Island arts
Parksville: Art in the Olympix spirit
By Lissa Alexander, Parksville Qualicum Beach News, January 31, 2011 B.C. Spirit Festivals will kick off around the province this month celebrating the first anniversary of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, and locally that will come in the form of the Mail Art Olympix. The McMillan Arts Centre in Parksville was given a $16,000 [...]
Nanaimo: Symphony transforms old music into new
By Rosemary Phillips, Nanaimo News Bulletin, January 19, 2011 Grapes are harvested and pressed, and the wine, like good music, sits to become well aged, is bottled and served years hence. Like a vintner developing character, aroma and bouquet, a conductor takes music from the written page and transforms it through an orchestra into an [...]
Langford: O’Siem BC Spirit Festival
Free Family Fun all Weekend! Capital Festival Productions and La Société Francophone de Victoria present the O’Siem BC Spirit Festival, February 11th -13th 2011 at the Eagle Ridge Community Centre at City Centre Park, Langford, in celebration of BC’s Olympic legacy. Bringing together the Westshore districts in celebration of BC’s rich artistic and cultural diversity, [...]
Nanaimo: Catch the spirit! Spirit of Shadow/Spirit of Light: Multimedia Arts Festival
Produced by the Nanaimo Arts Council and featuring four weekends of arts events in February. This festival of Shadow and Light kicks off Friday, February 4th with The Crimson Coast Dance Society’s Holly Bright, along with lighting and set designer, Mike Taugher (V.I.U.). Holly and Mike will offer a taste of their creative process as [...]
Comox: Grannies sharing their textile art
Comox Valley Record, January 13, 2011 Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Canadian Grandmothers have pledged they will not rest until their counterparts are able to rest because the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa has [...]
Canadian Heritage: Minister Moore Announces Federal Support for Official Languages, Arts, Culture, and Heritage on Vancouver Island
VICTORIA, January 14, 2011 – The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today announced funding for nine arts, heritage, and official languages projects in Victoria and Nanaimo. Minister Moore made the announcement at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in the presence of community representatives. The funding is intended to support [...]
Cumberland: New art gallery in village
You are invited to the opening of the new Corre Alice Gallery in Cumberland on Dec. 3. Come and enjoy an evening of art and merrymaking. The creative spirit that has graced Frelone’s Grocery in the past with yoga, music and film continues with a new art gallery and studio space. Corre Alice, a professional [...]
Duncan and Chemainus get $30,000 in Spirit cash Legacy: Money for post-Olympics cultural celebrations in communities
Duncan and Chemainus are two of 49 B.C. communities to share more than $1 million the province is using to commemorate B.C.’s 2010 Olympic success. This time it’s all about arts and culture with a series of BC Spirit Festivals scheduled for next February. Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux announced the handout [...]
Parksville: Sculpture sneak peek
Oceanside residents got to meet aboriginal artist Connie Watts last week at a reception at the McMillan Arts Centre (formerly OCAC) where she revealed a maquette of the her sculpture soon to be gracing downtown Parksville. The reception kicked off the artist’s month long exhibition Playing with Form & Time which shows her incredibly detailed [...]
Salt Spring Island: Public music debate resurfaces
Salt Spring’s reputation as a haven for the arts is not standing up to scrutiny, according to two women trying to make a living from busking. Ashton and Rama Cheromaya have travelled North America supporting themselves with their music. They are members of the folk group Sweetwater Revolver and the bluegrass band Over Under Yonder. [...]
Port Alberni: Festival of Performing Arts seeks participants for 2011
The North Island Festival of Performing Arts (NIFPA) is taking registrations for the 34th annual festival, which will happen in February 2011. The festival, a non-profit society, welcomes teachers and their performing students of any experience level to participate in this month-long festival held in Courtenay at the Sid Williams Theatre. More than 1,000 performers [...]
Saanich: Art show funds school program
There is a very positive feeling within the arts community on the Peninsula. Despite the current economic uncertainty, the Sidney Fine Art Show was an outstanding success, financially and artistically. This success, in these times of reduced and unstable funding for the arts in BC, will ensure that local programs such as the arts council’s [...]
Greater Victoria arts groups grapple with uncertainty on grants
In the last 18 months, the Victoria Conservatory of Music managed to lop nearly $1.5 million off its accumulated debt of $2 million. That’s a lot of lopping. But in the midst of that big-time belt-tightening, the B.C. Arts Council cut the conservatory’s grant to $55,000 this year from $110,000 last year. Then it restored [...]
Children’s 4Kids art studio opens in Royal Oak
Regan Kirkland worked as a television producer, graphic designer, publicist and photographer before she found her dream job. “I’m a pretty fun-loving person and I have a good sense of humour, so I’m looking forward to joking around and making art with kids,” said Kirkland, who recently founded an arts studio dedicated to kids. With [...]
Oak Bay: Council commits $1 million for theatre
They don’t know where they’re going to get the money, but Oak Bay council has committed $1 million of municipal funds toward a new Oak Bay High theatre. The school’s principal, Dave Thomson, representing School District 61, made the request to council on Monday. He said the Ministry of Education was not prepared to fund [...]
