The Whistler Arts Council and MY Millennium Place are officially merging as of June 1, and as part of their new working relationship, WAC will be programming the Scotia Creek Gallery space located on the upper level of the building.
Ali Richmond, spokesperson for WAC, explained that the space has hosted exhibitions for the MY Millennium Place Society in the past, playing host to a range of local artists, ArtWalk and Out of Bounds: Tales from the Backcountry collections. But starting June 1, WAC will be selecting artists to put on display in the community space.
"What we're actually hoping to do is make it more of a professional and formal process," Richmond said. "We're looking to eventually have a group of jurors, professional curators."
She added that artists who have been selected for a curated show will have something substantial to add to their résumes and the experience should help them land future funding, projects or exhibitions.
WAC is currently accepting applications from all artists - student, emerging and professionals - working in any and every medium and genre, ranging from the cutting-edge and contemporary to traditional portraiture and landscape pieces.
"I think we want to get more variety in there. We're hoping to attract some new artists," she added.
They're open to solo shows and group exhibitions, and thanks to the recent addition of a secure glass display case (a Whistler Live! Olympic legacy), they're also keen to include pottery, sculpture, wood, metal, fibre art and glass works in the gallery.
"We're hoping that that will encourage new artists to get their work out there, or encourage artists we've seen before to create new pieces, maybe explore creatively," Richmond said. "I mean, you can't have sculpture without a secure space, so that's why we've never really had that much part of ArtWalk in our past events. Now, if we have this in the Scotia Creek Gallery, it will open up a whole new avenue for artisans to show their work, really."
Applications for solo and group shows will be accepted on an ongoing basis and must be submitted at least three months prior to the intended start date of the exhibition. Applicants should allow at least two months for a response, as all submissions will be carefully evaluated.
"...Especially if we do have curators to go through it, we're hoping to have more professional proposals and maybe some new artists," Richmond said.
For submission information, applications and guidelines, visit www.whistlerartscouncil.com .
Summer of Funny writing contest returns
The 2009 Summer of Funny humour-writing contest sponsored by Pique Newsmagazine was a disaster, after staffers couldn't agree on a clear winner. In the end it was decided to divide the $400 prize purse among the eight entries that stood out from the over two-dozen submissions received.
Since none of the writers complained, Pique has decided to try again 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, but 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 before July 23 for inclusion in our B.C. Day long weekend issue (published July 28).
Please include a brief bio with your submission (100 words or less), and a mailing address. There are no ground rules regarding content or profanity, but any overtly sexist, racist, bigoted or profane submissions may not be considered.
B.C. Museum of Mining goes digital
Architects, designers and planners have been busy transforming the British Columbia Museum of Mining's physical digs at Britannia Beach, and now, the national historic site is jumping headfirst into the digital age.
They've taken historical film footage from the '20s and '30s, which offers a unique glimpse back in time to life at Britannia Beach and Mount Sheer (the town site), had it digitized and have posted it online on YouTube for all to enjoy.
For some insight into the life of miners over 80 years ago, visit www.bcmuseumofmining.org/multimedia_links.html.
