Spring/Summer 2007 FREE
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin
Jason Dunham found sculpture and fatherhood
Ross Klatte loving and leaving, a memoir
Lucas Myers is amazing and impermeable
Blake Parker and the Beat goes on
Lou Lynn implements and objects
Paul Crawford Pierre Berton and me
Susan Hulland & Terry Turner telling tales and making history
festivals& in full colour Fernie Writers Conference
July 22-29, 2007
Novel: John Keeble July 27-29 Short Story: Angie Abdou
Poetry: Brenda Schmidt
Golf: Jeff Wallach
Fishing: TBA
For tuition and scholarship information see web site www.ferniewriters.org Registration and Lodging (24 hours) 1-888-423-6855
Major sponsor: 2nd tier sponsors:
CAPITOL THEATRE
The Capitol Theatre Summer Youth Program Presents JACOB TWO TWO MEETS THE HOODED FANG Based on the book by Mordecai Richler Directed by Nicola Harwood Musical Director Bessie Wapp Choreographer Lynette Lightfoot Set by Brent Bukowski
Thursday July 26, 2007 7:30pm Friday July 27, 2007 7:30pm Saturday July 28, 2007 7:30pm Saturday July 28, 2007 2:00pm
Tickets $12 adult $8 youth $35 family of four Charge by phone Capitol Theatre Box Office 250-352-6363 first word spring/summer 2007
Bringing more colour into your lives contents THIS IS ONE OF THOSE admissions that will really date me, but when I was in the shower this morning I found myself warbling that milestones arts and heritage news 4 tune by Chicago (remember the band with the horn section?), “Colour My World.” No, I hadn’t just been to a 1970s wedding reception or a music festival populated by geezer groups, but there Page 5 meeting place Creston & Kimberley art clubs 5 must have been something subliminal going on. Maybe my brain went adrift after reading the article in the Globe and Mail about how on stage funny man Lucas Myers 6 some American Idol viewers were sabotaging the voting process by supporting a totally cute but apparently talentless 17-year-old. Hey, thought my subconscious, why not me? “As time goes by-y-y-y…” local colour Jason Dunham’s sculpture 8 On the other hand, it may just be that I’ve been immersed in colour a lot more than usual lately. And we’re not just talking cro- Lou Lynn’s objects cuses and robins. If you think that the spring/summer issue of handmade 10 ARTiculate is looking pretty spiffy, you’re right. We’ve doubled the number of colour pages in the magazine to give our readers more eye in memoriam Blake Parker 12 candy and to give the work of the artists we feature a more dynam- ic presence. Visual and performing artists from all over the region grace the pages of this issue and we’re thrilled to be able to bring ARTiculate events calendar 14 their vibrant words, works and stories to life. Colourful Cranbrook artist Joseph Cross's winnng entry to the Page 8 local histories Susan Hulland & Terry Turner 23 Trout Unlimited Canada artist of the year contest, Just Me and the Morning, recently fetched the highest price ever for a work at the TUC art auction in Calgary. Sculptor Jason Dunham (page 8) trans- hot off the press Ross Klatte & K.Linda Kivi 24 forms found objects and materials into fanciful pieces of art that engage the viewer with their size, textures and unexpected juxtapo- first person singular 26 sitions. Dunham is a recent father, as is Nelson-based actor and Paul Crawford’s Desert Road comic genius Lucas Myers (page 6), and both men credit their chil- dren with inspiring them and necessitating some fast-thinking career moves. You will find Myers at Nelson’s Oxygen Art Centre in July last word opinion 30 as artist-in-residence. The residency program provides a great oppor- tunity for artists to really concentrate their creative powers, as well on the cover: as to buckle down and get some work done. “Auger" by Lou Lynn, photo by Janet Dwyer Lou Lynn is an accomplished glass artist and instructor at the Kootenay School of Art whose inspiration for the sculptural works in her latest show, “Implements and Objects,” happens to be tools. Simone Keiran walks through the Kootenay Gallery with Lynn Page 12 beginning on page 10. We are pleased to be able to bring you the next installment in Paul Crawford’s wildly entertaining series of stories in which he reveals the incredible lengths to which he is willing to go in order to secure possession of yet another work of art. I have no idea how The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin much artwork Paul has acquired over the years, but his passion shows no signs of abating. On page 12 Paul has lemonade with SPRING/SUMMER 2007 Design: Angela Lockerbie ISSUE #11 Pierre Berton while on the trail of his latest gem. Sales: Rhonda Kirby Finally, we pay tribute to performance artist, poet and teacher ARTiculate is produced in Blake Parker, who died in January after a lengthy illness. Blake was Editor: Margaret Tessman Nelson as a project of the an energetic and prolific writer and performer whose collaborations Editorial Board: West Kootenay Regional with Nelson-area musicians and actors sprang from the tradition of Anne DeGrace, Nelson Arts Council: 250-352-2421 the Beat generation and stretched the limits of the spoken word. Krista Patterson, Nelson or 1-800-850-2787; Simone Keiran’s memorial, along with Fred Lorna Obermayr, New Denver fax: 250-352-2420 Rosenberg’s fine photos, can be found on email: [email protected] page 26. Contributing Writers: If it’s colour you’re after, be sure to Paul Crawford make plans to take in one, or better still a Sandra Hartline bunch, of the myriad art, music and com- Simone Keiran munity festivals that are planned for our Shannon Lythgoe Greg Nesteroff region this summer. From blues, jazz and Margaret Tessman bluegrass to stilt walkers, steam trains and garlic, there’s much to be seen and heard. Check out the ARTiculate event calendar ARTiculate acknowledges the support of the Province of British Columbia through the for details and I’ll see you there. B.C. Arts Council, the Columbia Basin Trust through the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance Margaret Tessman and the West Kootenay Regional Arts Council.
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 3 milestones brates both fabric art and David Thompson’s life in the Columbia Valley. The exhibit entitled “Latitude 50°32’12” W Longitude 115º56’15” N” opened in April at Pynelogs Cultural Centre in Invermere and will be available for display for the next five years Kootenay arts and heritage news of David Thompson bicentennial events. The three quilts that comprise the project honour the explo- by Margaret Tessman ration and mapping skills of David Thompson 200 years ago. One panel displays a chronology of key events in Thompson’s life; another depicts Thompson with his sextant on the east side of the Columbia River looking across to the site of Kootenai House trad- ing post; the third showcases the coat of arms of the North West Joseph Cross Painting a Prize Winner Company and Thompson’s map of western North America. Surrounding these key blocks are scenes depicting Thompson’s time CRANBROOK ARTIST Joseph Cross has been selected as 2007 in the valley between 1807 and 1812. Artist of the Year by Trout Unlimited Canada for his pastel paint- Organizations interested in booking the display can contact ing, Just Me and the Morning. Cross’s stunning work was chosen Joyce McLeod at 342-9667 or [email protected]. from among over 40 submissions received from across Canada for its vibrant colours and its Art Gallery of Golden Opens its Doors depiction of a serene river scene. THE NEW ART GALLERY of Golden opened in November after a This annual competition is whirlwind development process that began less than a year ago. Last open to any Canadian artist, summer an advisory committee of visual artists co-chaired by Kicking and comes with a prize of Horse Culture head Bill Usher was commissioned to create a wish list $2,000. The original piece is for the arts community. Golden already had strong performing arts sold at the annual Conservation and youth programming facilities, but the old Art Spot arts centre was Dinner in Calgary each spring. sorely in need of an update. A dedicated visual arts space with a great A limited-edition set of prints is location became number one on the committee’s list. sold at TUC’s fundraisers across It didn’t take long to move forward on the committee’s rec- Canada. ommendation. “I had just heard that Bacchus Books right smack Born in Saskatchewan in downtown was moving to a new location,” says Usher. “The rent 1949, Joseph Cross has lived was in the ballpark so we seized the opportunity.” Kicking Horse in Cranbrook since 1974. His Culture had previously secured CKCA capital project funding for professional career in art start- lighting for an arts space and from that starting place “the energy ed in 1978. Through his art, Just Me and the Morning by Joseph Cross. multiplied and catalyzed a bunch of people,” says Usher. The Joseph conveys perspectives organization also secured $60,000 in operating funding from the on the way we look at ourselves, our environment and our municipal government, no small feat in a town with a population lifestyles. A self-taught artist, Joseph works in several mediums of 8,000 people. and shares his love of art through the joy of teaching others. By mid-November a gallery space and office for Kicking Horse Culture had been recreated in the storefront. The 800-square-foot History Stitched in Art: gallery “looks gorgeous,” comments Usher. To help offset the cost of rent, community champions who are willing to contribute $500 The David Thompson Bicentennial Quilt Exhibit are found for each exhibition. The gallery also emphasizes market- THREE YEARS of cooperation, dedication and enthusiasm by quil- ing to raise community support. ters of the Valley Piecemakers Guild, the Hoodoo Quilters and This spring and summer the Golden gallery has a range of Ktunaxa artists, along with support from historians, design artists, exhibitions planned. “Partners” highlights the work of three local businesses and donors, has resulted in a unique exhibit that cele- Continued on page 29
Classes Available for Soap Making, Felting, Dyeing, Weaving, Spinning. Gift items and supplies available.
Tricia Rasku 2087 Park St., Box 270, Rossland, BC V0G1Y0 phone: 250 362 5701
www.armispiansystems.ca/ByHand
4 ARTiculate meeting place PHOTOS COURTESY JUHL CAMPBELL
Wednesdays with the Gang Creston and Kimberley Jen Hart, Creston Art Club, Eye-Piqued, charcoal and Conté, 2007. art clubs support and inspire local artists
by Margaret Tessman
FINDING A GROUP of like-minded people who share a common interest is a blessing, and we often use those commonalities as a basis for coming together. Whether it’s a book club, a jam session or a power-walk- ing consortium, the camaraderie of the group can spark our motivation to learn and improve our skills. For the members of the Creston Art Club and the Kimberley Critique Club, the social aspect of their organizations is just as important as the learning that takes place. Whether it’s a matter of getting together to paint and talk or to look and learn, these two groups pro- vide their members with the space and time to get themselves and their work out into
the world. Marion Evans, Creston Art Club, Australian Woolshed, watercolour, 2004. Every Wednesday the members of the Creston Art Club haul their canvases and people who love to paint. According to receiving feedback are all part of the pack- brushes over to the Rotacrest seniors’ centre Campbell, one unique aspect of the club is age. “At first I was sensitive about putting for a morning of painting and conversation. the diversity of the membership. “We have my work up for discussion, but everyone The club evolved from the original Creston beginning artists and professionals, some was so positive with their critiquing,” says Valley Artists’ Guild that began in 1978 still in their twenties and some in their eight- Campbell. with “people just getting together to paint,” ies,” she says. Campbell feels that artistic Marj MacLeod has been painting since according to club president Juhl Campbell. growth takes place more quickly in the sup- the mid-1960s and joined the guild in the The reason for the ongoing success of the portive atmosphere of the club, where ask- early 1970s. “I love the fact that we’re not club has remained constant: it’s made up of ing questions, giving and getting tips and Continued on page 28
Weaving ~ Blacksmithing ~ Pottery ~ Broommaking ~ Enamelling Not just a summer phenomenon! Several of us stay open all year and carry each other's work. 1-866-931-8464 Visit Artisans at www.kootenaylake.bc.ca
5 ARTiculate The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 5 on stage Funny Man The many lives of Lucas Myers
by Margaret Tessman
LAST FALL I SAW Lucas Myers perform scenes from The Amazing and Impermeable Cromoli Brothers at the Vallican Whole community centre as a warm-up to Scott Thompson and Bob Wiseman. The premise of the show is that one Cromoli brother never shows up for performances and the other is left holding the bag and acting as an apologist for the no-show. Myers had a chart of scenes posted on the wall and asked the audience to choose which ones they wanted him to play. He was hysterically funny, whether he was singing a twisted advertising jingle with ukulele accompaniment or encouraging the audience to vote on who did or didn’t get into heaven. And he hands- down upstaged Thompson and Wiseman. Myers grew up in Nelson and first became interested in the- atre doing improv at Trafalgar School. He learned that perform- ing could pull him out of his shyness and his interest grew to include stints at the University of Victoria and the National Theatre School in Montreal. “I figured out there that I wanted to create work, not just be an actor,” says Myers. “The thing I don’t like about kitchen-sink drama is that it doesn’t include the audience. When someone in the audience sneezes, I always want to stop and say ‘bless you.’” Collaborative work is another of Myers’s passions. In New York he studied with the SITI Company where he learned a way of doing group work within a structured format that helps focus the process of character building. It begins with drills that include “lots of stomping” and vocalizations and then moves to improv that sets the boundaries of the devised work. It’s essen- tially a process of “do a workout, make a show,” says Myers. He encountered the same grounding technique working with Boca del Lupo, a Vancouver-based company. These days Myers has his own company, NoFrills Theatre, which is dedicated to making theatre “by any means necessary.” The means for Myers are one-person shows for which he both creates the characters and writes the music. The inspiration for his creations comes from his boundless curiosity about people and his desire to play with his audience’s expectations. “I just ask myself what would be fun to play,” he says. The answer to that question illustrates the range of Myers’s curiosity and clever tal- ent. The characters he created for his one-person show Dress include a hands-on sex therapist and a virtual reality freak living in a world of his own. In East, Myers used the structure of a Erin Wright cross-country Greyhound bus ride to situate characters in time and space. “I always wanted to sing a protest song, so I have a 250-352-3100 protestor get on the bus and sing.” Other passengers include a woman escaping domestic violence and a lovelorn redneck. For 505 Kootenay Street, Nelson, BC V1L 1K9 Myers it’s all about being entertaining and looking for the “aha” moment that will make the audience sit up and take notice. He an inspiring experience Continued next page 6 ARTiculate on stage
tries to makes his characters recognizable or familiar until the moment when he turns our stereotypes on their heads. Myers’s personal and professional lives have been recently changed by fatherhood. His daughter was born in November 2006 and Myers has had to find a “real” job. “I’ve never really had one. I’m actually going tree planting for the first time in my life,” he says. “I feel like I just joined the human race.” Myers has also had to cut back on a touring schedule that saw him spend more than half the year on the road. Ideally he’d like to create a touring circuit in the area that would keep him close to home but he acknowledges that it’s an idea that might take a few years to fully develop. This summer Myers will work as artist-in-residence at the Oxygen Art Centre in Nelson. “Because time has become so pre- cious with the baby, I’ve been desperate to create a new show,” he says. The residency will allow Myers the time, space and financial freedom to create, but it also “forces me to have dead- lines and come up with something,” he says. Together at last: The Amazing and Impermeable Cromoli Brothers. Myers has the bare bones of the new show already in place. Taking inspiration from one of his current obsessions, the show is entitled Work: A Life Story and will examine the professional decisions made by five different characters that create waves throughout the rest of their lives. “What is the definition of work? What is it we all do for the majority of our time here? And are we happy or unhappy in what we choose to do?” are some of the questions that Meyers will have his characters address. For starters there’s the incredibly shy telemarketer who finds herself in over her head. And Darth Waiter, “the dark id of all service industry workers,” deeply unhappy in his work and very good at it at the same time. The possibilities are tantalizing and very, very funny. Myers is the first to recognize the absurdity of his position in creating a show about a subject he has had little practical experience with. “Sometimes I wonder how I can have anything to say, because I’m on the outskirts of the real world,” he says. However, he claims that he will make up for his deficiencies with a show called Hello Baby next fall. During the Oxygen residen- cy Myers will invite audiences to participate in “talk backs” and plans are in the works to tour the finished version of Work with the help of Oxygen Art Centre sponsorship. Lucas Myers has found the perfect combination of inno- cence and irreverence in his work and the results are something to laugh about.
Oxygen Art Centre Residency Program
NOW IN ITS THIRD YEAR, the Oxygen Art Centre artist-in- residence program offers participants an 850-square-foot studio, a stipend, publicity for community events and free or low-cost housing for out-of-town residents. Supported residencies offer the time and space necessary for artists to immerse themselves in research and the creative process, and to create new work. As well as Lucas Myers in July, Oxygen, in cooperation with Touchstones Nelson, will host visual artist Haruko Okano in August. Okano is a well-respected senior artist from Vancouver. Her new work will be exhibited at Touchstones in September. For more information contact Oxygen Art Centre director Nicola Harwood, [email protected]. •
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 7 local colour
Shape shifting
Sculptor Jason Dunham and the art of transformation by Margaret Tessman
JASON DUNHAM’S SCULPTURAL work is all about contrasts and transforma- tions. Sharp-edged found materials are twisted, twined and amalgamated, finally evolving into organic forms. Swirls of barbed wire lift the body of a soaring bird fashioned from spikes while cloud-like bits of rusted metal float in a wire mesh sky. A salvaged electrical-cable flower grows in an improvised bedspring garden; anoth- er rises on its metal roots like the weird cousin of the carnivorous plant in Little Shop of Horrors. “People look at my sculptures and say ‘Whoa, what is that?’ It’s intriguing. They can’t believe I can do that with a nail,” says Dunham. The rough textures and earthy patinas of the metal forms that inhabit Dunham’s assemblages skew our expectations; we smile at the audacity of the materials at the same time as we marvel at their versatility. It’s a liberating and eye-opening experience. Dunham’s six-foot by four-foot screens can take from six months to a year to complete, while the metal flowers can occupy him for a few months. The sculptural Continued next page
8 ARTiculate components are all tied and tensioned together rather than sol- dered or welded. “It’s permanent after you’ve welded. Although in Deb Borsos some instances welding would be easier, I prefer trying to maintain more flexibility in the work,” he explains. Almost all of Dunham’s materials are scavenged from work sites. The wires, nails, rebar and scraps are brought to the studio and sorted and then the job of creating begins. For Dunham, it’s about letting go of expectations and seeing things in a different light. “You focus on the material and something catches your eye. Things will develop in the background and then other pieces can be amalgamated onto it. The process is a constant rotation of thoughts and not getting too attached,” he says. Building the sculptures is also an exercise in patience, what Dunham philo- sophically calls a good life lesson. “It teaches me how to approach problems. The process can be tedious, but the outcome is eye-catching,” he says. “It takes perseverance. If I have a dead- line, it helps.” Like his art, Dunham’s life is a study in contrasts: the push and pull of fatherhood versus the single-minded concentration of creating, the necessity for solitude versus the desire for artistic partnerships and the need to find the means of paying the mort- gage versus the siren call of the studio. When he gets time away from being a stay-at-home dad to his two-year-old son, Kai, Dunham tries to work 20 to 30 hours a week at his art. “I like to work in big chunks of eight to twelve hours at a stretch,” he says. He also credits his son with being a big influence on his life and work. “The inspiration I get from him is incredible,” says Dunham. To help support his art and his family Dunham works as a roofer and labourer on building sites, the motherlode of much of his found material. Dunham also sculpts in stone, a medium he favours because of its portability. He first discovered carving at stonemason school in Ontario, where he grew up. “I found this great piece of Brazilian soapstone that someone had left at the school. I had to cut it into four pieces to get it to B.C.,” says Dunham. “I started carving on it while I was walking or working at the bar.” The chunks of orange Brazilian soapstone are so soft “you can carve it with your fingernail,” he says. Cutting away the stone to get at the shape inside it is a diametrically different process from assembling scavenged materials, but the results are equally satis- fying and beautiful. “I try to keep it light. You’ve got to let it go at some point. The materials can be limiting, but within the lim- itation it pushes you to reinvent how to use something. It’s all good,” says Dunham. In the late summer of 2006 Dunham and his family took possession of a house in Hosmer, which is halfway between Fernie and Sparwood. One of the ongoing renovation jobs is to transform a detached garage into a self-contained workspace. Although he has found sharing studio space to be a mixed bless- ing, Dunham still would like to be able to maintain the interplay that comes with collaborative work. “I’ve got an idea of starting a collective of artists and collaborating on projects,” he says. He also has been looking for ways to merge scavenged sculpture and carving in his art. “I’d like to combine the two forms,” he explains, “carving a stone so that it looks like it’s being pulled apart by two metal hands.” Dunham has participated in the regional juried art show and has some pieces on permanent display in Fernie but he’s committed for the long haul. “My art is always going to be part of my life. I need to release this energy through art,” he says. Like releasing a shape from a stone or a flower from a skein of wire. •
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 9 hand made PHOTOS BY JANET DWYER
Implements and Objects Lou Lynn’s Visual Fantasias on Useful Things
By Simone Keiran
alking through Winlaw- A particularly curious tool that she based artist Lou Lynn’s couldn’t identify the purpose of captivated bronze and glass her. “While I was travelling on the coast, sculpture exhibition, I came across the strangest-looking thing. “Implements and It made me wonder what anyone would’ve Objects,” at the Kootenay used it for.” In my notebook, she doodles an Gallery in Castlegar unusual shape with bifurcated prongs direct- recalled to me a childlike fascination with ly attached to a globe from which a handle useful things. Some of it comes from the extends. “Turns out this odd-looking tool sheer size of Lynn’s visual fantasias, which was used to open oyster shells. The globe W Chisel #2, glass and bronze, 2007. dwarf the spectator. Some of it is admiration was supposed to protect the hands from get- for the way she marries disparate elements, ting cut by the sharp shells.” textures and colours: the durability and Its ingenuity and shape struck her, but she warmth of bronze with the fragility and icy makes it clear that in her eyes the quality of pallor of glass. Some of it is sheer wonder- form supersedes function, strength and colour. ment at the feat of engineering it took, for “It is their sculptural elements that inspire me, example, to fix an hourglass-shaped glass their shapes. Yeah, their practicality appeals to handle into a narrow bronze double-ferrule. me as well, but I get drawn in by the way the Lynn describes her source material: toolmaker embellishes a tool, stamps it “I have a collection of old and antique with that little extra thing, that tools, stuff that I’ve picked up at garage unnecessary thing.” sales here and there, including kitchen implements. They vary from handmade to Continued on next page machined. Some of them my friends gave to me. They know I’m always looking for old stuff like that.”
Hand Plough, glass and bronze, 2004.
10 ARTiculate “Some of my sculptures could never Gallery. What really struck me about it was Lou Lynn’s sculpture has been widely exist as tools,” says Lynn. The forms are the breadth of work he produced. I could- exhibited nationally and internationally whimsical, originating purely from Lynn’s n’t believe that one guy could paint so and is included in prominent museum col- imagination. Sometimes the sculptures many pictures. You know how, when lections in Canada, the United States, incorporate only a fragment of a tool that you’re a kid, you finish one or two pieces Denmark, Germany and China. After its particularly struck her fancy or that she and that’s it; you’re satisfied? It was an eye- stint in Castlegar, “Implements and especially admires, a remarkable handle, opener for me, the first time I realized that Objects,” sponsored by a major project the whorl of an auger’s corkscrew. These someone could be so excited by making art grant from the Columbia Kootenay are sculptures based on shape: augers that that they could just keep producing it.” Cultural Alliance, will tour to the could never be used to drill, chisels that This same sense of excitement applies Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in could never work even if they had been to her present foci. “This is a very stimu- Waterloo, Ontario, and the Evergreen built at a functional scale from traditional lating subject for me. I have enough ideas Cultural Centre in Coquitlam. Examples wood and steel to keep me going for another two or three can also be seen on her directory page at “I’ve looked at tools from different years at least.” www.glassartcanada.ca. • ages, from Victorian to the Stone Age. Many of the tools I collect are obsolete now.” She stops in front of an object that looks like it would be another pure fanta- sia, but in fact mirrors the form of some- River of Memory: The Everlasting Columbia thing that once served a practical purpose. Touchstones Nelson will host the first Canadian stop of this travelling multi- “This one is inspired by a Victorian bread- media exhibition from May 5 to August 5. Developed by the Wenatchee Valley rasp. No one uses this sort of thing any- Museum and Cultural Center in Washington, the exhibition stems from the lifelong more. I assume it was used back then for fascination of curator Bill Layman grating really old, dry bread.” with the Columbia River. According to It isn’t only the tools that draw on Layman, River of Memory “restores human resourcefulness from an earlier time, an unfettered Columbia through more but techniques like the lost-wax process, than 60 historical photographs that which Lynn uses to mold the shapes. We capture the river as it once appeared.” stop in front of a sculpture entitled Double A book co-published by the Adze. “This one combines the lost-wax University of Washington and UBC technique for both bronze and glass.” Press will accompany the display. The glass has a tint of bronze col- Selected poets and writers from oration, so that it is difficult to see where Canada and the United States were the metal leaves off and the glass begins, a given photographs of places along the Breaking Trail on the Upper Columbia River. visual metaphor for this marriage of oppo- river and asked to create original sites. Lynn explains that she shifted from works based on them. These works serve as commentary to the photographs, along aluminum to bronze for the warmth of with the words of early explorers, surveyors and naturalists. Local contributors to the the material and its ease for casting. She book include Marilyn James and Eileen Delehanty Pearkes. incorporates blown glass and glass shaped River of Memory builds on Touchstones Nelson’s work in the area of the history on a diamond lathe to echo the shape of of hydroelectric development as seen through three films on the Columbia River that turned wood in her sculptures, techniques were produced and directed by Slocan Valley filmmaker Ricardo Hubbs and also that were all developed in ancient times. through the Nelson Historical Society’s development of a Virtual Museum of Canada Lou Lynn has been an artist all her online exhibition, The Balance of Power: The History of Hydro Electric Development life. The joy of developing her unique visu- in the West Kootenay. al language began when she was a child. For more information contact Touchstones Nelson Executive Director Leah Best, “When I was little, I went to a Van 352-9813 or [email protected]. Gogh exhibition at the Winnipeg Art
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 11 performance piece Still spoken, gritty, scary, sweet and sublime Beats of the late Blake Parker, poet and performer
Blake Parker, Nelson performance poet and sound artist, died on January 31 of this year. Writer Simone Keiran has created a Beat homage to Blake’s memory, inspired by his collaborations with local musicians and performers. Fred Rosenberg’s photographs have captured Blake’s spirit in black and white. by Simone Keiran photos by Fred Rosenberg
IT’S THE HYPNOGENETIC CADENCE and rhythm of his words. The words sweep from human collapse and crumble to the sub- lime nature, the one that comes along for the holy, jolly, terrify- ing ride but isn’t defeated by it. The voice still whispers in the dried grasses beside an aban- doned railway bridge, a massive boulder festooned in exuberant graffiti next to a highway, goggling over the name “tea slut” — tea slut? —painted across its surface. In the back alley behind the hotel that rents rooms out by the hour or the month, it keeps time where performers drum their Beats on different channels Blake Parker and still play bingo with the stars. It appraises the latest six-pack of airbrushed beauties on the billboard, dripping with their sides The voice is underscored with musical accompaniment, chanted of gravy, fries and hot chicken fat (Reptiles at the Movies & live at cafés, recorded on CDs on video and web sites, shown Other Poems, collected from the 1970s to 2002). with paintings and animated in computer generated imagery. It utters its pleas for an eternal life of physical health per- It twangs along in a dystopian future with an entertainer fection while laid out across surgical steel in the mystery schools and singer as he is killed by rightwing extremists, then revived by of medical technology, with the industrial buzz and whir of the Ministry of Health in order to plumb his dreams, then erad- robotics, and the swish of chemicals piped through rubber tubes, icate dreams altogether. It even came with its own photomontage until you wonder where life leaves off and mechanism begins (Slow Resurrection: the Life and Times of Leland Frank, per- (Cyborg Projects) formed with Jude and Laura Landsberg). Isis and Osiris meet It shrieks its drunken, orgiastic, coke-induced gender confu- Matrix, set to a Hank Williams-style country and western song sion and sexual satiation in a punk band called Fetish interpret- and puppet show. ed through the Greek chorus of a pair of busboys who used to It heals. No, really! wait on table in the local diner, busboys who just happened to be With a drum and a Tibetan singing bowl, its sound waves Blake Parker and his collaborator Jude, a.k.a. Colin Davidson. It radiate from the heart in all directions, distinguishing what space chases its edgy illusions through Hollywood. There’s a web site, is sacred, examining the field of consciousness (Mind Fields, with a script, a book, a picture of an auteur-director posing artfully on musician Thomas Cournoyer). the edge of a trash can (Drop Dead Scene). In fairy-tale country, it mashes together those universal It floats in ether through the throats of cosmic security social issues like getting a job, having children, finding a partner, agents and psychic police forces, investigating those entities culture and class with talking animal friends, soldier princes, detached from their bodies that come alive on television, surveil- damsels, dragons, castles and cottages. It maps the journey in rid- lance cameras and magazines, entities who mix in with one’s dles, curses, binding oaths and prophesies and links them to dreams like digital viral infections to the psyche (Wireless Bodies, moments in the modern world. It uses the word “non-authori- with Ruby Truly, Howard Bearham and John Mills-Cockell). Continued on next page
12 ARTiculate Blake Parker and Jude, 2006. tarian” a lot, non-authoritarian in the sense that it does not strive This was still back in Toronto, the city where he was born. to subjugate others or submit to domination by others (Three Those are the factual bones of his life, a structural skeleton Poets, with Paul Landsberg on guitar and Steven Parrish on per- of his existence. It’s Blake’s voice and the trance it induces that cussion). fill in the colours and details, the way his mind played around “Recognize this?” it asks, and that voice transports you with ideas, stories and experiences, polished them with words, there, and you have to wonder: what is fake and what is real? gave them rhythm and cadence, then set them loose on our imag- Where is the boundary between insanity and inspiration? How inations. come I know this place when I’ve never been here in my entire That voice was first heard in 1943. Even though Blake died life? How come I know these people when I’ve never met them this year, it hasn’t stopped. before? Is this person, place, object, time deformed or improved Check out his website at: http://www.blakeparker.com. It’s a if I leave my imprint? How far does my awareness extend? What trip. No, really! • is sacred and is there any such thing as profane? Who am I? Blake Parker, performance poet, died of cancer on January 31st, 2007. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treat- ments in 2002, when it seemed to go into remission, but came back with a vengeance in 2004. That’s when he decided to record his Terminal City project, again with Jude. He was the president of the David Thompson Cultural Centre and often performed in the city of Nelson at various landmarks, some defunct, like Café Voltaire, Sam Iz Dat, Charlotte’s, the Nelson Museum, and one that isn’t, the Capitol Theatre. He started up an artist-run gallery during his tenure there. He also sat on the board of the Kootenay Film and Video Coop. He taught research techniques for psychoanalysis and the methodology of symbols for the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute after studying anthropology at Simon Fraser University in the late 1980s, early 1990s. In the 1970s, Blake had a family with fellow artist Monica Carpendale and raised them in the Slocan Valley of the West Kootenay. The inspiration and concept of multimedia presentations, that riotous intermingling of idea with fantasy set to music, emblazoned across televisions, live onstage, enhanced with imagery, came to Blake Parker while he travelled through Europe in the early 1960s. He started writing and performing his poetry when he was 15, a contemporary of experimental performance artists like Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed’s Velvet Underground.
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 13 articulate calendar May 12–13 Monday May 21 Exhibition Antique show MAY Thursday May 10 Images Watercolour Show Creston Blossom Festival Antique Film 10 am–5pm Show & Tell May 1–13 Thursday Night at the Movies RotaCrest Center, Creston Bring your antiques for appraisal Exhibition presents 428-7473, [email protected] Signe Miller, [email protected] Wings Over the Rockies Art Show The Wind That Shakes the Barley Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Royal Theatre, Trail Saturday May 12, 19, 26 Wednesday May 23 Invermere Workshop Independent film by FLIKS columbiavalleyarts.com Friday May 11 Grant writing with Nicola title t.b.a. Concert Harwood Capitol Theatre, Nelson, 7:30 pm May 1–September 30 Kaslo Concert Society 2:30–5:30, Oxygen Art Centre 1-866-FLIKSca, www.FLIKS.ca Gallery tour presents Alison 320 Vernon Street (alley Seven Studios Tour Girvan’s choirs, entrance), Nelson, 352-6322, Wednesday May 23 Creston Valley Shenango & Corazon www.oxygenartcentre.org Music & multimedia Brochure at Creston 7:30 pm, St. Andrews United Before the End of the World Tour Chamber of Commerce Church, Kaslo Sunday May 13 Jason Trachtenburg Slideshow Elaine Alfoldy, 428-7473, Heritage event Conception, Bouncing Bobby alfoldy.com Friday May 11 Fort Steele’s Mother’s Day Wiseman and The Phonemes Opening reception Tea & Fashion Show 8 pm, Capitol Theatre, Nelson May 3 through September Art Group 75: Senior’s Fort Steele Heritage Town 1-866-354-5722, Film series painter’s group Shauna, 420-7158 or 250-417-6000, www.fliks.ca Wild Horse Theatre Moving Exhibition runs through May 26 www.fortsteele.ca Picture Series Artrageous Gallery, Cranbrook Thursday May 24 Fort Steele Heritage Town Cranbrook Arts Council, 426-4223 Monday May 14 Film 417-6000, www.fortsteele.ca Film Thursday Night at the Movies Friday May 11 Cinefest Series presents May 5 to August 5 Reading and exhibit Volver After the Wedding Touring exhibition Student Reading and Art Exhibition Toby Theatre, Invermere Royal Theatre, Trail River of Memory: 7:30 pm, Oxygen Art Centre The Everlasting Columbia 320 Vernon Street (alley Tuesday May 15 Friday May 25 Touchstones Nelson entrance), Nelson, 352-6322, Opening Reception Double book launch 352-9813, touchstonesnelson.ca oxygenartcentre.org Fabricated with the North Star Tom Wayman Quilters Guild High Speed Over Shoaling Water Sunday May 6 Friday May 11 7 pm, The Gallery at Centre 64, (poetry) and Boundary Country Concert Opening reception Kimberley (short fiction) Grand Forks Choral Society Teachers and students from SD 20 Exhibition runs to June 2 7:30 pm, Oxygen Art Centre 3 pm, Christina Lake Community Hall Exhibition runs through May 30 Gallery hours: Tuesday to 320 Vernon Street (alley 442-3935 7 pm, Kootenay Gallery, Castlegar Saturday, 1–5 pm entrance), Nelson 365-3337, kootenaygallery.com 427-4919, kimberleyarts.com 352-6322, Monday May 7 www.oxygenartcentre.org Book launch Friday May 11 Wednesday May 16 The Purcell Suite: Artist’s reception Independent film by FLIKS Sunday May 27 Upholding the Wild Beverley Reid and Eliza Fry title t.b.a. Concert David Thompson High School Exhibition runs through June 3 Capitol Theatre, Nelson, 7:30 pm Bistro Concert series Theatre, Invermere 7–9 pm, Langham Art Gallery, 1-866-FLIKSca, www.FLIKS.ca Kat Danser, Kaslo, 353-2661, Original Mississippi blues May 8 to June 3 thelangham.ca Saturday May 19 Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Exhibitions Opening day Invermere Akira Hansen, Textiles Saturday May 12 Kettle River Museum columbiavalleyarts.com Jane Merks & Peter Bartl: Children’s festival Midway, 449-2467 In/Visual Words, Artist books, Kootenay Children’s Festival May 28 & 29 typography 10 am–4 pm Saturday May 19 Art exhibition Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre Mount Baker School field, Entry deadline Annual Kettle River Art Show Gallery hours: Tues–Fri Cranbrook Bloomin’ Art Greenwood & Sun 1–5 pm, 814-0261, 4 pm deadline Edna Madden, 445-6770 revelstokevisualarts.com Saturday May 12 427-4919, kimberleyarts.com Concert : Tuesday May 29 May 9, 10 & 12 Rodney Decroo and friends Cam Sunday May 20 Concert Dinner theatre Penner and Jon Wood Gallery tour Sarah Noni-Metzner Monashee Mtn Players Doors open at 7 pm Spring Open House Snoring Sasquatch Hostel, Dinner Theatre Snoring Sasquatch Hostel, 11 am–4:30 pm, Hirota Creston 6 pm dinner, 7:30 pm show Creston, 428-4660 Studio/Gallery, Creston Doors open at 7 pm McArthur Centre, Greenwood or crestonhostel.com Gallery open Wed to Mon 428-4660, 449-2854, 10:30–4:30 crestonhostel.com [email protected] 402-6717, eileenhirota.com
14 ARTiculate May 29 and 30 Saturdays starting June 16 June 19–July 1 Audition call Craft market Exhibition Arsenic & Old Lace Kaslo Saturday Market Annual Pynelogs Show Kimberley Community Theatre 10 am to 2 pm, Front Street, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, 7–9 pm , Theatre at Centre 64, downtown Kaslo Invermere Kimberley, 427-7194 Jen Sibley columbiavalleyarts.com [email protected], 353-7592 Thursday May 31 Wednesday June 20 Opening reception Saturday, June 16 Independent film by FLIKS West Kootenay Camera Club Art walk opening title t.b.a. Annual Juried Photo Salon Kaslo Art Walk Capitol Theatre, Nelson, 7:30 pm Exhibition runs until June 3 Runs until Jazzfest weekend 1-866-FLIKSca, www.FLIKS.ca 7 pm, Kootenay Gallery, Castlegar Jen Sibley 365-3337, kootenaygallery.com 353-7592 Friday June 22 [email protected], Concert Motown/R&B Review with the July 16–20 and July 23–27 Mocking Shadows JUNE Choral workshops 8 pm, Key City Theatre, Cranbrook A Joyful Noise with Eva Bostrand 426-7006 Friday June 1 Info: David Stewart 366-4623, Art Opening: [email protected] June 22 to Sept 3 Nathan Bartley: The Salt People Elaine Alfoldy, Lady Gathering Eggs. Registration: Art Walk/ Art Drive Show runs until June 23 [email protected] Creston & Kootenay Lake 7 pm, Oxygen Art Centre, Nelson Eastshore ArtWalk/ArtDrive Friday June 8 352-6322, oxygenartcentre.org Sunday June 17 Nora McDowell 428-9391, Dena Opening reception Heritage event Kubota 227-9441 Sam Dickie: Elusive Constraint Friday June 1 4th Annual Father’s Day at Fort [email protected] Exhibition runs until July 13 Opening Reception Steele Railway 7 pm, Kootenay Gallery, Castlegar Junior Artists in Action Fort Steele Heritage Town June 22–24 365-3337, kootenaygallery.com Exhibition runs until June 8 11 am–4 pm, 250-417-6000, Music festival Artrageous Gallery, Cranbrook www.fortsteele.ca Revelstoke Mountain Beats Friday June 8 Cranbrook Arts Council, 426-4223 Festival Opening reception June 18 - July 27 Centennial Park, Revelstoke ArtsAround, East Kootenay Monday June 4 Summer courses 1-800-457-0493, Regional Competition Film Summer Arts Journey www.mountainbeats.com 7 pm, The Gallery at Centre 64, Cinefest Series College of the Rockies, Creston Kimberley Away From Her 428-5332, 1-866-740-2687, Sunday June 24 Exhibition runs to June 16 Toby Theatre, Invermere cotr.bc.ca/summerarts Garden tour 427-4919, kimberleyarts.com The Slocan Valley Art June 5–17 Tuesday June 19 & Garden Tour, 11 am–4 pm Friday June 8 Exhibition Opening Reception Lesley Mayfield, Artist talk David Thompson Secondary Bloomin’ Art, a Call for Entry [email protected] Nathan Bartley: The Salt People School Art Show Group Show 7:30 pm, Oxygen Art Centre Pynelogs Cultural Centre, 7 pm, The Gallery at Centre 64, Wednesday June 27 320 Vernon Street (alley Invermere Kimberley Independent film by FLIKS entrance), Nelson columbiavalleyarts.com Gallery hours: Tuesday to title t.b.a. 352-6322, oxygenartcentre.org Saturday, 1–5 pm Capitol Theatre, Nelson, 7:30 pm Wednesday June 6 Exhibition runs to July 14 1-866-FLIKSca, June 12 to July 15 Independent film by FLIKS 427-4919, www.FLIKS.ca Call for entry title t.b.a. kimberleyarts.com Mountains Events continued on page 19 Capitol Theatre, Nelson, 7:30 pm Work in all media in celebration of 1-866-FLIKSca, www.FLIKS.ca the first ascent of Mt Begbie Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre Thursday June 7 814-0261, Film revelstokevisualarts.com Thursday Night at the Movies presents Friday June 15 Amazing Grace Opening Reception Royal Theatre, Trail CDAC Sam Steele Day’s Theme Show Friday June 8 Exhibition runs until July 6 Artist’s reception Artrageous Gallery, Cranbrook Nola Russell Cranbrook Arts Council, 7–9 pm, Langham Art Gallery, Kaslo 426-4223 Andy Alfoldy, Creston Valley Seven Studios Tour. 353-2661, thelangham.ca
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 15 festivals
Floating stage at Kaslo Jazz etc. Festival.
16 ARTiculate festivals
TRAIL & DISTRICT ARTS COUNCIL • SUMMER SERIES •
MUSIC IN THE PARK at the Gazebo in Gyro Park, Trail Every other Thursday, 7pm
Tel: 364-3003 Email: [email protected] Website: www.trail-arts.com
9th Annual July 7 & 8 2007
9:30 a.m. registration. Stories start at 10. 1-888-422-1123 or 250-505-1205 [email protected] www.kootenaystory.org Keeping our history alive through the Art of Storytelling
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 17 18 ARTiculate articulate calendar JUNE JULY
June 27 to July 2 July–September Exhibition Exhibitions Deb Borsos, Paintings Regular gallery shows, 11 am–4 pm, Hidden Garden Columbia Valley artists Gallery, New Denver Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Teri Freeman 358-2297, Invermere [email protected] columbiavalleyarts.com
June 29 & 30, July 1 & 2 Tuesdays–Saturdays Community festival in July and August Elkford Wildcat Days Performance Town centre, Elkford Rossland Gold Fever Follies Penny 865-2257, 3 & 7:30 pm, Miners’ Union Hall, www.elkford.ca Rossland goldfeverfollies.com or Rossland June 29–September 15 Chamber of Commerce, 362-5666 Castlegar Art Walk 07 Jacquie Hamilton 365-8026, Wednesdays in July and August [email protected] Performance Nakusp Music in The Park Saturday June 30 6:30 - 8:30 at the Gazebo Arts festival Karen 265-3322 Mountain Mosaic Arts Festival Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere columbiavalleyarts.com Events continued on page 20
In the Nelson Trading Company, 402 Baker Street
Fashion and Accessories Women ~ Children ~ Maternity
www.anniesboutique.ca 354-2000
www.discoveringthekootenays.ca A Heritage Gallery of Art and Design Part 4. Italian Settlement in Trail: The First 100 years. Historical background and images from The Colombo Lodge Centennial Mural - 2005
Thanks and Acknowledgements to the following for making these projects a success: The Mayor and Council, City of Trail for the opportunity, City of Trail Archives, Jamie Forbes, and Sarah Benson, The Trail Historical Society, and all the contributors to the Trail of Memories book. 2005 President and Executive - Societa Cristoforo Colombo, The Centenario 2005 Organizational Committee. The Mural Committee. Anne Marie Gagliani,- Colombo Lodge Archives, and Lana (Baldassi) Rodlie for editing and collating the ‘The First 100 years’ the inspiration. The Columbia Basin Trust, The Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, The Trail and District Arts Council, and The Trail Daily Times for their continued support.
Maureen A. Travers. Fruitvale, B.C. Canada.
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 19 articulate calendar
Friday July 6 JULY Art Exhibition June 29–July 1 Nelson Artwalk: Rick Foulger Arts festival 6–9 pm, Kolmel Silver & Gold FernieFest 2007 352-6164, Fernie www.foulgerart.com 423-2323, www.ferniefest.com Friday July 6 Sundays, Canada Day Opening reception to Labour Day Nelson Artwalk Farmers market 6–9 pm, Touchstones Nelson shop Fernie Mountain Market Alex Macfarlane, 10-2 pm, Rotary Park, Fernie 352-8262, [email protected] touchstonesnelson.ca
Canada Day weekend Saturday July 7 Centennial celebration Garden and studio tour Boswell’s 100th anniversary Grand Forks Art Gallery Annual Pioneer dinner, Garden & Studio Tour Lady Grey Flower Show 442-2211, www.galleries.bc.ca/grandforks Jackie Moore 223-8358 Frances Dickinson shawl
Sunday July 1 July 9–14 Fort Steele Heritage Town July 21–22 Canada Day celebration Music festival Dinner at the International Hotel, Music festival The Red, The White…The Tube! 33rd Annual Kimberley silent film at Wild Horse Theatre Starbelly Jam Music Festival City Park, Grand Forks International Old Time Accordion and sunset steam train ride Saturday noon–11 pm, Sunday Lori, 442-2833 Championships aboard the 1077 noon–10 pm Kimberley, 427-4547, Reservations: 417-6000, Crawford Bay Park Sunday July 1 1-888-4kiotac (454-6822), www.fortsteele.ca www.starbellyjam.org Canada Day celebration www.kiotac.ca Fort Steele’s Dominion Day July 14-15 July 24 to August 26 Celebration , Noon–4 pm, July 10 to August 18 Celebration Exhibitions Fort Steele Heritage Town Performance Kettle River Days, Midway Main gallery TBA 417-6000, www.fortsteele.ca The Butler Did It, Singing Steve, 449-2467 Dennis Cound: Sculpture in bone Presented by Kimberley Summer and stone Sunday July 1 Theatre, 8 pm, Tuesday to Monday July 16 Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre Art auction Saturday, 427-4080 Opening reception Gallery hours: One Man’s Treasure Clay +, 7 pm, The Gallery at Tues–Fri & Sun 1–5 pm Grand Forks Art Gallery, 442-2211 July 11–16 Centre 64, Kimberley 814-0261, Exhibition Exhibition runs through August 12 revelstokefisualarts.com July 1–31 Toru Fujibayashi, Sculpture Gallery hours: Tuesday to Artist-in-Residence 11 am to 4 pm, Hidden Garden Saturday, 1–5 pm Thursday July 26 Lucas Myers one-man show Gallery, New Denver 427-4919, kimberleyarts.com Concert Work: A Life Story Teri Freeman 358-2297, PyneStock: Two Hours of Oxygen Art Centre [email protected] Friday July 20 Peace & Music 320 Vernon Street (alley Artist’s reception Pynelogs Cultural Centre, entrance), Nelson July 14–15 Sinixt and Inkameep Invermere 352-6322, oxygenartcentre.org Garden festival First Nations Show columbiavalleyarts.com Gardeners Weekend Retreat Exhibition runs through July 3–15 hosted by Creston Valley Garden September 16 July 27–29 Exhibition Festival Committee 7–9 pm, Langham Art Gallery, Music festival East Kootenay Ceramics Tour gardenfestivals.ca or Creston Kaslo, 353-2661, 5th Annual Music Festival Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Chamber of Commerce thelangham.ca Grand Forks Invermere, 1-866-528-4342 442-5661, 1-877-442-5661, columbiavalleyarts.com Friday July 20 freedomrocks.ca July 13–15 Opening reception July 4–9 Music festival Beverley Reid: Heart of Stone, July 27–30 Exhibition Nakusp Music Fest Heart of Garden Dance camp Chillia Zoll and Myles Berney, Nakusp, 1-877-265-5565, Slocan Lake Dance Camp Photography www.nakuspmusicfest.ca Exhibition runs through August 24 Bosun Hall, New Denver. 11 am–4 pm, Hidden Garden Kootenay Gallery, Castlegar 358-2448, kootenaydancebeat.org Gallery, New Denver July 14 & 28, August 4 & 18 365-3337, Teri Freeman 358-2297, Heritage events kootenaygallery.com [email protected] Saturday Night on the Town
20 ARTiculate articulate calendar AUGUST August 10–13 Arts festival August 1–6 Arts on the Edge Festival Exhibition Kimberley Boukje Elzinga and Koko 427-4919, kimberleyarts.com Tsuneko, Paintings 11 am–4 pm, Hidden Garden August 10–18 Gallery, New Denver Arts festival Teri Freeman 358-2297, Greenwood Arts Festival [email protected] Ed MacLeod, 449-2854 August 1–31 August 11 to October 21 Artist-in-Residence Touring exhibition Haruko Okano, installations Two Chairs Oxygen Art Centre, Nelson Touchstones Nelson 352-6322, oxygenartcentre.org 352.9813, touchstonesnelson.ca August 3-5 Music festival August 15–20 Kaslo Jazz Etc Festival Exhibition Kaslo Bay Park New Denver Quilters 353-7577, 11 am–4 pm, Hidden Garden kaslojazzfest.com Gallery, New Denver Teri Freeman 358-2297, August 4-5 [email protected] Music festival 10th Annual Sky High Blues August 16 & 17 Festival Arts festival Rock Creek Art in the Park Harry Miks 446-2553, Kohan Gardens, New Denver skyhighbluesfestival.com 10:30 am 358-7269 The Nelson and District Arts Council presents the 20th Annual Artwalk 2007 August 6–9 Workshops August 17–26 Arts on the Edge (TBA) Community festival 427-4919, Revelstoke Railway Days July 1 - September 16 kimberleyarts.com Revelstoke 1-877-837-6060, Multimedia Art Exhibition • 12 Venues August 8–13 www.railwaydays.com Exhibiton Openings Bev Greer, Ceramics Friday August 17 11 am–4 pm, Hidden Garden Artist’s reception July 6 and Jane Merks and Peter Bartl: Gallery, New Denver August 10 Teri Freeman, In/VisualWords 358-2297, 7–9 pm Langham Art Gallery, 6 to 9 PM. [email protected] Kaslo Art exhibition, Exhibition runs through October 7 live entertainment Friday August 10 and great fun! Opening reception 353-2661, thelangham.ca Nelson Artwalk 6–9 pm, Saturday August 18 Touchstones Nelson shop Heritage festival Artwalk Alex Macfarlane, Fort Steele’s 2nd Annual Gold 352-8262 Panning Day Art Auction touchstonesnelson.ca Fort Steele Heritage Town Friday, September 14 Gates open 9 am, 417-6000 August 10–12 Music festival August 18 to September 20 3rd Annual Fruitvale Mountain Exhibition For more information on Music Festival Haruko Okano installations all Nelson and District Arts Marsh Creek Family Park, Touchstones Gallery B, Nelson touchstonesnelson.ca Council programs and projects Fruitvale call 250-352-2402 or www.fruitvalemusicfest.com Events continued on page 22 email [email protected] www.ndac.ca
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 21 articulate calendar
AUGUST 7–10 pm, Oxygen Art Centre, Nelson, 352-6322, August 22 to September 3 oxygenartscentre.org Exhibition Rabia’ Gonzales and Gyslain September 7 & 8 Gamache, sculpture and painting Fall fair 11 am–4 pm, Hidden Garden Creston Valley Fall Fair Gallery, New Denver Friday 2–10 pm, Teri Freeman, 358-2297, Saturday 10 am–7 pm [email protected] 428-7013, 428-2920 crestonvalleyfallfair.com August 31 Opening reception September 7–9 East Gallery: Deb Thompson: Hide Music festival West Gallery: Invitational Greenwood Bluegrass Festival Peace Exhibit City Office, 445-6644 Exhibitions run until September 28 Kootenay Gallery, Castlegar September 7–9 365-3337, kootenaygallery.com Art show and sale Creston Art Club Show and Sale August 31 to September 2 Rotacrest Hall, Creston Music festival Juhl, 428-9188, [email protected] Creston Valley Fest Canyon Park, Creston September 8 & 9 crestonvalleyfest.com, Fall fair Pat or Diane, 428-9823 51st Annual Fall Fair Grand Forks, Irene, 442-3817
SEPTEMBER Sunday September 9 Fall fair Monday September 3 Kootenay Country Fair Registration begins 9 am–4pm, Fort Steele Fall classes in Writing, Visual Art, Heritage Town Performance and Professional Ronda Wood, 489-4201 Practices, Oxygen Art Centre, Nelson, 352-6322, Sunday September 9 oxygenartcentre.org Festival Hills Garlic Festival September 4–30 10 am–5 pm, Centennial Park, Exhibition New Denver RVAS Members Annual Exhibition Liza Ireland, 358-2303, Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre [email protected] Gallery hours Tues–Fri & Sun 1–5 pm 814-0261, revelstokevisualarts.com Saturday September 15 Arts festival September 5, 19 & 26 Taste of Fernie Film series Station Square, Fernie Independent film by FLIKS The Arts Station, Capitol Theatre, Nelson, 7:30 pm 423-4842, www.tasteoffernie.ca 1-866-FLIKSca, www.FLIKS.ca September 15 & 16 September 5–10 Fall fair Exhibition Annual Fall Fair, Rock Creek Virginia Boyd, Paintings Sharon 446-2465 or Judy 446-2406 11 am–4 pm, Hidden Garden Gallery, New Denver September 21 Teri Freeman, 358-2297, Artists’ reception [email protected] Sarah Lawless and Kendrick Mauser: Pots in Their Friday September 7 Natural Habitat Exhibition Opening 7–9 pm, Langham Gallery, Kaslo Haruko Okano installations Exhibiton runs through October 21 Exhibition runs through 353-2661, thelangham.ca September 22
22 ARTiculate local histories PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN HULLAND
A Historic Collaboration East Shore writers have a story to tell
by Greg Nesteroff Susan Hulland and Terry Turner show off some of their book projects.
ALTHOUGH IT WAS a historic event in on three subsequent projects, the book’s before the Bluebell caught his attention. itself, Kootenay Lake historians Terry sales continue to help with the upkeep of While the saga had been chronicled Turner and Susan Hulland don’t remember the lighthouse. before, there was no book devoted to it— how they first met. Both say it could have Hulland followed that project with something he soon remedied. Bluebell been through the Riondel Historical The Story of the S.S. City of Ainsworth, Memories, published in 1997, was part Society, but the particulars are forgotten. which told of Kootenay Lake’s deadliest photo album, part retired miners’ memoirs. Regardless of where and when it happened, disaster and the rediscovery of the ship’s “They seemed like such a fascinating it resulted in a productive partnership. wreck a century later. She avidly followed bunch,” Turner says. “Just talking to them Hulland is the longer-term resident, the search as a freelance journalist, so when got me interested. Ted Swendson probably having moved to Crawford Bay from the it came to do the book, those involved were inspired me more than anybody. He was 95 Okanagan in 1970. She was always a his- only too willing to help. when I saw what he’d written on his tory buff, but didn’t indulge her interest in “I’m very proud of that book,” she Bluebell years. He didn’t realize anybody local history until her kids were older. says. “I think it’s nicely written, has lots of would be interested in his story.” In 1989, she published the East Shore interesting sidebars, good illustrations, and Continued on page 28 Visitors’ Guide, a “rough historical it’s a wonderful story: a shipwreck and then overview” of the communities on that side a rediscovery? It was such a neat little bun- of the lake. However, it was just a warm-up dle, and it was just kind of handed to me.” for 1997’s The History of Pilot Bay Terry Turner, meanwhile, first visited Lighthouse, a charming, concise book the Kootenays in 1969 on a geological field Spirit of about a unique landmark. trip with the University of Alberta, but it “I can still remember what it felt like wasn’t until 10 years later that he and wife Writing Festival to walk out of that trail in the forest into Sharon bought retirement property in the this big clearing and see the lighthouse,” area. It took them another decade to PLANS ARE underway for the she says. “Then I started asking questions. become full-time residents. second Spirit of Writing Festival in Why a lighthouse? What was going on That their home was at Riondel, site Nakusp on Friday and Saturday here?” of Kootenay Lake’s richest and most sto- June 1 and 2. This event is a great Dynamically designed by Boswell’s ried mine, was just a coincidence, Turner opportunity for Federation of BC Warren Clark, whom she also worked with says. But it was only a matter of time Writers members and other interested writers to gather for a weekend of workshops, readings, good food and stimulating conversation. Workshops presenters include Susan Andrews Grace, Harold Rhenisch, Alan Twigg and Deanna Kawatski. A coffeehouse and readings are scheduled for Friday evening with dinner and an open mic planned for Saturday. For more information contact Anne Strachan, [email protected].
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 23 hot off the press
Leaving the Farm: Memories of Another Life by Ross Klatte Published by Oolichan Books ISBN 0-88982-237-9 Paperback, $22.95 March 2007
Review by Sandra Hartline Ross Klatte
Klatte’s memoir, Leaving the Farm, is a moving, sad and often “It seemed nothing was going to change. My father would bawl me humorous record of life on a Minnesota dairy farm that begins with out for the rest of my life, and I would take it,” he says. Then as a a 1955 auctioneer’s bill of sale and some old photographs “rescued teenager, during a canoe trip they took together to waters near the from a dusty shoebox.” In the descriptions of looking after cows in Canadian border, Ross had a kind of epiphany. “I saw my father winter and hay baling in summer, working the farm and dreaming differently – saw that this self-made, often angry man, who used to in the woods beyond, there is something deeper than nostalgia, frighten me and still growled at me, had a soft side. We talked about more personal and my leaving. ‘You sure I can’t convince you to stay on the farm?’ my poignant than simple recol- father asked. ‘You stick with me, you know, and the farm’ll be lection. Take this passage, yours someday.’ I knew that. He was offering me his kingdom, and for example, from the I was rejecting it.” opening chapter: Ross confesses, “I’ve been obsessed with my farm experience “How many winter ever since I left.” In 1990, with the original auction bill from the mornings have I worked sale of the farm, he wrote what he conceived as the first chapter of despondently here, de- a memoir, and it won first prize in the personal essay category of the pressed by the cold and the CBC Literary Competition. Later, he received an Explorations clouds of my own breath, Grant from the Canada Council that gave him the means to do longing to be somewhere research and interviews in Minnesota and to begin a first draft. The else—how many pre- book has since been through 14 drafts, including a final “word by dawns and dark-at-four- word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph and chapter o’clock afternoons of my by chapter” rewrite. teenage years have I given, Ross continues to write on his homesteaded land in Balfour – without hope of escape, to not very different, he says, from his experience in Minnesota on a these dreary chores? Yet family farm. “We didn’t, for instance, have plumbing on the farm that morning, buoyant until my third year of high school and didn’t in our place near with relief and excitement, Balfour, either, until we’d been there three years.” There are differ- heavy with guilt and pre- ences: “The winters in southeastern B.C. aren’t nearly as cold as mature homesickness, I they were in Minnesota 50 years ago, where it seemed to be always perform each action, each 20 degrees below Fahrenheit.” step in the routine, as if I’m doing it for the first time. That’s because it’s the last time, I keep reminding myself. After today, I am leaving the farm.” excerpt Ross Klatte is the descendant of French-Canadian immigrants who settled in northern Minnesota, on his mother’s side. His father Excerpt from Leaving the Farm: Memories of Another Life was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Since 1970, Ross, now a by Ross Klatte (Oolichan Books, 2007) Canadian citizen, has lived in the Nelson area. “Family farming is Later that summer I ran into Dan at Lake Independence. I’d the same on either side of the border,” he says, “and on both sides been allowed to take our truck and go to the lake for a swim of the border that life is virtually gone.” after evening chores. What Ross calls his “coming of age story” and his “portrait of There’d been a storm the night before that had detached a the would-be artist as a farm boy” is peppered with amusing anec- section of marsh from across the lake and driven it into the bay dotes: the hired man who disappeared with the roadster, the day lit- in front of Gertz’s Resort, where we were swimming. Storms tle Ross broke the family windmill and ran away from home, the often did that, broke off pieces of bog shoreline from the bigger time as a teenager he attended a “girlie show” at the Minnesota lakes that became floating islands, cattail rafts, which sailed State Fair and the roof of the show tent blew off before the dancer back and forth across the lakes. could take her clothes off. This one was some thirty feet across, in chest-deep water— The book is coloured by memory and tragedy such as the acci- a challenge. dental death of Ross’s little sister Nancy and the loss of the farm “I bet I can swim under it,” I told Dan. itself. There is inherent conflict in this life—the necessity to stay and “You think so?” he said. work the farm and the need to get away. I’d bought a pair of swim fins that summer—they were Growing up, Ross found his father frequently belittling: Continued on next page
24 ARTiculate hot off the press
Continued from page 24 tion on MAA Press titles, check out their something new on the market, first used website at http://community.netidea.com/ by Navy frogmen and Mediterranean maapress/index.html. skin divers—and they made you feel like a fish in the water. “Sure,” I said. “Go around to the Boundary Country other side and wait for me.” I pulled on my flippers. Took several by Tom Wayman deep breaths, hyperventilating like the Thistledown Press free divers I’d read about, to charge my ISBN 978-1-897235-25-6 blood with oxygen. Took a final breath Paperback, $18.95 and dove, under the bog, and started April 2007 swimming. I stretched out my arms and used my Tom Wayman has a way with words. His hands as diving planes, keeping close to first fiction collection stretches his practised the bottom, kicking steadily but not too skills as a poet into twelve short stories that strenuously with my flippers. You con- capture the voices of his characters in per- served your oxygen by not exerting your- fect pitch. The people and settings of these self, and tried to imagine that you could stories both echo with the familiar and hold your breath forever. There were knock our expectations for a loop. divers, I’d read, who could stay under for As Wayman explains in his introduc- four or five minutes. My best time, with tion to Boundary Country, he has used the my head in the stock tank in our barn- stories to explore the implications of what yard, practicing, was about a minute. The Purcell Suite: boundary can mean: connections, edges, I felt the bog above me pressing clos- Upholding the Wild meetings, borders, frontiers and brinks. er as I swam under it, closer and closer, “My concerns include the line between self until there was hardly any space between Edited by K.Linda Kivi and others, between individuals and their its mucky underside and the lake’s sandy MAA Press community,” he writes. “Fascinating to me bottom. I had a mental picture of its size ISBN 0-9685302-3-0 is the limit that distinguishes employment and thought I must be close to the other Paperback, $25. from servitude, education from indoctrina- side of it by now when, bursting to let go Spring 2007 tion, the artificial from the natural.” of the stale air in my lungs, wanting to Editor K.Linda Kivi has pulled together a The Nelson book launch for breathe, I swam into a tangle of muck rich and engaging anthology that will give Boundary Country will take place on and roots where the underside of the bog readers a new appreciation of the Purcells Friday May 25 at 7:30 pm at the Oxygen and the lake bottom met, and—of and a keen sense of the dangers that Art Centre. Call 352-6322 for details. course!—realized that the “floating” bog threaten this wilderness landscape. was in fact grounded. In a sickening, dis- Contributions by Stan Rowe, Luanne orienting flash—of panic, claustrophobia, Armstrong, Tom Wayman, Fred Wah and the terror of suffocation—I knew my others explore the complexity of the foolishness and that this was it, this was Purcell Mountains region. The Purcell the end of my life. I was going to drown. Suite is the second book in the Colours of And yet, in that dreamlike state one the Columbia series and is co-published enters in the face of death, detached, still by Wildsight, a Purcell-based, grassroots alive, I disentangled myself, turned, and conservation group. kicked away with my flippers. I felt the Proceeds from the book sales will be bog lift away from the lake bottom and donated to the Coalition for Jumbo Wild, on instinct rolled over and began to pull a network of groups engaged in preserv- myself along its underside, grabbing ing a part of the Purcell wilderness from handfuls of the muck to increase my development. Wildsight program manag- speed until, reaching for another hand- er Dave Quinn is excited by the organiza- hold, I felt the edge of the bog and my tion’s involvement in the book. “A proj- arm come out of the water. I stood up ect like this is truly in keeping with our then, as if resurrected, and breathed— aim to increase awareness of the globally breathed all the sweet, life-giving air on significant wilderness right here in our the planet and saw the brilliance of the own backyards,” says Quinn. setting sun and heard the voices of chil- Book launches for The Purcell Suite dren with such an intense, hallucinatory are planned throughout the East and West rush I almost fainted. • Kootenays in early May. For more informa- The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 25 first person singular PHOTO COURTESY PAUL CRAWFORD
Bill Newcombe, Pierre Berton and Me The Long Trail to Desert Road by Paul Crawford
William Newcombe, Desert Road, 1955, the “red painting” purchased from Pierre Berton.
IT’S FUNNY THE ADVENTURES one gets into when following 1946 exhibition held in Victoria entitled Two Young Canadian a personality. I first encountered William John Bertrand Artists at Home and Abroad that featured Newcombe and Newcombe around 1991 through the artist Ronald Bladen. I was Bladen. The pamphlet included an essay on Bladen by Ina researching Bladen when I stumbled across a pamphlet from a Uhthoff, a former teacher and close friend of Emily Carr, and one on Newcombe by the Honourable Mark Kearley. Kearley wrote: “If hard work and perseverance merit encouragement, then we here in his native land, certainly have an obligation to this young Canadian artist. His work is sound and we venture to suggest that it will one day hold a position of importance in Canada and make a valuable contribution to the Art of the country.” I was struck by how prophetic those words were. Although both artists achieved international recognition in their lifetimes and their work is represented in numerous important collections outside of Canada, they are virtually unknown in Canada today. In trying to find out more about Newcombe I unearthed news- paper accounts and reviews of their exhibition that praised his work while being somewhat indifferent to Bladen’s. I was deter- mined to find examples of his work to get a sense of what was acceptable in the eyes of Victoria and Vancouver compared to the Bladen works I had already acquired.
Continued on next page
Art Gallery Live Theatre
64 Deer Park Avenue, Kimberley, BC V1A 2J2 P: 250.427.4919 E: [email protected] www.kimberleyarts.com
26 ARTiculate first person singular you at cost plus packing and shipping charges. The large one cost me $100; the small one was $50. Bill used to hold cut-price sales to raise money and that’s how I got these. Both are, I think, oil For years I held the world record price for a on board. Do let me know, Newcombe sold at auction. In fact things Sincerely, became so desperate I once was forced to use Pierre Berton
my only credit card from the Hudson’s Bay I contacted his office in Toronto and was told that I would have to arrange to have the works packed and shipped to Company department store to purchase $1,000 Victoria. Not knowing anyone in Ontario, that was more than I in gift certificates that I then cashed in to could arrange, so I sat on the letter for the next four years. In the summer of 1998 I travelled to Ontario to meet my buy chocolate bars. birth parents for the first time. On that trip my grandfather William Sage and my mother Joanne Palmateer decided that The search for my first painting by Newcombe took a cou- they wanted to show me where they had grown up, along with ple of years, as he had left Canada in 1955 to live in London, the city of London, where my bio-mom was currently living. England, and only returned here periodically. In an auction cata- On the way south from their cabin in Minden, William decided logue I finally stumbled across two abstract watercolours signed to detour to the McMichael Gallery in Kleinberg to take me to “Newcombe” in a crescent on their bottom right-hand corners. I see the Group of Seven collection. It was a hot, muggy day and had no idea if this was in fact the same Newcombe I was search- the cool interior of the gallery was a welcome reprieve. I ing for, as the works listed in the 1946 exhibit pamphlet were all recalled that Pierre Berton lived in Kleinberg, and as we were representational Mexican country views. leaving I noticed a payphone and my curiosity got the better of I took all the money I had in my savings account, headed me. I looked him up in the phone book and sure enough he was down to the auction and waited for the two lots to come up for listed. Not wanted to pass up the opportunity I decided to call sale. My palms were sweaty and I prayed that not many people and see if he was still interested in selling the Newcombes. in attendance would know who Newcombe was. In fact no one Pierre was surprised to hear from me. He promptly invited did, and I acquired both works for less than ten dollars. me over to his house, which was just around the corner from the For most of the 1990s I would hound dealers and auctions McMichael. I asked my mother and grandfather if we could across the country, seeking information and works by make another detour before continuing on to London. When I Newcombe and when possible purchasing works, at times sight mentioned that I had just got off the phone with Pierre Berton, unseen. For years I held the world record price for a Newcombe my grandfather was in shock. Apparently you didn’t just phone sold at auction. In fact things became so desperate I once was up Pierre Berton and invite yourself over but he agreed to drive forced to use my only credit card from the Hudson’s Bay me to his house. Company department store to purchase $1,000 in gift certificates I was welcomed into the house by Pierre, sun-burnt from that I then cashed in to buy chocolate bars. The change was used head to toe, wearing only shorts and sandals, a throng of grand- to pay off a couple of works I had bought at an auction in kids running around in the yard. I accepted a glass of lemonade Calgary. and was beginning to settle into the couch when I mentioned that In the course of archival research I discovered an article my grandfather and mother were waiting in the car. Pierre from 1958 that highlighted a return visit by Newcombe to east- jumped up to invite them in and his wife produced two more ern Canada and his hometown of Vancouver. In the interview he glasses of lemonade. He signed a copy of one of his books for my mentioned that he was happy to be back in Canada, but he grandfather, whose only image of Pierre was his public persona lamented his visit to Ontario as his friend Pierre Berton had in a suit and bow tie. roped him into a house-painting job. This fact percolated in my Pierre regaled us with stories, including one about Bill’s subconscious for years. My only other knowledge of Pierre attempt to run for federal politics for the CCF party, with Pierre Berton were the titles of his books, the fact he grew up with an acting as his campaign manager. He left the room and returned ex-girlfriend’s grandmother in Dawson City and that his name with a red painting, which he said I could have for $50. As we was always mentioned as being a student at Craigdarroch Castle were finishing up the transaction Pierre’s son came in and in Victoria when it was formerly a school. expressed his relief that the painting, which had hung over his In the fall of 1994 Pierre was scheduled for a book signing bed while he was growing up, was finally being disposed of. in Victoria and I decided that I would attend the event in an Pierre also gave me a list of contacts I might try and wished us effort to ask him about his relationship with Newcombe. I wrote all well. a letter that I planned to give to him that explained my curiosity. I still have the red painting and it’s one that has grown on Not knowing what to expect, I waited in line. We spoke for a me over the years. It shows a moment of transition in the career couple of minutes and Pierre seemed bemused by my request. He of the artist, that awkward time when he moved from the repre- thanked me and took my letter, telling me that he would give my sentational to the abstract. I now have over 50 works by request some thought, as it had all been a long time ago. Newcombe that trace his development as an artist from 1932 to A week later I received a reply: 1966. I was reminded of this story with the recent passing of my grandfather, William Sage, and I thank him for his generosity of Dear Mr. Crawford, spirit and his openness to accommodating this and many other It was nice talking to you the other day about Bill adventures in my constant search for art. The pen Pierre used to Newcombe and his work. If you were interested in having one or sign the book still hangs from the rafter of my grandparents’ either of my two Newcombes, I would be happy to sell them to cabin in Minden as a reminder of that day. • The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 27 meeting place
Continued from page 5 implies, gets together to talk about works in progress. Each mem- ber can bring two pieces of unframed, close-to-finished work to the too, too organized. We’re in it for the fellowship and the assis- monthly meetings for a group critique. tance,” she says. The group is mostly made up of women, with only “It’s a very intense experience and quite an amazing process,” two or three men who have joined over the years. “They get a bit says club member Cory Horne. “It keeps bringing you back to art.” intimidated when they walk in and a lot of men don’t enjoy sitting Horne explains: “Quite often I’ll get stuck and not know where to around talking,” comments MacLeod. The club sponsors a welter go with a piece. When I’m at a meeting, I’ll think about it and see of events for members, such as plein-air painting, workshops, it differently. The process makes you feel like you’re seeing your potlucks, studio tours and swaps where books, supplies, matts and work for the first time. What I’m trying to say might not be com- framing materials are traded around. “In the winter we try for a ing across and I might find a way to tell a different story.” workshop every month,” says MacLeod. “We have a great work- The club organizes an annual group show in Cranbrook and shop committee this year.” Club members regularly participate in one in Kimberley at Centre 64. As with the Creston club, the shows local and regional art shows such as the Basin’s Best and the West are a great venue for developing artists to display their work. Kootenay Regional Arts Council juried show. Local shows at the “Everyone is just growing so much and the annual show can show Art Garage and the Creston library give both beginning and that off,” says Horne. In addition, the club brings in professional accomplished artists an opportunity to exhibit. Juhl Campbell artists for workshops and members are encouraged to bring back feels that it is important to be validated as an artist and seen by ideas to share from workshops that they have attended. “Lots of the public. “Some of our members have gone on to greater our members go to workshops in Alberta or the Lower Mainland,” things, such as Wendy Liddle,” says MacLeod, “but nobody feels says Horne. “We’re always looking for ways to branch out and pressured.” The club was even briefly included in the Guinness expand.” Book of World Records for producing the longest painting done Horne feels that Kimberley has many opportunities in the in a day. arts that are starting to pull artists together. The Arts on the Edge The Creston Valley is home to a large and supportive arts com- Festival is now in its third year and has expanded the venues for munity. A recent cultural scan concluded that a whopping 85 per- its visual arts exhibitions because of the demand by participants. cent of the people surveyed felt that the arts are important to them. A chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists is being organ- “Maybe some day we’ll get a cultural centre,” says MacLeod. “It’s ized in Cranbrook, with membership benefits that include par- something that’s been talked about since the 1960s.” This year the ticipation in a themed group show. In terms of its own member- 41 members of the Creston Art Club are invited to contribute ship, the Kimberley club has begun ad hoc sketching sessions, works to the club’s 25th anniversary show. It just goes to show that and one interesting project involved multi-artist watercolours. a little help can take you a long way. Each person in a group of five painters was given the chance to The first official meeting of the Kimberley Critique Club took add on to a painting begun by someone else. Horne felt the col- place in May 2000 with a small group of artists who met at Centre laborative process was a great way to see how others worked and 64. Since that time the club has grown to 12 committed members to experiment with new ideas. with an overflow group that meets in Cranbrook. Rather than use Committed artists, supportive communities, opportunities for its meetings as studio time, the Kimberley group, as its name growth: the perfect recipe for two flourishing Kootenay art clubs.•
local histories writing competition. The ink had barely dried, however, when they embarked on a second book, Remember When, to mark Crawford Continued from page 23 Bay’s centennial. It started out modestly, Hulland says, but “I knew we were in Swendson died before Bluebell Memories saw print, but trouble when Terry told me the mining chapter had gone over 40 Turner is forever grateful they met. pages. That’s when I knew we were writing another book.” In 2002, Turner and Hulland collaborated on Impressions of In addition to their publishing projects, both Hulland and the Past, which told the histories of Riondel, Crawford Bay, Turner have performed at the Kootenay Storytelling Festival in Kootenay Bay, Pilot Bay and Gray Creek. Their areas of expertise Procter. Hulland is a veteran, with four appearances to date, includ- and writing styles complemented each other. ing stories about the Pilot Bay lighthouse and the City of “I’m kind of a boring, technical type writer and she’s more Ainsworth. flowery,” Turner says. “A lot of times Susan would ask ‘Is this what Turner debuted in 2005 with the tale of the Ibex mine near you were trying to say?’ And I would say yes, that’s right. She was Kaslo, which fascinated him for its connections to Sam Steele of the trying to put things in layman’s terms, which is good.” North West Mounted Police and photographer Frederick Steele (no Hulland recalls struggling to write a transportation chapter relation, although that was part of the intrigue). and being stumped on “how to take all this information and Turner is now working on a book about mines of the make it presentable. Terry was just so good at that. He would Kootenays, while Hulland is trying creative non-fiction based on take a file folder of photocopies on roads and ports and two or her childhood. three days later bring me a little graph with everything you need- They have no further collaboration plans, but they’re still a ed to know.” tag-team at the Riondel Historical Society—he’s the president, she’s The book was runner-up in the B.C. Historical Federation’s the past president. It’s a match made in historical heaven. •
28 ARTiculate milestones PHOTO BY EILEEN PEDERSEN
Continued from page 4
couples who work together as artists, “Time Before Me” is a display of decorated CD cases by elementary and secondary school students, and “Adventurers and Settlers” celebrates the 50th anniversary of the incor- poration of Golden with historical and con- temporary photographs merged and blend- ed by photographer Bill Pitcher. The Art Gallery of Golden is open Thursday and Friday from 3 to 7 pm and Saturday noon to 5. Check it out.
Set in Stone: Trail’s Rock Walls THE CITY OF TRAIL’S historic rock walls are now the subject of a coffee table book, due for release in August. Set in Stone: The History of Trail’s Rock Walls examines Trail stonemason Guglielmo “Bill” Di Domenico. rock wall building in Trail from the 1920s to the mid-1960s and immerses readers in more information on the rock wall project 2006 Cranbrook students have been able to the history that surrounds that era. The or book, contact Eileen Pedersen: 364- get a great deal on a ticket to hear a Harry book documents the walls and their 2488, or visit www3.telus.net/therockwall- Manx concert, see the Amazing Kreskin or builders, mostly Italian immigrants to Trail, project. take in a performance of The Foursome, a and narrates their important contribution play by Norm Foster. They are also able to to Trail’s development. buy discounted tickets at any other participat- For many years, the rock walls of Trail eyeGO Program Brings ing eyeGO sponsor across Canada. How were a forgotten part of the community. Teens to the Theatre great is that? They became the background to people’s The Cranbrook Arts Council and the The eyeGO program is supported by lives as time passed and the men who built Key City Theatre have signed on as partic- business, government and municipalities them grew old or moved away. Records of ipants in an innovative national program including the Department of Canadian their construction faded and their history that provides high school students with Heritage, TD Canada Trust and the City of became fractured, minimal and difficult to discounted tickets to theatre performanc- Richmond. In Cranbrook, administration access. The Rock Wall Entusiastico Society es. The goal of the eyeGO to the Arts pro- and promotion is shared by the Key City based the book on over 100 hours of inter- gram is to engage youth in the performing Theatre box office and Mount Baker views with the stonemasons, their families arts as audience members. Teens in grades Secondary School students Tiffany and Trail residents. The book is illustrated 9 through 12 with a valid student card can Meldrum and Stacey Charest. According to with numerous colour and archival photos purchase tickets for Key City Theatre- Monique Dubois, managing director of the that put faces to the artisans who left their sponsored shows for only $5. Tickets are Key City Theatre, the initial season has been legacy in stone. sold on a best available basis, so there are a great success. “The theatre will continue The writing and production of Set in no bad seats if you buy your ticket early the program because arts and culture are a Stone was supported in part by grants from enough. critical element in personal development, the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance The Key City Theatre assigns 28 tickets and we are dedicated to the cultural life of and the Trail and District Arts Council. For per show for eyeGO users. Since October our region,” says Dubois. •
Visit one of British Columbia’s premier public art galleries and the best kept secret in the Kootenays. • One Man's Treasure July 1st • 10th Annual Garden Tour July 7th • Robert Murray, RCA:Working Models June 5th to August 4th The Grand Forks Art Gallery 7340 5th Street (Below the Library), Grand Forks, B.C.V0H 1H0 ph: (250) 442-2211 fx: (250) 442-0099 hours: Tues-Sat 10 - 4 e-mail: [email protected] www.galleries.bc.ca/grandforks In partnership with the B.C. Lotteries Direct Access Program, the British Columbia Arts Council and Boundary District Arts Council
The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 29 last word opinion
Nelson and District Arts Council Supporting community art and artists
by Shannon Lythgoe, executive director, Nelson and District Arts Council
AS THE HOST of the upcoming Assembly directors and board members from across actually generated some revenue for the of BC Arts Councils’ annual conference in the province. Being new in my position as NDAC which can be rolled over into May, the Nelson and District Arts NDAC director, it will be most helpful to making that event an even bigger success Council is responsible for all of the pro- be able to sit down with people who have in the future. gramming and entertainment activities a wealth of experience in developing arts Another development that the arts that take place during the conference. programming in their own communities. council is engaged in is the expansion of Nelson and the surrounding region is The primary mandate of the arts the Artwalk Auction. This event was held busting loose at the seams with profes- council is to provide a venue for both for the first time last September at the end sional artists of every stripe, and putting visual and performing artists to showcase of Artwalk, and the response from both together a series of events for the dele- their talent. The Nelson council does this the participants and audience was enthu- gates to the conference that showcases in a variety of ways: through the ever- siastic. For Artwalk Auction 2007, we are local talent was an easy job. popular Artwalk, which happens each currently negotiating a more conducive Former executive director of the summer, the literary competition in the venue for displaying the artwork, and we NDAC, Pat Henman, put together a stel- autumn and of course the Kootenay will offer both silent and live auction lar lineup, which includes classical gui- Artisans Christmas Market, the largest components during the evening. As well, tarist Alan Rinehart, actor Michael juried market in the Kootenays. These are plans are underway to hold a pre-event Graham, vocalist Allison Girvan and the significant economic drivers in our com- reception at the same venue, allowing Ladies in Unity Peace Choir from munity, and the challenge for the NDAC patrons a jump on viewing the artwork Castlegar. It remains to me as the current is to ensure that these activities continue and the bidding process. The auction executive director to firm up arrange- to be supported for the benefit of not only itself will then be open to the public for a ments and coordinate the showcases dur- the artists, but the community as a whole. small entrance fee. ing the conference. As well, I’ll be collab- There have been some interesting The NDAC also takes on smaller, orating with ABCAC executive director developments in terms of NDAC-spon- one-off projects, and this year we are col- Gina Sufrin to identify groups and indi- sored events, not the least of which is the laborating with the communities of vidual young artists from the area who move of the Christmas market to the new Golden and Creston on a project that will may be willing to participate in perform- Nelson and District Community see young photographers from those com- ances and a panel discussion on youth in Complex arena, where it was held in munities taking pictures that will then be the arts during the conference. 2006. It was immediately obvious that compiled into photo montages. The One of the most exciting things location, location, location is critical to results will be available for public viewing about this conference for me is the oppor- the success of this event, and for the first during BC Arts and Culture Week, April tunity to network with other arts council time in a number of years the market 23 to 28. This is a terrific opportunity for budding young photographic talent to get some “exposure” (pardon the pun!) in One of the most exciting things about this conference is the their local communities I sometimes feel like I’ve got the opportunity to network with other arts council directors and board proverbial tiger by the tail in my new position as director of the arts council. members from across the province. Being new in my position as But with the assistance of a fantastic NDAC director, it will be most helpful to be able to sit down with board of directors and a solid foundation of tried and true events, it’s an exciting people who have a wealth of experience in developing arts challenge that I’m sure will offer plenty of opportunity for growth—both for myself programming in their own communities. as an arts administrator and for the incredible pool of talented artists with whom I am most privileged to work. •
30 ARTiculate The first word on arts, culture, and heritage in the Columbia Basin 31 ARTS
CULTURE
HERITAGE
olumbia Basin Trust’s (CBT) Arts, Culture and Heritage programs are administered by Cthe Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance (CKCA). Working together, we support arts, culture and heritage organizations in promoting all arts disciplines. These programs, and the many other CBT programs and services in social, environmental and economic areas, are ways in which CBT contributes to our vibrant and thriving Basin.
To learn more about CBT and how you or your organization might benefit from one of our many programs, call us at 1-800 505-8998 or visit us on the web at www.cbt.org (where you can also sign up for the new CBT email newsletter).