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North Vancouver artists display ‘Sixth Sense’

Whistler will play host to a collection of North Shore artists later this month, as Millennium Place's Scotia Creek Gallery opens a new show dubbed The Sixth Sense - Colours, Materials and Beyond on Wednesday, Sept. 15.

Whistler will play host to a collection of North Shore artists later this month, as Millennium Place's Scotia Creek Gallery opens a new show dubbed The Sixth Sense - Colours, Materials and Beyond on Wednesday, Sept. 15.

This group exhibition aims to bring forth a feeling of meaning and essence, exploring the role that intuition plays in the artistic process and the challenge artists face to connect with one's deeper self in hopes of achieving a resonance between shapes, colours and the viewer's eyes and soul.

The show will feature the work of five North Shore women from diverse cultures and backgrounds who call themselves 5enses: Lori Bagnérès, Catherine Fields, Therese Joseph, Mena Martini and Sara Morison. These artists share a passion for painting and mixed media, each creating daily in their studios and coming together to share ideas, critique each other's art and challenge each other to explore new approaches. They have exhibited their work as a group at the Alliance Française and the Silk Purse Gallery in Vancouver and are presently showing at the Leighdon Gallery in Vancouver. They are also preparing for a show at Cityscape Gallery in North Vancouver later this fall.

The upcoming Sixth Sense show, which will be installed in Scotia Creek Gallery until Thursday, Oct. 7, is the first outside artist exhibition to take place in Millennium Place since the Whistler Arts Council took over operations of the facility in June. They will be programming a new art exhibit every month, hosting a variety of artists from within the community, the province and across Canada in hopes of engaging residents and visitors.

The opening reception for The Sixth Sense show starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23. For more information on the upcoming show or the artists involved, visit www.artswhistler.com .

 

More mirth in support of local arts

Just in case you didn't get your fill of stand-up comedy and improv during the last Comedy Weekend events held in early August, Players Chophouse is once again playing host to another round of Whistler Improv Comedy Night, featuring headliner Roman Danylo, the star of CTV's Comedy Inc.

The funnyman, who will be joined by colleague Ellie Harvie, will put on two back-to-back evenings of stand-up and improvisational comedy that promise to have you in stitches. The event is being hosted by the Player's Chophouse to support the Whistler Arts Council and their roster of community arts programs. So far, the three Players Chophouse Comedy Nights held this year have helped bring some funding relief to WAC, with money put towards the Whistler Children's Art Festival, ArtWalk and Whistler Art Workshops on the Lake.

The shows take place on Friday, Sept. 3, with doors opening at 5 p.m. for dinner seating and 9 p.m. for the show. Tickets are $22 for members of the general public, or $15 for WAC members. Contact MY Millennium Place at 604-935-8410 or the Chophouse at 604-938-1270 for more information or to purchase tickets.

You're invited to help WAC

Recent budget cuts to the B.C. Arts Council and Gaming Grants have impacted a range of arts and cultural organizations throughout the province, including one of Whistler's popular arts programs, the annual Arts Workshops on the Lake.

The Whistler Arts Council (WAC) program is in its fifth season, offering two- to four-day workshops in a range of visual arts and led by world-renowned professional artists from across the country. The workshops take place throughout the summer at the rustic lakeside setting of the Alta Lake Station House.

Now, WAC is asking art lovers and patrons to come out and support this popular program by attending a fundraising event at Nita Lake Lodge on Sunday, Sept. 12, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The event will feature a raffle of original artwork created by emerging and professional artists, including some of the Art Workshops instructors. Raffle tickets for the small canvases are $50 each, and as people's names are drawn, they choose a piece of artwork on a "first come, first served" basis.

The evening will also feature a cash bar, complimentary appetizers and a chance to mingle with fellow artists and supporters of the arts.

Tickets to the event are $15, and raffle tickets are $50. Contact WAC to purchase your tickets by calling 604-935-8410.

 

There's an app for that...

Listen up, all iPhone, iPad and iTouch users: organizers of this weekend's LIVE at Squamish music festival have released a new application designed to elevate the concertgoer's experience. The handy application features a festival site map, a schedule of performances, bios and additional info on all the artists performing, a photo gallery and more.

The application is free to download; just look up "Live at Squamish" in the app store.

 

Local arts patrons rally to support Writers Festival

Anyone following mainstream media probably noted that the chair of the B.C. Arts Council, Jane Danzo, resigned from her position earlier this month in protest of the drastic cuts to the arts sector (more than $11.6 million over the past two years, with many groups losing 50 to 100 per cent of their budgets). Now, those cuts have impacted another local arts group: the Whistler Writers Group, also known as The Vicious Circle.

The Whistler Writers Group just received word (two months later than usual) that after five years of receiving financial support from the B.C. Arts Council their annual Readers and Writers Festival won't be getting any funds this year.

But rather than pull the plug on the festival, organizers decided to reach out to local businesses and individuals, launching the Patrons Wanted Project, offering supporters the opportunity to "present" one of the many seminars on offer. A number of people and businesses immediately stepped up to get involved: The Grocery Store, Street to Peak retail outlet, Performance Painting, Pasta Lupino, Burnt Stew Computing, Don Wensley, Le Scandinave Spa Whistler, Guestfolio, Pique Newsmagazine and Routley Consulting are just a few of the patrons who have already signed up for the program.

"Ninety per cent of our funding goes directly to bringing guest authors to the festival," festival director Stella Harvey said in a release. "To have the incredible response we've had when we reached out for Presenting Sponsor support has been gratifying. For all these independent Whistler businesses to put their money where their mouth is, means everything. They really are the bedrock of our community. And it goes to show that locally owned independent Whistler businesses understand the power of story."

The Grocery Store will be providing a non-traditional form of nourishment when it presents Brian Brett's seminar, Writing Your Life. Brett, the award-winning author of Trauma Farm, is a vocal advocate of independent farms and good food, something the independent and award-winning Grocery Store has been supporting since Bob and Sue Adams moved to Whistler in 1988. The owner of Street to Peak, Hi Brooks, is an avid blogger, Twitterer and creative writer when he isn't busy outfitting locals and visitors in West Coast street, surf and snow gear. As such, he will present a session with journalist and public relations professional, Lisa Richardson, dubbed, Me! Me! Me! How to Build Your Social Media Savvy for Wanton Self-promotion.

So far, the Patrons Wanted Project is over halfway to making up the loss of the B.C. Arts Council funding. But there are still nine available presenters spaces available, so anyone interested in supporting this year's festival should contact Harvey at stella25@telus.net.

Call in the Marines

The U.S. Marine Forces Pacific Band is regularly stationed at Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Under the direction of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bryan Sherlock, it is one of the oldest active duty Marine Field Bands, tracing its origin back to the 1920s. It's made up of 54 Marines from across the United States, and together, they spend much of their time traveling throughout the Pacific region and abroad, acting as musical ambassadors for the Marine Corps.

After performing at the PNE in Vancouver as part of a tattoo showcase, the U.S. Marine Forces Pacific Band will be making a special stop in Whistler on Thursday, Sept. 9.