BC artists
Salish Hall Art Committee on point with Point
Salish Hall will have a magnificent piece of artwork going up on one of its walls courtesy of Salish artist Susan Point. The art committee chose Point from a list of artists that was provided and approved by the Washington State Arts Commission. The art committee unanimously decided on hiring a Native American artist to [...]
Wells-based artist Bill Horne asks B.C. government to triple arts funding
An artist from the small Cariboo town of Wells is calling on the B.C. government to increase its funding of the arts. “The two main things I would like you to consider are the restoration of all Gaming monies to the non-profit sector, without any strings attached, and a tripling of the province’s investment in [...]
Terrace: Artists swarm Co-op building
IT’S being called Graffiti Fest, an effort this weekend to cover the former Terrace Co-op building with colourful art works. The Terrace and District Art Council (TDAC) is working with Skeena Diversity on the project. The event features music and begins each day at 9 a.m. this weekend. There will even be a barbecue and [...]
Port Alberni Nuu-chah-nulth artist wins award
A renowned Nuu-chah-nulth artist is among the recipients of a prestigious art award. Hesquiaht artist Tim Paul was named one of six winners of the 2010 B.C. creative achievement award for First Nations’ art. B.C. premier Gordon Campbell and B.C. Achievement Foundation chair Keith Mitchell announced the winners on Wednesday. “We are proud to celebrate [...]
Interview: The story behind Rebecca Belmore’s “I quit” performance
Worn down by an escalating legal dispute with her former art dealer, Rebecca Belmore – one of this country’s most prominent contemporary artists – arrived at a difficult decision over the Labour Day weekend. Nearly four years after terminating her relationship with gallery owner Pari Nadimi, and three years after Nadimi began legal proceedings against [...]
Lake Cowichan: Local artist to be recognized by the premier of BC
It’s not every day that a local artist receives recognition from the premier of BC, but that’s exactly what’s happening to Cathi Jefferson, on Monday, September 27, in Vancouver. On this day, Gordon Campbell will hand her a Carter Wosk BC Creative Achievement Award for Applied Art and Design, of which only three people in [...]
B.C. artist takes her legal woes to the level of performance art, Performance piece is latest gesture in feud between Rebeccal Belmore and her former art dealer over alleged breach of contract
Exhausted and distraught over legal troubles, Rebecca Belmore – the Vancouver-based Anishinabe artist who represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2005 – has staged a performance piece that ended with her shouting “I quit!” The exclamation, coming from one of the country’s most prominent artists, has shaken the Canadian visual-arts community, which is now [...]
BC ART ATTACK: Interview with Artspeak Director Melanie O’Brian
Melanie O’Brian is the Director of Artspeak Gallery in Vancouver. Q – How has Artspeak been impacted by the cuts to the arts? How has this impacted artists? How has your publications program been impacted? Artspeak has been impacted by the BCAC (BC Arts Council) cuts in that we cannot produce any new publications this [...]
Vancouver: Cargo containers showcase local artists
The PNE is about the last place you would expect to find some thought-provoking art. But it is there, interestingly packed into a couple-dozen cargo containers inside the PNE’s Celebration Plaza. The hugely popular “container art” exhibit is the brainchild of the PNE’s Peter Male. What started out at last summer’s PNE as a small [...]
North Shore artists pull out their paint brushes for Pakistan fundraiser
Growing up, Sarah Ella Bastien lived her life in halves. Six months of the year, the young girl spent her days running through rolling fields of sunflowers and poppies in the picturesque countryside of Central France. The other six months she was on the rugged North Shore, studying, painting, and sailing the waters of Howe [...]
Langley: Artists collaborate on new visitor centre map
Langley artists Deborah Strong of Cat and Mouse Designs and Vivian Harder of Thunderfoot Studios were commissioned by Tourism Langley to create an artistic introduction to Langley in the new visitor centre, located at Langley Events Centre. The map was a joint effort by the two artists, and the project was the first time they [...]
Three dozen B.C. artists heralded
Artists of British Columbia, Volume 1 is a new book that presents the work of Enda Bardell, Pnina Granirer, Charles Mayrs, Motoko and 32 other B.C. artists. “What they have in common,” says the brief introduction, is “an incredible passion about their art …. They are driven to create …” The paintings, photographs and sculptures [...]
Vancouver: Weaving was dismissed as women’s work, Time Warp has works by artists from Alaska, Yukon, B.C. and Washington state
A major exhibition of contemporary textiles and fibre art of the northwest coast at the Bill Reid Gallery is a sign that a major conceptual shift is underway in the acceptance of weaving as an art form on the northwest coast. The works in Time Warp: Contemporary Textiles of the Northwest Coast are made from [...]
B.C. artist Len Gibbs dies at age 81
Len Gibbs, one of British Columbia’s best-known artists, has died in Victoria at the age of 81. Considered one of the significant painters of his generation in the school known as high realism, Gibbs depicted in immaculate and precise detail the everyday scenes of ordinary people. They range from the portrait of a cowboy’s dog [...]
Rossland: Rouge cooperative seeks new membership
Since Christmas, several members of the Rouge artists cooperative have moved on, and the group is looking for new members. Member Mirja Vahala emphasized all the membership benefits: Increased exposure to potential buyers, interesting interactions with the public, and the creative synergy that builds in a community of artists. “I think we’ve made a real [...]
