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Children’s Art Festival at Creekside this weekend

This weekend marks the 27th year of the Whistler Children's Art Festival and the roster of entertainment reflects the depth and quality the festival has achieved in its first quarter century.

This weekend marks the 27th year of the Whistler Children's Art Festival and the roster of entertainment reflects the depth and quality the festival has achieved in its first quarter century.

Juno Award-winning singer Norman Foote is returning alongside ventriloquist Kellie Haines and Maximime. The Cheondoong Korean Drummers, The Blues Berries, Inner Ring Circus, Kokoma African Heritage Ensemble and many others are part of the two-day lineup.

A myriad of workshops for kids of various ages, including pre-schoolers, are offered all weekend. Mandatory online registration for workshops is open until Thursday, July 15. On-site registration takes place between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. each day.

The festival takes place at Creekside. First performances are at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 17.

For more information, visit www.whistlerartscouncil.com.

Double-bill for Lunafliks

Music is the name of the game Wednesday evening (July 21), as the folks from Lunafliks present two feature-length films that follow music through the '60s and '70s.

They'll be screening Pirate Radio and The Runaways in their second Lunafliks evening of the summer. Pirate Radio tells the tale of a seafaring band of rogue rock 'n' roll DJs whose "pirate radio" captivated and inspired Britain in the '60s. Broadcasting music to rock the nation from a tanker anchored in the middle of the North Sea (just outside of governmental jurisdiction), these passionate music junkies managed to defy a government that threatened to shut them down at every turn.

After that film finishes, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning take centre stage in the roles of Joan Jett and Cherie Currie for The Runaways. The film is a "music-fueled, coming-of-age story of the groundbreaking, all girl 1970s rock band."

Entry to Lunafliks events is $7 per person, or $24 for a season pass, with music and BBQ starting at 8:30 p.m. and the film starting around 9:30 p.m. Free shuttle service from the village is provided by local adventure companies. In the event of rain, the screenings will be moved indoors to the Lost Lake Passivhaus. Check for weather updates on the afternoon of each screening by calling 604-966-4800.

Welcome to WAC

Just one month after successfully amalgamating the operations and staff from MY Millennium Place and the Whistler Arts Council, the newly unified organization has added a few new staff members to their fold.

They have finally filled the position of Development Manager, a role which has been vacant for almost a year. Virginia Wesley is the new Development Manager and she will focus on "maintaining and cultivating relationships, increasing sponsorships, researching and applying for new grant opportunities."

Also joining the WAC team is Dean Feser, formerly of Rocky Mountain Production Services, who will be acting as the organization's new Technical Director.

Finally, for the next five months, Riel Cairns will work as WAC's Village Animation Coordinator, managing the artists who perform in the village during the summer and fall months.

"With new staff and new directors on the board, we are eager to begin working in new directions," Joan Richoz, chair of the WAC board, said in a recent newsletter.

Calling all artists...

Whistler's Public Art Committee wants you! They're on the lookout for artists and teams of artists for two projects: a public art project inspired by the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic experience and new street banners for the village.

The Games Legacy Art Project calls for a piece of art inspired by the artist or artists' personal experiences and observations of the Games here in Whistler. The finished piece will be installed at one of four sites on the Whistler Olympic Plaza, once construction is complete.

They are also looking for an artist or designer to create a series of banners for the Winter to Spring 2010/2011 series. Anyone with a background in painting, drawing, printing, photography, design composition or graphic design is encouraged to apply. The selected artist will ultimately be responsible for developing a theme and creating four designs that illustrate that theme.

The deadline for applications for the Games Legacy project is Monday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m., while the deadline for the street banner project is Monday, Aug. 9 at 3 p.m. For more information on either project, visit www.whistler.ca and click on the "Public Art Opportunities" link on the left-hand side.

The Summer of Funny returns

The countdown is on for anyone out there who thinks they can tickle people's funny bones with the written word: they've got just five more weeks to craft a comedic piece for the second annual Summer of Funny humour-writing contest sponsored by Pique Newsmagazine.

The inaugural competition in '09 yielded so many quality submissions that Pique staffers simply couldn't agree on a clear winner. So the powers that be decided to divide the $400 prize purse among the eight entries that stood out from the pack.

And since none of the writers complained, Pique has decided to give the contest another whirl this year. The rules are the same - all written submissions will be accepted, from anywhere in Canada, and can be in the form of stories (up to 2,000 words), poems, plays/scripts, or long-format jokes. We'd even accept cartoons.

The prize money will be the same, as will the review by Pique writers and staff. If there is a clear winner this year they may receive a larger share of the purse at our discretion, otherwise we may decide to simply run a wide selection of pieces this year and divvy up the prize money equally. Humour is subjective after all, and we'd like to give our readers a chance to decide.

Send all entries to andrew@piquenewsmagazine.com before Monday, Aug. 23 for inclusion in our Labour Day long weekend issue. Please include a brief biography and mailing address.

Party with the Bass Coast crew

Organizers of Bass Coast Project, the sequel, are urging attendees to get in on the artistic action and enter their art installation contest.

They're calling on festivalgoers to create an art installation that will make people laugh, think or inspire them to create change. People are allowed to install their project anywhere on site and people will vote on the installations over the weekend. The winner will walk away with two free tickets to every single Bass Coast party for a year; that's an entire year's worth of fun up for grabs! Better get busy...