Money may be tight for many community groups this year, but the Whistler Arts Council may be able to help with a select few projects by offering a bit of funding through their 2010 Member Group grants.
This year, WAC is offering up a total of $3,000 in funding through their B.C. Arts Council's Member Groups Assistance program. Average grants range from $400 to $2,000 to help with projects like professional development workshops of amateur or professional writers, artists or performers, assistance with programming or productions in the performing or literary arts, art exhibitions or to purchase sheet music. The grant money cannot be used for general operating expenses, deficits, capital or equipment purchases, and eligible projects must take place between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2010.
Past grant recipients include Alta Lake School Society, Whistler Writers Group, Whistler Children's Chorus, Whistler Pottery Club, Whistler Secondary School Drama Club and the Howe Sound Music Festival.
Deadline for application for the 2010 grants is Sept. 15. For more information, or to receive an application form, contact director@whistlerartscouncil.com .
Lions Bay looking for artistic touch
With the Olympics less than six months away, Sea to Sky communities are gearing up and sprucing up for the visitors that are coming this way. More specifically, the community of Lions Bay is on the lookout for an artist to improve the Sea to Sky Highway underpass, which runs through the village.
Since the Olympic torch relay will pass through the community on Feb. 4, they are looking to complete the first phase of a visual improvement project prior to that date. They are asking interested artists and designers to suggest concepts and designs, with the winning artist moving forward to work with the Public Art and Design Task Force to coordinate the project.
For more information on the Underpass Project, contact pbrider@talisiorder.ca .
Fall fair free-for-all
This fall, the farmyard comes to Brackendale as part of the 15 th annual Brackendale Fall Fair.
On top of all of the yummy, fresh-from-the-farm goodies produced by more than 50 vendors, this annual event also features farm animals, hayrides, live music, an exhibit tent, and games for all ages. The event takes place at the Brackendale Farmers Institute Park on Saturday, Sept. 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Adults and children can enter their produce, preserves and crafts into the competitions to earn potential ribbons and cash prizes. Pick up additional information and an entry sheet at the Brackendale General Store and Squamish Savings. Organizers are also on the hunt for volunteers to assist in set-up and teardown. Call 604-898-3390 if you can help out.
A taste of the dark arts
Theatre-hungry locals and visitors can sate their artistic appetites this weekend at the first-ever Blank Slate Theatre Festival.
With a mandate to present "innovative, exciting, and imaginative theatrical productions with strong artistic vision," Blank Slate takes up residence at the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre from Thursday, Aug. 27 to Saturday, Aug. 29. As part of the three-day event, the venue will host evening performances of Problem Child by the well-known Canadian playwright George F. Walker and Some Reckless Abandon , an intense one-woman show.
Problem Child is a dark comedy about love, death and red tape, telling the story of a young couple anxiously waiting in a motel room to hear if Children's Services will return their baby to them. Simultaneously humourous and heartbreaking, this play was written by a member of the Order of Canada, George F. Walker, one of Canada's most widely produced playwrights. It also won the Chalmers Award for Best New Play. Directed by Alex McMorran, Blank Slate's production of Problem Child will feature performances from festival co-producers Nicky Anderton and Lilli Clark alongside Jeremy Jones and Steve Pelton.
Some Reckless Abandon is a one-woman show written by Leah Bailly and directed by Lori Triolo. The Blank Slate production of this show is performed by Cara Yeates, who plays nine characters in total. The central character, Madeleine, is an 18-year-old girl who enrolls in Teenage Jesus Summer Camp in Honduras to escape her hometown in Alberta, learning to save souls and pining to be busted free by her hometown cowboy in the process. The playwright, Bailly, drew on her own two-year backpacking mission throughout Latin America while writing the play.
"It's about an extreme personality drawn into extreme circumstances," Bailly explained in a recent press release.
Some Reckless Abandon was hailed as one of the best shows of this year's Calgary Fringe Festival, dubbed as both polished and professional with an amazing script and convincing performance from Yeates.
Tickets are $20 for each show, or $35 for a combo pass. For more information, visit www.blankslatetheatre.ca .
"The world doesn't really need another Shakespeare in the Park," co producer Clark said in a recent release. "But there are a lot of great contemporary plays out there, that are fun and funny and relevant, and we've conceived the Blank Slate Theatre Festival as an annual event to develop an appetite for theatre in Whistler."
The plays, which will be staged at the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre's theatre and longhouse, are one-act pieces with no intermission. Doors open at 7 p.m. with performances starting at 8 p.m.
