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Arts briefs

A new home for Squamish arts

On Monday evening, members of the Squamish artistic community gathered to discuss the future home of arts and culture on the 60-acre oceanfront lands at a meeting held at the Squamish Arts Council (SAC) building.

The meeting was led by Krisztina Egyed, chair of the Squamish Arts Council, Trevor Dunn of the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation and Squamish Mayor Greg Gardner.

Dunn presented detailed drawings of the site to a packed house, pointing out the future artistic hubs and emphasizing that it is "critical" that the local arts community is involved in the development of the area. Afterwards, Egyed countered with a list of 10 of the SAC's concerns about the site plans.

The long-term plans for the oceanfront lands are to include a permanent performing arts facility on the west side of the southernmost tip of the site, the seven and a half-acre Oceanfront Beach & Park. However, there were significant concerns raised by members of the arts community over the location and proposed size of the facility, which would seat just 250 people. They pointed out that the proposed facility would lack the scale and features necessary to make it a draw for high-calibre performances, which would, in turn, draw international tourists to the area. It would also be situated near the shipping terminal, which would present problems with noise.

Dunn explained that planners had looked at a number of potential sites for the arts facility, but found this was the best possible option. Regarding the size of the building, he explained that they had surveyed stakeholders and investigated neighbouring communities like Whistler and Pemberton when setting aside space for the performing arts facility, determining that a 250-person venue was all that the community required.

Afterwards, Egyed said the capacity "is not set in stone," but pointed out that the arts community would have to present a case that a larger space would be utilized.

Dunn also presented plans for creating a more immediate home for the local arts community, pitching the idea of the SAC taking over the 10,000 to 15,000 square-foot "blue barn" already located on the oceanfront lands. The building currently houses a water treatment plant that has been used to treat mercury. The SODC has made an application to the Ministry of Environment to decommission the building and remediate the site at a cost of approximately $300,000 to ensure it is safe for public use.

"In the meantime, what we're asking the community to do is really help us understand how the community can use this place," Dunn said.

"We see a huge benefit to the arts community potentially being down there, so especially if the costs aren't absolutely outrageous, we think it's definitely worthwhile."

The SAC has been surveying members to find out how they would use the available space, and is still actively seeking input to help build a business case for investing the funds to convert the "blue barn" into a vibrant artistic hub. Anyone who would like to contribute to the process should contact Egyed at kegyed@telus.net.

 

LUNA's last call for Battle

Solo artists and bands have just one week to get their acts together and throw their hats into the ring to face off against their fellow musicians during LUNA's annual Sea to Sky Battle of the Bands.

Organizers are still looking for interested artists to step up and put their names forward for the competition, which has played a role in boosting the musical careers of local artists like Papa Josh, Animal Nation and The Tell Tales.

Now in its fifth year, the annual talent competition helps young, aspiring musicians from the region gain performance experience and take their musical pursuits to the next level. Entrants may compete in the solo artist or band category. The competition is open to solo artists or bands with one member residing between Horseshoe Bay and D'Arcy, and at least one member under the age of 35. Anyone interested in applying must submit an entry form and $25 entrance fee, two original songs, a photo and tech rider by Friday, April 9. More information and forms are available at www.lunawhistler.com/battle.

The semifinals - a closed audition held in front of a panel of talent judges - will be held in Whistler on Sunday, April 25, with three finalists in each category moving on to the finals, which take place on Friday, April 30.

This year, first place winners in both categories will receive studio recording time, opening spot for a headliner, radio interview, vocal training session and professional photo shoot. There are also prizes awarded for the runners-up and audience favourites.

 

Spicing things up with salsa

The Core will be heating up this Saturday (April 3), as a Cuban salsa and reggaeton workshop takes over from 1 to 4 p.m.

Emile Sanchez, founder of Whistler's Areito Culture and Dance Experience, has teamed up with Arassay Reyes, one of the top four female finalists from So You Think You Can Dance Canada, to host a day of Cuban salsa and reggaeton dancing.

Cuban salsa, a combination of Spanish and African influences, features the traditional rhythms of Cuban Rumba and movements of the hip and shoulder. Reggaeton represents a hybrid of musical genres and influences from various countries. Sanchez and Reyes will be working on ladies' and men's footwork, rhythm, movement and partner work during the workshop.

The Cuban salsa styling class is $20, the Cuban salsa partner dancing is $20/person and the reggaeton styling and partner class is $20/person. Or, sign up in advance at The Core and take all three classes for just $50. For more information, contact areitodance@gmail.com or 604-966-7229.

 

The Brown Party

Arne Gutmann, a local creative mind, is celebrating both his birthday and the culmination of a creative and slightly yucky 18-year artistic project.

On Thursday, April 1, Gutmann is hosting The Brown Party at Podium Auto Detailing to commemorate the launch of his new font, the Poo Font.

According to his website, www.poofont.com, the 100 per cent poo-based font was "created entirely by the natural combination of fibre, digestion, gravity, a camera, and extreme anal-sphincter control." None of the characters or letters were Photoshopped or forced into their shape. And as Gutmann points out on his website, "It's pretty much the most natural font you could ever hope to find on the Interweb."

Rather: "The basic process of making the Poo Font was to take a big dump, hope for the best, and then have a looky to see if it formed a letter, and if it did, I'd take a picture of it.  Now 18 years later, I gathered up all of my poop letter pictures and had a friend trace the photos to vector and then imported these into an OTF font table."

On Thursday, Gutmann is getting together with a load of friends to "wear brown and get down" to the tunes of the infamous DJ Arne and his iPod, starting at 8 p.m. The Poo Font will be available for download and purchase online soon. n