint.

The GGPAAs, created in 1992, provide ultimate recognition for Canada’s performing artists.