What: ARTrageous
When: Thursday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Where: Dusty's (Creekside)
Cost: WAC members, $20; non-members, $30
Today, ARTrageous is typically referred to as "Whistler's original art party." And according to its founder, that's exactly what it is.
Christina Nick has worked in a wide variety of artistic forms - writing poetry, drawing, mixed media paintings, collages, printmaking, etchings, welded steel sculpture and carving - all of which is inspired by nature, travel and the environment.
Originally from Montreal, Nick studied fine arts at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick before moving to the Sea to Sky region in the late '80s. In 1992, just a few years after she had moved to the area, Nick and a friend, Alison Winslow, had the idea to throw a party.
"She's an art framer - she's also very into culture and art - and we're really good friends," Nick recalled with a smile. "We started working together at Whistler Mountain; we were the cappuccino girls up at Pikas."
Nick was in the process of preparing for an art show in Vancouver and Winslow was making her frames with the help of another local artist and musician, Cam Salay.
"We were thinking, 'Well, there's nothing like that in Whistler. There's nothing where I can just show my artwork, other than in the commercial galleries. And at that point, I wasn't vaguely prepared to show my stuff in a Whistler gallery.'"
So, they decided to organize their own show, and ARTrageous was born.
"Basically, what we wanted was to profile the arts in Whistler and tie it in with a fun evening, with music and beer."
That first year, ARTrageous was held at the Whistler Mountain Ski Club cabin and featured just five or six artists, including Nick and local potter, Vincent "Binty" Massey. Route 99 - Stephen and Peter Vogler and Cam Salay - performed and almost 200 people showed up.
"It was a pretty big party, but typically at that time, any party at the ski club cabin was a good party, so everyone showed up!" Nick said.
"And I think some people were just curious to see an art show from locals in Whistler. It wasn't happening at the time. No one was doing that! So this was literally the first time we were trying to showcase artists in Whistler."
The party was popular, so they decided to bring it back for a second year. The struggle was, of course, finding a free venue - the event was artist-run and they had no funding. But they managed, hosting the second ARTrageous at Blackcomb Kid's Camp, with about nine or 10 artists showing. They would eventually go on to host shows in Function Junction and even the old gondola barn in Creekside before it was torn down.
The first few parties featured just the visual arts and music, but as the event began to grow, more and more mediums worked their way into the party.
"My goal was to have an art show that tried to mix media," Nick explained. "...I wanted to include literature, music, visual arts, dance, performance, anything! And slowly, that started happening."
The last ARTrageous that Nick was involved in was held at Mountain World, a gaming centre that was housed in the bottom level of the conference centre and included 37 artists.
"For me, it was a mix of everything I wanted," Nick recalled. "So we had poetry readings, we had performances, we had music, we had dance, visual arts, sculpture."
Nick organized ARTrageous for almost 10 years before she decided, in 2001, to travel the world. She spent almost three years traipsing around the globe, working with archaeologists in Peru and endangered species in Africa. Over the past six years she has been working as a travel guide, leading biking and hiking trips to destinations like Iceland, Newfoundland and the Galapagos Islands.
"So that keeps me pretty busy. Right now, I've got a studio in Brackendale and I still consider myself a Whistler resident, but I live here on-and-off in the winter."
Rather than just pull the plug on the popular annual party when she pulled up roots in 2001, Nick decided to hand the reins over to the Whistler Arts Council. Since then the arts council has grown the event into the premier party for the arts community.
"I like the fact that it's gone on to become something different, and I like the fact that it's still alive," Nick said.
Now, 19 years after the first edition of the art party, things are coming full circle for Nick. She's returning as a participating artist to the event she founded. This year's ARTrageous will be the first time she has attended the event since she handed it over to WAC.
This is the first year that ARTrageous has seemed to fit in with Nick's hectic schedule. So, she applied to be part of the event, and was one of 20 artists selected to show her work at the party. Other accepted artists include Aimee Hawker, Angela Teng, Bea Gonzalez, Laurel Terlesky, Luke Pollard, Lisa Geddes, Mark Colbert, Andrea Mueller, Mike Taylor, Toby Jaxon, Vanessa Stark, Chili Thom, Alison Hodson, Robin Dutcher, Justin Ormiston, Dave Barnes, Justine Andrews, Scott Johnston and Darrin Camplin.
To fit in with the "Good Old Days" theme, Nick is creating a welded steel sculpture for the show.
"I've just started a sculpture of a bear, and it's looking down and its shadow will be a river filled with salmon," she explained. "So it's kind of 'the good ol' days' when there were tons of salmon, so kind of wistfully looking at this river."
In addition to the visual art on display at ARTrageous, this year's party will also feature intricately-painted models circulating throughout the party all night long, as well as local photographer Matt Walker hosting the Photo Studio Experiment. Suzanne Johnston takes the lead on a community mural project while Vancouver's acclaimed rockabilly and psychobilly group, the Deadcats, provide a musical mix of good ol' rock'n'roll music. Whistler's own Chili Thom mans the DJ booth for the '50s-themed evening.
For more information on the event, visit artswhistler.com.
