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BRAVE locals get own night

p class=Style1>What: BRAVE Art local’s night Where: TELUS Conference Centre When: Sunday, April 13 Tickets: Entry by donation This year’s BRAVE Art isn’t all about big names in the international realm of street art — there’s a lot of homegrown talent
p class=Style1>What: BRAVE Art local’s night

Where: TELUS Conference Centre

When: Sunday, April 13             

Tickets: Entry by donation

This year’s BRAVE Art isn’t all about big names in the international realm of street art — there’s a lot of homegrown talent making an appearance at the festival.

The local component of this year’s BRAVE Art show is being organized by Kate Power of Homebase Studio Gallery, a creative design centre dedicated to collaboration for art exhibition, event management, cultural consulting, curatorship, and artist promotion.

This is the third year Power has helped to co-curate the BRAVE Art Locals show, which will be held on Sunday, April 13 and include 38 local artists working in a variety of mediums, from paintings to installations to clothing, within the larger international exhibit.

“The first year was amazing, it was small, a very intimate gallery… but the turnout was amazing,” said Power, “There was just obviously room to grow.”

While some artists — Lauren Javor, Chris Macleay, Taka Sudo, Phresha la Vente, Ange Teng, Dave Baanz, and Lauren Graham — will have pieces on display throughout the six-day exhibition, almost 30 other local artists will display their work for the local’s night only.

“It really not only allowed the artists a really provocative, unbelievable venue to show their work in, but gave them an opportunity to show alongside these icons,” she explained.

The evening will include a multimedia slideshow featuring work by 18 photographers, which will run through an installation of old, dilapidated televisions.

Also at the opening party for locals, DJ RrEV MADLEY will provide the musical backdrop for the evening, while Baanz and Chili — “brothers of the brush” — Phresha La Vente, Lauren Javor, Darren Camplin, Taka Sudo, and Lauren Ritz will paint live. The visiting public will also be encouraged to put a brush to canvas, and contribute to a collective mural project.

Power says street art focuses not just on technique, but the emotion and experiences behind each piece, and really allows people to feel connected to the artistic world, whether they are creatively minded or not.

“The other really cool thing about this type of work is there’s a looseness kind of about it, and an honesty about the work,” said Power.

Power also sees the BRAVE Art local show as a crucial platform to help bring local artists together by giving them a chance to network and discuss each other’s work.

She hopes that young aspiring artists in Whistler will be inspired by the work they see at BRAVE Art, and that other generations will gain a new appreciation of this style of contemporary art.

“This is our fourth year, and really, the feedback and the demographic also that attends the show, is widening, every single year.”