With the 2006 Winter Olympics just 17 months away, Sunshine Coast artist Gordon Halloran invites the community to participate in the second Ice Painting Challenge at the Sunshine Coast Arena on New Year's Eve.
The challenge combines art and recreation and encourages participation from people of all ages, backgrounds and physical abilities. In mid-August, Halloran finally received the actual invitation to represent Canada at the Cultural Olympiad at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, after three years of discussion with the Italian Olympic Committee and the curator who first invited Halloran to submit a proposal.
"The Ice Painting Challenge was so popular last year, we had to turn people away at the door, in spite of the worst snowstorm in years," Halloran said.
"The teams created fantastic paintings, and the performances were really fun. Everyone had such a great time."This year, the event will challenge locals to a different physical test: there will be a skating relay around the paintings instead of a figure skating challenge.
"The event celebrates the Olympic invitation, and the great thing is," says Halloran, "it's our community, it's hands-on, it's a personal best, and there are a variety of challenges. Everyone can get involved."
Halloran invites teams of between six to 10 people to design a 225 square foot painting that the team will make in four hours on New Year's Eve. Each team can be made up of between six to 10 players, with up to 12 teams and paintings at centre ice at the arena. Teams must also perform the intent of their painting in five minutes or less at the gala opening. All teams win prizes and audiences skate on the paintings.
Two exceptional teams from the Sunshine Coast challenge will be chosen to participate in a Vancouver Ice Painting Challenge, which will take place on April 1 and 2 at the Kerrisdale Arena in Vancouver. The Vancouver Ice Painting Challenge event is part of a pilot program designed to involve the youth in the community in recreational and physical activities in anticipation of the 2010 Olympics. It is hoped to be a continuing legacy in the community, and Vancouver is looking to repeat the event every year leading up to the Olympics and beyond. Youth teams from the Sunshine Coast would be part of Halloran's quest to find students, artists and other team players to help him create his massive installation in Italy.
The Ice Painting Challenge event was designed in part as a fund-raiser for the installation at the Cultural Olympiad, but the venue in Sechelt is too small to do anything but cover the costs of producing the event itself.
Even so, Halloran and Caitlin Hicks (who produced the event last year) want to celebrate New Year's Eve with another event this year because of its popularity, especially among young people.
This year, the non-profit Ice Painting Project Society will hire two local producers to attract teams and help with producing the event itself. Halloran will continue to work with the teams to create the paintings, and Hicks will oversee and manage production of this year's event.
If you are interested in signing up a team, contact Tami Williams at 604-740-5340.
