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Whistler Live! goes visual

Sea to Sky artists contribute work, talent and time to four new Olympic programs
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With the Olympics just three weeks away, the organizers of Whistler Live! are now painting a much more vivid picture of the visual arts programming that's to take place here in Whistler.

In addition to the Gamestime version of Whistler Arts Council's annual ArtWalk that was announced last week, the Whistler Live! team has unveiled plans for four other visual arts programs - Core Shots! Screen Photography, Artists at Work on the Stroll, GOBOS (Goes Before Optics) and Cut Outs - that will feature the work of a number of talented Sea to Sky artists.

"We wanted to make sure that we covered all aspects of visual arts in Whistler," explained Ali Richmond, marketing and creative integration manager for Whistler Live! and marketing and communications manager for Whistler Arts Council.

Core Shots! is a digital exhibition of outdoor winter sport photography, incorporating many of the same photographers who compete in the Out of Bounds: Tales of the Backcountry event that usually takes place in February.

"That's not happening this year, so we wanted this program to make up for it," Richmond said. "It's going to be a fantastic program; it offers a lot of great exposure for the photographers."

Photo slideshows and a selection of credited still shots will be shown on 14 Whistler Live! screens throughout the village. Participating photographers include Dagan Beach, Eric Berger, Jeff Boyce, Andrew Bradley, Dan Carr, Greg Eymundson, Rich Glass, David Henkel, Brian Hockenstein, Bryn Hughes, Blake Jorgenson, Toshi Kawano, Joern Rohde, Bruce Rowles, Nicolas Teichrob and Cam Unger.

Artists at Work on the Stroll was the only program opened to artists from outside of the Sea to Sky region. A range of artists from across the province will set up in Town Plaza gazebo, painting in acrylic and spray paint mediums while musicians provide a soundtrack for their creative process. The 10 artists included in this program are Lani Imre, Taka Sudo, Scott Tobin, Amanda Shatzko, Olivier Roy, Stan Matwychuk, Chili Thom, Alex Foulis, Dave Hennigar and Vanessa Stark, who will take turns working live, on-site, throughout the Games.

GOBOS (Goes Before Optics) is probably the most cutting-edge visual concept included in the Whistler Live! lineup. Pieces by Nathan French, Lani Imre, Vanessa Stark, Laurel Terlesky and Chili Thom have been juried into this part of the of the show, to be projected onto the surface of the snow almost like a massive stained glass window.

"We have taken pieces of artists' work that have already been created - we didn't commission anything new - and we have gotten their artwork sketched into glass," Richmond explained. "These glass discs will be put over top of stage lighting during the (nightly) Fire & Ice Remix. The light will project the image onto the snow, so it will be this huge piece of artwork moving all across the snowbase during the Fire & Ice. It'll be really cool!"

Last but not least, organizers have commissioned four Sea to Sky artists - Anette Effe, Isobel MacLaurin, Paige Harley and Vanessa Stark - to create two new "cut outs" to be placed in Town Plaza during the Games. The idea is that these pieces will offer a chance for visitors to pose for popular photo ops, allowing them to interact and become part of the animated painted scenes, which include lots of bears and red mittens.

"It's really simple, but people love it!" Richmond said with a laugh.

All of the artists contributing to the Whistler Live! programming are being compensated for their talents through the Government of Canada and the RMOW, and while Richmond said they are being paid a "significant amount" for their efforts, she was unable to provide exact figures.

"Some of the programming is still in the works, so the numbers wouldn't really be realistic right now," she explained. "Our creative and artistic services is definitely the largest investment being made in Whistler Live! and the local programming is a significant part of that. From the Whistler Arts Council's perspective, never before have we been able to provide as much in artists fees as we are able through Whistler Live!"

Aside from the monetary compensation, artists are receiving international exposure to the thousands of visitors who will be taking in the visual arts during the Games.

"We're hoping that it really does benefit them in terms of their artistic career and getting their names out there," Richmond said.

WAC issued the calls for entry for all of the Whistler Live! programs back in October, and received a tremendous response from local artists and those from outside of the region, who were ineligible to participate in many of the Whistler programs.

With more applicants than ever, and even more at stake, the jurying process to select artists was tougher than usual. And while Whistlerites will recognize many of the artists from past WAC events, there are also a few fresh faces.

"There are some artists that didn't get in maybe because their work didn't really fit with the program we were hoping for," Richmond explained.

"It's a tough process, but it has to be done - we want to show the best during the Olympics!"

Lani Imre didn't seem to have any problem with the tough jurying process. On top of being included in the ArtWalk self-guided tour during the Games, she has also been selected to take part in the GOBOS program and paint on the stroll.

Based out of Squamish today, she has been drifting in and around the community for almost 10 years as she travels and creates her distinct artwork. Up until now, she hasn't been showing her work locally, opting to exhibit more in Vancouver. But another local artist, Chili Thom, told her about the Whistler Live! programming and she jumped at the opportunity to showcase her work to the international crowd that will congregate here in February.

"It's an amazing opportunity for exposure and there will be a lot of people coming and it's a really great time for me to get to connect with a lot of the artists that are around," said Imre.