The 16th annual Sechelt Arts Festival – with this year’s theme, Fusion – kicks off this weekend, offering a 15-day assortment of original visual art, music, heritage, drama, dance and a variety of workshops hosted at venues around the community. The festival’s opening reception runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4 at the Seaside Centre.
Events and exhibitions get underway Saturday, with the art and heritage exhibition Through Helen’s Eyes at the Seaside Centre, and two performances (matinée and evening) of award-winning choreographer Becky Izad’s dance production, Becoming. Workshops and events continue through the week. Details and ticket information are available at www.secheltartsfestival.com. See the feature story above for more about the festival’s theatrical production, Marvelous Mr Moysey.
Wood(s) creations
The Kube gallery in Gibsons has opened a month-long show featuring artworks made in original ways. Kris Hepburn has created Smart Board, a sculpture from repurposed old wood technology. Also featured is Second Growth, by Kenneth Torrance, who wove a massive, long sheet of raw canvas around second-growth fir and hemlock trees on his Roberts Creek property and invited people to come and create their own art on it. An opening reception at the Upper Gibsons gallery runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4.
Rutter solo
Performer and recording artist Valerie-Anne Rutter is now flying solo after decades performing with her sister in the musical duo Gemini. Rutter, who has enjoyed an extensive performing career in Europe and North America, will present Giving Thanks, a Thanksgiving-themed concert of sacred, classical and popular works on piano and recorders at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Gibsons on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include an afternoon tea served buffet-style following the performance, available at Laedeli, Strait Music, and at the door.
Real Ponchos
Vancouver cosmic-country-soul band Real Ponchos play High Beam Dreams in Gibsons on Saturday, Oct. 5. The band, touring on its latest album, Sunshine, continue the musical tradition explored back in the day by Gram Parsons and Townes Van Zandt, and more recently by Hiss Golden Messenger and Sturgill Simpson. Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m. Tickets $30 at some local sellers and brownpapertickets.com.
At the pubs
• On Friday, Oct. 4, you can dance to the rock, country and pop of Zonolite, live at the Lighthouse Pub in Sechelt starting at 8 p.m.
• On Saturday, Oct. 5, Mad Cow Band is at the Gibsons Legion from 8 p.m. to midnight.
• The Sunday Jam Session at the Pender Harbour Golf Club’s restaurant on Oct. 6 will be hosted by the Steve Hinton Band, from 2 to 6 p.m. Admission by donation.
Those Who Wander
It’s a busy month for local writer and artist Ruth Rodgers, who launches her novel, Those Who Wander, at Coopers Green Community Hall in Halfmoon Bay on Saturday, Oct. 5. Rodgers also is preparing for the Oct. 18 to 20 Art Crawl, where her artwork (and new book) will be on offer. The novel, inspired by a true story, features a female protagonist who emigrates from England in the 1880s, ending up on the Sunshine Coast where she becomes implicated in a 1923 murder. The launch runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Rodgers says seats are limited, so you’re asked to email ahead of time to [email protected].
PH Fall Fair
If you’re in Pender Harbour on Saturday Oct. 5, you’ll be in the midst of the community’s Fall Fair. A good time to check out Harbour Gallery, which features original, large and small works by local painters and other creations worth a look. On Gonzales Road in Madeira Park, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Colette
You can still catch one more screening of Colette, starring Kiera Knightley as French Nobel Prize-winning writer and gay icon Gabrielle Colette, a woman way ahead of her time. Monday, Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets $9, $5 for Sunshine Coast Film Society members.
Heads up
Get ready for an evening of stand-up comedy the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons on Saturday, Oct. 12. Halfmoon Bay’s Toby Hargrave hosts headliner Charlie Demers and a mystery special guest performer. Partial proceeds of the 18-and-over show will be in support of Arrowhead Clubhouse. Tickets available now at Sechelt Fish Market, The Blackberry Shop in Gibsons, and online at heritageplayhouse.com/shop.
Submissions
If there’s an event you’d like considered for Art Beat, please let us know by 11 a.m. Tuesday at [email protected]. Space is limited and, regrettably, we can’t list everything. Also check Coast Reporter’s Coast Community Calendar for more music and events.
