A painting by the Group of Seven's Franz Johnston has gone on show at the Mountain Galleries at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler until end of March.
Forest Fire is an oil-on-board wilderness landscape with smoke rising in the distance painted circa. 1929.
It was in a private collection in Whistler and has not been seen publicly for 25 years. The owner is selling the painting through the gallery for $28,000.
"This represents a coming-of-age for the gallery after 40 years (after focusing on the work of living artists)," said executive director Wendy Wacko, who added that the Group of Seven has inspired her since childhood.
"It personally means a lot to me to be able to use a painting by a member of the Group of Seven to explain the context and development of Canadian landscape painting. The artists we represent were all influenced one way or another by the Group of Seven."
The painting is currently on display but the public is welcome at an open reception at the gallery on Friday, March 14.
In April it goes to the Mountain Galleries locations in Jasper and Banff, though it will be back on show in Whistler by Easter.
New guidebook lays out Pemberton bike trails
Mountain bikers who love the Pemberton Valley have a new guidebook.
Peter Oprsal of bikepirate.com says Pemberton Valley Mountain Bike Trail Guide will provide exposure to the "fantastic network of trails" in the valley, which he says can overshadow regional favourites in Whistler and Squamish.
"Not only does the book highlight the gnarly trails and the variety of terrain found in Pemberton, but it also lists family friendly and beginner to intermediate routes for these types of riders to explore," Oprsal says.
The book is for riders of all ages, he adds.
"I hope that by publishing the guidebook I will make the network more approachable and easier to navigate for those new to riding in the area. The book describes each trail in detail (80-plus trails), includes helpful maps and offers up a list of suggested loops to help users get around."
He calls Pemberton a cycling-obsessed community and says the growth of the sport regionally, thanks to events like the Slow Food Cycle and Ironman Canada, has been strong.
"The community and local businesses have embraced this wonderful pastime and also realize the economic benefits the sport provides," says Oprsal. "It's nice to be able to help them promote the abundant network they are blessed with and one that the Pemberton Valley Trail Alliance, along with countless volunteers and trail builders."
Five international finalists vie for Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown
Five internationally renowned photographers will face each other in the finals of the 2014 Olympus Pro Photographer showdown during the World Ski and Snowboard Festival.
Each photographer will submit a nine-minute slideshow compiled of images selected from their entire portfolio. Themes can include anything from ski and snowboard photography, to surfing, biking, skateboarding, and lifestyle.
The slideshows will be presented to a sold-out audience on Thursday, April 17, at the Whistler Conference Centre, where a panel of industry experts will determine the winner.
The 2014 finalists are:
Brent Benson, from Salt Lake City, Utah, whose first work was published in Powder magazine in 1999 and who has an extensive career shooting for ski and snowboard; Christoph Oberschneider, from Salzburg, Austria, who placed first in the amateur photographer category of an online contest held by Backline magazine in 2013; Florian Breitenberger, from Innsbruck, Austria, currently the German Salomon Freeski Team photographer and in 2013 earned the "iF3 Photographer of the Year" and ISPO Awards; Frode Sandbech of Oslo, Norway, with more than 50 magazine covers to his credit, and Morgan Maassen, an American water and surf photographer based in Los Angeles, California.
CARFAC seeks fee feedback from visual artists
CARFAC National (Canadian Artists Representation) wants feedback from visual artists about their experiences in being paid different types of fees.
The national artists association is taking a fight for fair payment from the National Gallery of Canada to the Supreme Court of Canada. CARFAC supports minimal payments for galleries to use artists work, but says many artists are under pressure to waive those fees, noting that the average Canadian artists makes $8,000 per year.
"Artist fees are central to CARFAC's mandate. CARFAC fees provide a general guideline of what the minimum payments to artists should be, which the individual artist or their collective may follow, or negotiate above," said the organization in a release.
The survey should take 10 to 20 minutes and a link to it can be found on the organization's home page at carfac.ca.
Foyer Gallery seeks art donations
The Foyer Gallery in the Squamish Public Library seeks donated artwork for the raffle draw at its annual fundraising gala.
Pieces will be on display at the gallery for the month of April and a tax receipt for the value of the art is available.
The 2014 gala takes place on Monday, May 5 at the Foyer Gallery.
Digital photographs of the donation must be received by March 28. For more information, contact Toby Jaxon at tobyjaxon@shaw.ca.
