New Westminster artists and art lovers are coming together to celebrate Culture Days.
The annual nationwide celebration runs Friday, Sept. 27 to Sunday, Sept. 29, with a wide range of demonstrations, performances, workshops and other sessions at galleries, museums, theatres and other venues across the country.
Among the local happenings:
ART AND POETRY
Bringing Art to Life Through Verse: An Ekphrastic Experience is on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the New West Artists Gallery, 712C 12th St.
Janet Kvammen and Julia Schoennagel will host the evening, during which local poets will share their work written in response to art works of their choice at the gallery.
Featured poets will include Alan Hill, the City of New Westminster’s poet laurate, and Candice James, poet laureate emerita, along with Alan Girling, Lozan Yamolky and Aidan Chafe. They will each have a 10- to 15-minute reading slot to share their works.
There will also be an open mic slot. Anyone who wants to create some work to share can stop by the gallery during opening hours (Thursday to Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.) to check out the work. There will also be a short break between the readings that can be used for writing.
Musician Enrico Renz will provide a musical interlude.
See www.rclas.com for details.
ARTSTARTS
Families can stop by River Market for the next ArtStarts workshop, running at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Andy the Musical Scientist will offer up a performance that demonstrates technology in music, scientific principles of sound and recycling in action – using homemade instruments and humour. It’s free, but donations will be accepted on a “pay-what-you-may” basis.
The sessions are ideal for kids aged eight and under, but everyone is welcome.
CREATIVE WELLNESS CHALLENGE: SPEAK THE SPEECH
Julian Legere leads this session on Friday, Sept. 27 (4 to 6 p.m.) and Saturday, Sept. 28 (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) at Massey Theatre, 735 Eighth Ave.
Legere, an artist-producer-educator-administrator and a 2019 Culture Days Ambassador, is inviting people to take up the Creative Wellness Challenge and commit to 15 minutes of creative activity every day for 10 days, from Oct. 1 to 10, and hopefully beyond.
His Speak the Speech session will give people the tools to speak their favourite monologues from movies, TV and theatre, or their favourite great speeches from history, with power and emotion – “not to perform, but just for the joy and empowerment of good words, spoken well,” as a write-up about the event says.
Participants can bring a speech or monologue they’ve always loved, or choose from those available at the workshop. No performing will be required, but it will be allowed.
CREATIVE WELLNESS CHALLENGE: POETRY
Alan Hill, the City of New Westminster’s poet laureate, is offering up this Creative Wellness Challenge session called A Poem a Day Keeps the Doctor Away.
The Creative Wellness Challenge is encouraging everyone to commit to 15 minutes of creative activity every day for 10 days, from Oct. 1 to 10, and hopefully beyond.
“A poem is the most bite-sized literary form, which makes it perfect for a regular creative wellness practice. Anyone can write a complete poem in a short time, allowing them to benefit not only from the act of writing but from the emotional boost of completing something,” says a write-up about the event.
Hill’s session is on Friday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Sept. 28 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. both days at New Westminster Public Library, 716 Sixth Ave.
It’s free, and everyone is welcome.
ARTIST DEMONSTRATIONS
The New West Artists Gallery, at 712C 12th St., will be inviting people in on Saturday, Sept. 28 and Sunday, Sept. 29 from noon to 6 p.m. to watch artists demonstrate their skills and share their passions in a variety of creative endeavours.
Among the sessions will be beading, book binding, floral art, carving, painting, ink art, pencil crayon art, wordplay and blackout poetry.
MAKE A MASTERPIECE
The New West Artists Gallery, at 712C 12th St., is welcoming in the youngest artists for Make a Masterpiece sessions on Sunday, Sept. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Children aged four to six can enjoy colouring pages and crayons, while those aged six to 10 can choose a six-by-six inch canvas on which the artists have traced a simple picture. The young participants can paint the canvas with acrylics and take their project home with them.
“Children will have the opportunity to visit a real art gallery, meet some artists and practise some creativity,” says a write-up about the event.
A maximum of 15 children will be allowed in each group. See www.newwestartists.ca.
CULTURE FORWARD
The Anvil Centre (777 Columbia St.) is holding festivities on Saturday, Sept. 28 to mark its fifth anniversary, with a day of programming and activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. People of all ages, from children on up, can stop in to experience visual arts, theatre and technology - with free performances on the main floor, curators' tours at the New Westminster Museum and New Media Gallery, free Try-It! Theatre classes for kids, a chance to check out green screen and virtual reality technology and much, much more. See www.anvilcentre.com for a full schedule.
MÉTIS CULTURE FAIR
Keep an eye on www.culturedays.ca to stay on top of the latest happenings.
Got something happening for Culture Days in New West? Email Julie, jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca.
