Nanaimo arts
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 [...]
Nanaimo: Public art victimized by vandals
Vandals wrecked public art in Maffeo Sutton Park last week. Now police, the city and Nanaimo Art Gallery are out to repair the damage and find the culprits. The vandalized items include a ceramic sculpture of a sea bird by artist Lori Sorenson, valued at about $1,000, which someone smashed the head off on Wednesday, [...]
Nanaimo: Maple Sugar Festival skips year
If you want a burst of traditional francophone culture this winter, you’ll have to book plane tickets to Quebec. Nanaimo’s francophone association postponed the annual Maple Sugar Festival du Sucre Érable until 2012. L’Association des francophones de Nanaimo did not feel confident producing a festival after hiring a new coordinator and installing a new board [...]
Nanaimo: MLAs meet with groups about funding cutbacks
Artists, arts and cultural groups get a sympathetic ear from the official Opposition later this month. Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog and Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley will join Spencer Chandra Herbert, New Democrat tourism, culture and arts critic at roundtable meetings planned for Nanaimo on Oct. 29. The group has invited local artists and arts, [...]
Nanaimo: Arts groups struggle despite boost
It’s good news that the provincial government reinstated $7 million of arts and culture funding, but it won’t help one Nanaimo theatre company, said its artistic director. The money will help bigger, more established arts organizations in B.C. with operating costs but will not assist Western Edge Theatre, which is a smaller, younger organization that [...]
Nanaimo: Local artistic team clowns around on YouTube
Almost anyone who has attended a local function with a youth component will be familiar with Nanaimo clown Aunti Bobbi. She has been entertaining children and families in the area for more than 12 years after her alter ego, Bobbi Kurtz moved to the Island from Calgary in 1992. As both Kurtz and Aunti Bobbi, [...]
Nanaimo: City-owned theatre struggling to stay viable
A tough economic storm has left Nanaimo Centre Stage treading water in still-rough seas. The City of Nanaimo committed $525,000 to the former nightclub and church at 25 Victoria Rd. in 2008, purchasing the building for about $450,000 and turning the remaining funds over to the CVI Centre for the Arts to manage and complete [...]
Nanaimo: Play raises money for theatre
Western Edge Theatre, which is unable to stage a season this year because of provincial government gaming cuts, is hoping to raise money by staging a play. Local actors Lorna McLellan, Mort Paul and Vincent Wells are donating their time to perform at the Gabriola Theatre Festival in Light Sensitive. “I think we may be [...]
Nanaimo: Showcase features textiles
Fibre artists envision fleeces from sheep, alpaca, llamas, goats and rabbits spun and plied into yarns, knitted or crocheted into fashionable garments or woven into textiles for apparel. Fibre artists create yarn-based clothing, as well as wall art or garden art both practical and whimsical. The Vancouver Island Fibre Arts Showcase features all this at [...]
Nanaimo: Arts sector leads business growth
The number of business licences for arts, entertainment and recreation in Nanaimo has increased 200% in the past 10 years, putting this sector’s growth ahead of every other in the city. The cultural-type businesses grew from 58 in 2000 to 174 this year, according to data from the city’s economic development office. Within this sector, [...]
Nanaimo: VIS relies on community support
This Saturday, the Vancouver Island Symphony gives back to the community to thank classical music lovers for their ongoing support during the 16 years the VIS has been in existence. The VIS’s 10th annual Symphony in the Harbour takes place at 6 p.m. an the Lions Band Shell in Maffeo-Sutton Park. The annual free concert [...]
Nanaimo: Director uses YouTube to send message
A Nanaimo theatre company’s artistic director has taken to the Internet to pressure the B.C. government to increase funding to the arts. Frank Moher, artistic director for Western Edge Theatre, uploaded the first in a series of video letters to Parksville-Qualicum MLA Ron Cantelon on YouTube. “Sometimes one needs a novel way to get a [...]
Nanaimo: Outdoor art gallery offers unique and changing venue for Nanaimo artists
Tourists and residents alike are already leaving the beaten track to check out Nanaimo’s newest outdoor art gallery. Three of nine temporary public art pieces have already caught the attention of passersby in Maffeo-Sutton and McGregor parks. The outdoor gallery project is a collaboration between the City of Nanaimo and the Nanaimo Art Gallery to [...]
Nanaimo: Woman creates online artistic hub
A Nanaimo woman has taken her love for unusual arts and entertainment events and her passion for Facebook and meshed the two as a way of increasing the exposure for area artists. For example, suppose you wondered if there was any place to join a drumming group, if there was a world music concert coming [...]
Graffiti: Is it artistic expression or a gateway to crime? Work of ‘taggers’ is monitored and quickly removed from view
Jeanne Ironside has switched sides in the fight between graffiti artists and society in general. The former tagger is helping Nanaimo get rid of tags and graffiti around two pedestrian tunnels near Woodlands Secondary School. Today is the city’s annual graffiti cleanup in which volunteers fan out to remove tags in all neighbourhoods. Volunteers who [...]
