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Art Beat: Indulge your love of art

Art Crawl Art lovers and the art-curious get to indulge to this weekend in the glorious three-day binge that is the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl. It’s bigger than ever this year, with 165 venues from Langdale to Earls Cove.
art crawl

Art Crawl

Art lovers and the art-curious get to indulge to this weekend in the glorious three-day binge that is the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl. It’s bigger than ever this year, with 165 venues from Langdale to Earls Cove. Enjoy access to many studios not usually open to the public, watch some of the artists at work, or chat with them about their creative methods and passions. And hey, you can also buy stuff – and people do, big time. The 2017 Crawl had some 38,000 venue visits, generating more than $372,500 in sales and $87,000 in new commissions. Think also of the additional accommodation rentals, restaurant meals and other commercial and good-will benefits this delightful and impressive annual event generates.

The Art Crawl gets underway Friday, Oct. 19 and runs through Sunday Oct. 21. The hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with some selected venues open on Friday between 7 and 9 p.m. Brochures and maps are available everywhere, and online at sunshinecoastartcrawl.com. Keep up with what’s happening on Facebook and Twitter at @SCArtCrawl.

Sechelt Arts Festival

Coinciding as it does with the Art Crawl, the final days of the Sechelt Arts Festival make this one of the most culture-rich weekends of the year on the Sunshine Coast. The festival offers two visual art events at the Seaside Centre, the touching Home Grown Heroes heritage exhibit upstairs, and Earth Art downstairs, where eight noted local artists express “their love of this land.” (Earth Art, of course, doubles as an Art Crawl venue.) From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Sunday, Oct. 19 to 21; noon to 5 p.m. earlier in the week. Admission is free.

The festival’s musical climax is Eutierria, in which award-winning recording artist and composer Kenneth Johnson premieres a powerful instrumental and choral suite about our relationship with nature and our spectacular coast environment. The work is described as "a good and positive feeling with the earth and its life forces." It’s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19 to 21, 8 to 10 p.m. at the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden, 5941 Mason Rd., Sechelt. Tickets $15 to $25 online through eventbrite.ca

Two Grandmothers

Phyllis Sinclair and Katie Angermeyer and the Cornpones extend an invitation to an evening of storytelling and song, plus excerpts from a new play, Morning Laughter, described as “a musical in the spirit of truth and reconciliation.” Saturday Oct. 20, 7 p.m., at St. John’s United Church, 5085 Davis Bay Rd., Sechelt. Admission by donation.

Matthew Byrne

The Pender Harbour Music Society presents celebrated Newfoundland folksinger Matthew Byrne on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. Byrne’s “reverence and respect for his material … and his staggeringly beautiful voice make for the rarest type of folk performer,” says CBC radio host Tom Power. The concert will be held at the School of Music, 12952 Madeira Park Rd. Tickets are $25, available at Harbour Insurance in Madeira Park, Sechelt Visitor Centre and online at penderharbourmusic.ca.

Art, the play

This week offers the last opportunities to see the play Art, at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. Tensions spiral and the emotional layers peel away as three male friends tangle over the unlikeliest of objects, a very simple piece of art. By French writer Yasmina Reza, the play stars Richard Austin, Norm Blair and Larry Musser and is directed by Sally Williams, with original paintings by Christy Sverre. Final performances are Thursday Oct. 18 through Sunday Oct. 21. Tickets are $25 at Sechelt Visitor Centre, Wilson Creek Shell, and Laedeli Gifts in Gibsons.

Art contest for children

The Art Meets Chocolate shop at Gibsons Public Market celebrates the Art Crawl with an invitation to artists age three to 17 to submit “their own fall/winter/holiday-themed” paintings. “The three finalists will receive their very own private edition Art Chocolate Bars, featuring their winning art piece and bio.” Saturday, Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details on Facebook at the page Children’s Art Contest.

Winnie the Pooh, for grown-ups

The Sechelt Library celebrates the writing of A.A. Milne and his Winnie the Pooh stories. Veteran actor Richard Austin hosts a reading and tea, in what is described as “an adult story time,” Monday Oct. 22, 1 p.m.  Details and registration at 604-885-3260.

Awards presentation

The Sunshine Coast Arts Council will present the 2018 winners of the Gillian Lowndes Award, the Louise Baril Memorial Music Award, the Anne and Philip Klein Visual Arts Award, and the Frances Wasserlein Community Leadership in Arts and Culture Award, at the Council’s annual general meeting, 8 p.m., Thursday Oct. 25 at the Doris Crowston Gallery, Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt.

Submissions

If you have an event you’d like considered for Art Beat, let Rik know at arts@coastreporter.net by 11 a.m. Tuesday. Space is limited.