Culture Days is a national celebration of the arts from Sept. 25 to 27 and it’s offered locally at several locations. The Sunshine Coast Arts Council hosts three special events. On Saturday, Sept. 26 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., landscape artist Brian Romer will be creating a painting from start to finish in the Doris Crowston Gallery, Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Sechelt. His interactive painting demo in the gallery is surrounded by his art on exhibit. Sunday, Sept. 27 from 1:30 to 3 p.m., environmental artist Pat Ridgway will hold a discussion with the For the Love of Gospel Rock group. Her own paintings of Gospel Rock on display at the Gallery will serve as a backdrop to the discussion of art and environmental issues. On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26 and 27, the District of Sechelt will be hosting Have Your Say, Sechelt from 1 to 4 p.m. in the gallery at the Arts Centre. It’s an opportunity for local residents to provide input, ideas, and feedback for a new Arts, Culture and Heritage Plan for the District of Sechelt. Come by and share your thoughts. For more, call 604-885-5412.
More Culture Days
The Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives in Gibsons is holding The Past is Present, an exhibit that uses new technology to bring this before-and-after photograph exhibit to life. Using iPads, visitors can scan each photograph to reveal a short video that illuminates the stories related to each location. From these photographs, fascinating stories emerge. Listen as early settler Harry Roberts speaks about life in Roberts Creek in 1910 or marvel at the story of Gibsons Telephone exchange which operated on Gibsons Way. The exhibit is on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Junior Musical
A new Junior Musical Theatre project starts up this week with auditions for the Broadway musical, Into the Woods, a mash-up of fairy tales. There’s an open call for student singers and dancers ages 11 to 18 this Friday, Sept. 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Chatelech Secondary. The performances will be March 4 and 5. For more information, email sdouglas@sd46.bc.ca or tkellough@sd46.bc.ca
Random Acts
Random Acts of Art Re-Vision is slightly different this year. Find out how by picking up your package for $2 at the Landing Co-op Gallery, 436 Marine Dr., and be part of the community show that is presented during the Art Crawl at both the Landing Gallery and the Arts Building. Random Acts is open for all ages and levels of artistic experience. You have three weeks to join in the fun. See www.artsbuilding.org for more.
Sacred Sound
This Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. at Gibsons United Church, 724 Trueman Rd., Gibsons, Sacred Sound in Sacred Space presents Healing Sounds of the Cosmos, a collaborative evening of original songs, the creation of spontaneous soundscapes and some group chanting with Matthew Kocel and Jill Shatford. Tickets for $20 are available at https://healgibsons.eventbrite.com
McBride concert
On Saturday, Sept. 26 join Ken McBride in concert, in a fundraiser for Special Olympics. He performs tunes from his new album, Tone. The fundraising event starts at 7 p.m. at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Sechelt. Admission is $10.
Dancing and dolls
From Sept. 30 to Nov. 1 the Doris Crowston Gallery in the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Sechelt, is home to two exhibits: Marjery Lambert’s Memories of a Dancer and Franca Tesloveanu’s Art Dolls, Celebrating Fashion History. Lambert brings her love and past life as a professional dancer to a second life on canvas. Former principal dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Lambert started painting in 2003 and was the recipient of the Klein Award in 2010. Her paintings depict movement, emotion and mood. Since 2012 Franca Tesloveanu has turned a love of dolls, claywork, sculpture, fashion, sewing and re-purposing thrift store finds into the creation of her historical dolls that range from Elizabeth I to Steam Punk. Every aspect of her dolls – including their clothing and accessories – is created by Tesloveanu and they have been featured in Art Doll Quarterly. The opening reception for this joint exhibit will be Wednesday, Sept. 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. For more, see www.sunshinecoastartscouncil.com
Arbutus Chorus
Coast Confidential is back by popular demand! Arbutus Sounds Chorus invites you to join them on an hour-long journey as they explore, through stories and songs, Sunshine Coast highlights from the last century. The chorus, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, sings a cappella in four-part harmony, under the direction of Deb Sneddon. They perform on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 659 North Rd., Gibsons. Admission is by donation. Light refreshments provided after each show.
Writing the Between
Are you inspired by the Festival of the Written Arts but struggling with your own manuscript? On Oct. 2 and 3, author Betsy Warland will bring one of her most popular workshops to Gibsons, Writing the Between. She is the author of 11 books of poetry and non-fiction, and has over 20 years of experience as a writing teacher, editor and manuscript consultant. Her latest book, Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing, is a best-seller. Best known for her language-focused writing and ways of working with silence, Warland finds as much meaning in scoring blank space on the page as she does in inscribing written language. The unsayable, the secreted, the unknowable: these are her obsessions. The two-day workshop will take you through a series of exercises, and time will be set aside for you to pose a question about your writing. For more, contact Kathryn Para, 604-886-7375 or paracommunications@gmail.com
Scrabble tournament
Start practising for the big Scrabble tournament at Gibsons Public Library on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Players of all levels play for free. Register at the library at 604-886-2130.
New deadline for submissions
Send your notice of arts events by Tuesday at noon for Friday’s newspaper to jandegrass@dccnet.com or phone 604-886-4692. Art Beat covers events one day to one week ahead.
