CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (Chilikoot Trail Artist Residency)

Yukon Arts Centre

The Yukon Arts Centre (YAC) is a not for profit charitable organization dedicated to the development of the arts as an important cultural, social and economic force in the Yukon. We intend to be a model for the development of the arts in the North and a stimulus for a vibrant and creative territory. YAC is the territory's premier venue for performing and visual arts.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (Chilikoot Trail Artist Residency)

DEADLINE: February 4, 2015 (UPDATED DEADLINE)

Are you or someone you know an outdoor enthusiast and a visual artist? If so, the Chilkoot Trail Artist Residency Program might be a great opportunity for you!

This unique artist residency is a chance to hike the historic Chilkoot Trail from Alaska into Canada and make art.

Artists are encouraged to apply online at: http://yukonartscentre.com/programs/chilkoot_trail_artist_residency_program

Please feel free to contact me at chilkoot@yac.ca or at anne.deck@yac.ca with any questions or concerns.

We hope you will share this information with your members and fellow visual artists. Please feel free to let us know how you choose to pass this information along!

Job Opportunity - Art Exhibit Coordinator

Regional Recreation Corporation of Wood Buffalo is seeking an Art Exhibit Coordinator. The Art Exhibit Coordinator will acquire, care for, develop, display and interpret a collection of artifacts or works of art in order to inform educate and entertain the public. The Art Exhibit Coordinator will act as the main Curator for all Regional Recreation Corporation of Wood Buffalo (RRC) Art Galleries, including the MacDonald Island Community Art Gallery presented by the Kirschener Family Corporation. The Art Exhibit Coordinator builds relationships with both internal and external partners, local artists, and be involved in designing aspects of the visitor experience. They will construct innovative and creative exhibitions that appeal to a wide cross –section of the general public. For more information about this job opportunity, please visit http://www.macdonaldisland.ca/about-us/one-team/jobs

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Department of Canadian Heritage

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Department of Canadian Heritage

Deadline: Saturday, January 31, 2015

The next application deadline date for the Building Communities through Arts and Heritage (BCAH) funding for Community Anniversaries taking place in 2016 is January 31, 2015.  

The Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program was created to help you celebrate your community, its past and its present. The Program will increase opportunities, through festivals and other events and projects, for local artists and artisans to be involved in their community and for local groups to commemorate their local history and heritage.

The Community Anniversaries component provides funding to local groups for non–recurring local events and capital projects that commemorate an anniversary of 100 years or greater in increments of 25 years.

The community anniversaries component will also consider projects that commemorate the 100^th and 75 ^th anniversary of locally significant events directly related to the Canadian participation in World War I and II.

Please visit the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage  Website http://pch.gc.ca for details or contact the team at:

Email: pch-atlan@pch.gc.ca

Toll-free: 1-866-811-0055

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival

Our region is known for long cold winters. Outsiders often wonder how we survive through them. The truth is we don’t survive winter-we celebrate it! Winter is a chance for the citizens of Wood Buffalo to strap on a pair of snowshoes, slap on a pair of skis, put on their skates, or jump onto a snowmobile and enjoy the great outdoors!

Another way we enjoy our winter paradise is through our annual winter festival, WinterPLAY. WinterPLAY is an opportunity for winter lovers to party in the ice and snow. The festival features The Shoot Out on the Syne, a 3 on 3 hockey tournament where weather hardened Wood Buffalans battle it out for hockey supremacy.

There’s also the outdoor stage where people can dress in their snazziest pair of snow pants to dance and sing to live performances. 

Then there is the WinterPLAYGROUND a magical place where rosy cheeked children can play, wander, and explore stunning ice sculptures, snow mazes, and ice castles.

The citizens of Wood Buffalo love their winters but there is one city that may love it even more. Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China is also known for its artic climate with provides an abundant amount of snow and ice. Like Wood Buffalo, the people of Harbin decided to turn their long, cold, winters into a positive by creating the largest ice sculpture festival in the world!

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, established in 1985, is held annually on January 5^th and lasts for over one month attracting hundreds of thousands of local people and visitors from all over the planet. 

Nicknamed the 'Ice City' of Harbin, it is recognized as the cradle of ice and snow art in China and is famous for its exquisite and artistic ice and snow sculptures. 

The festival attracts some of the top ice sculpture experts and artists from around the world who gather to compete in the many ice sculpting competitions. The festival also hosts many winter sporting competitions such as ice-skating and sledding. Weddings, parties and other entertainment add to the overall celebration of this incredible ice city.

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is truly remarkable giving the WinterPLAY festival something to aspire to. 

The Salt Spring National Art Prize

The Salt Spring National Art Prize

To recognize, showcase and publicize the accomplishments of Canadian visual art, Salt Spring Island is establishing one of the few national, juried competitions in the country.

Located between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, Salt Spring Island is the most populous of British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. Set in the stunning Salish Sea ecosphere and internationally renowned for its strong arts and crafts movement and creative enterprise, the island has established an enviable reputation as one of North America’s most highly regarded small arts communities. 

The intent of the Salt Spring National Art Prize (SSNAP) is to encourage artists whose practice demonstrates originality, quality, integrity and creativity, resulting in significant work with a real visual impact and depth of meaning. This exciting endeavour is an initiative of the Salt Spring Arts Council (SSAC), which represents the arts for Salt Spring Island. The Finalist exhibition will be held on the island from September through October 2015.

The inaugural Salt Spring National Art Prize offers $24,000 worth of awards;

Best Work

The Joan McConnell Award and Residency for the best work in the competition

$10,000 + Salt Spring Island Artists Residency in 2016 to the value of $5,000

Jurors Choice

Three Jurors Awards representing the individual choices of each Juror

$1,000 each

Local Artist

The Alliance of Salt Spring Artists (ASA) Award

$1,000

People’s Choice

Three Rosemarie Behncke (People’s Choice) Awards
(determined by a vote of exhibition visitors)

1st Prize of $3,000

2nd Prize of $2,000

3rd Prize of $1,000

For more information or to enter please visit http://saltspringartprize.ca/artists/how-to-enter/

Learning Through the Arts Administrative Coordinator

Learning Through the Arts is hiring an Administrative Coordinator to support the successful development and delivery of LTTA’s business in the Wood Buffalo Region, with particular attention to Fort McMurray, by advancing the interests of LTTA with target audiences; supporting positive relationships within a variety of education and cultural communities; and supporting the timely execution and delivery of LTTA programming, particularly from an administrative perspective. For more information please visit https://gallery.mailchimp.com/…/Position_Description_LTTA_A…

Arts Council Wood Buffalo Program Manager

Arts Council Wood Buffalo is hiring a Program Manager to lead all aspects of its programming including: planning, development, marketing, delivery, and evaluation. This is a full-time position, with access to benefits and professional development funds. For more information, see the Job Posting, or email hr@artscouncilwb.ca.

Rink Opening

Multicultural EXPO-2015

Travel the world in a day! Grab your Multicultural passport and hit the road to explore over 24 different cultures.

Experience an amazing array of cuisine, dances, games, languages and art. Multicultural EXPO-2015 brings the world to you!

When: February 15^th, 2015.

Where: MacDonald Island ( Nexen Activity Field House & Nexen Field House)

Time:  12:00 to 5:00 pm

Admission : Adults: $5 or by donation / Children: (12 & under) FREE!

 For more information please visit us at http://www.multiculturefm.org/news-events/upcoming-events/multiculturalexpo2015 or contact us at 780-791-5186.  

Are You Part of a Cultural or Recreational Organization? Then Advertise in the Community Guide!

The Community Guide (www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/CommunityGuide)  is published every April and September to provide FREE advertising opportunities for not-for-profit community organizations to promote their recreation and cultural activities or community services. 

Over 4,000 copies of the Community Guide will be printed and available to the public in April. 

If you would like to book your spot in the Community Guide, or to learn more information about this opportunity, please contact jessica.barry@woodbuffalo.ab.ca before Friday, January 30, 2015. 

Exposure Photography Festival

Each February Exposure (a registered non-profit established in 2004 by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies to encourage the broader community to consciously examine, question, and appreciate the medium of photography) provides the Exposure Photo Fest a festival focused on exhibiting a diversity of photographic imagery.

Anyone willing to create a meaningful photography-based program, exhibit, or event is welcome. To date, Exposure has united educators, independent artists, and public and private galleries, aided by the generous support of businesses, media partners, and government. Exposure also programs lectures, panel discussions, and workshops to encourage more thoughtful image making by practicing photographers and to raise important questions about photography.

For the past 10 years, the festival has been focused exclusively on Calgary, Banff and Canmore but this year Exposure Photo Fest is expanding across Alberta for its next edition in February 2015. Submissions for the month-long festival are now being sought from artists and galleries across the province.

For more information please visit the Exposure website at http://www.exposurephotofestival.com/index.html

Luggage Needed for Keyano Theatre's Cabaret

Keyano Theatre Company is presenting Cabaret this February and in order to create the fabulous set, designed by Roger Schultz, there is a need for a couple hundred old suitcases (1920’s ish), old steamer trunks and a few working luggage carts. These items can be donated or loaned to the Theatre by contacting Trevor at trevor.mcdonald@keyano.ca. 

Call for Original 2D and 3D Artworkd for FuseSocial Timeraiser!

Auditions for The Odd Couple Keyano Theatre

Calling all actors, potential actors, and people who have the itch to try, here is your chance to shine! Auditions for the Odd Couple are taking place;

January 17^th  Session 1      10:00am-12:30pm, 

                        Session 2      1:30pm-4:00pm

January 18^th  Call backs as required 10:30am-12:30pm      

               

Auditions will be held at Keyano Theatre, 8115 Franklin Avenue. They will comprise of group readings of the play and some scene work. It is recommended to read the play in advance of the audition. Scripts will be available to sign out at Keyano Theatre Box Office, open;

• Monday - Wednesday 12:30 pm - 4:00 pm

• Thursday - Friday        12:30 pm - 8:00 pm

• Saturday                     11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Local director, Russell Thomas, will be casting 6 male roles and 2 female roles ages 25+. To book an audition please contact; Susan McGillicuddy at (780) 791-8913 or email artsinfo@keyano.ca          

      

Written by the legendary Neil Simon, The Odd Couple was inspired by the real life post-divorce experiences of television comedy writer Danny Simon. The play features two oil and water roommates, Felix Ungar, a neurotic, neat freak, news writer and Oscar Madison, a sloppy, easy going, sportswriter.  

Felix is thrown out by his wife and in desperation moves in with his friend Oscar Madison. Oscar enjoys life, spends freely, gambles too often, and never cleans preferring to live in a house filled with spoiled food.  Felix, on the other hand, is utterly incapable of enjoying anything except pointing out his own and other people's mistakes and foibles. Even when he means well, his corrections and suggestions prove extremely annoying to those around him. Oscar, his closest friend, feels compelled to throw him out after only a brief time together, though he quickly realizes that Felix has had a positive effect on him.

The Odd Couple premiered on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on March 10, 1965 and transferred to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre where it closed on July 2, 1967 after 964 performances and two previews. Directed by Mike Nichols, the cast starred Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison and Art Carney as Felix Ungar. The production gained Tony Awards for Walter Matthau, Best Actor (Play), Best Author (Play), Best Direction of a Play, and Best Scenic Design (Oliver Smith), and was nominated for Best Play.

…In 1985, Neil Simon revised The Odd Couple for a female cast. The Female Odd Couple was based on the same story line and same lead characters, now called Florence Ungar and Olive Madison. The poker game became Trivial Pursuit with their friends becoming the girlfriends: Mickey, Sylvie, Vera, and Renee. The Pigeon sisters became the Costazuela brothers, Manolo and Jesus.

The Female Odd Couple opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on June 11, 1985 and closed on February 23, 1986 after 295 performances and nine previews. Directed by Gene Saks the cast starred Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno as Florence (Felix) and Olive (Oscar), with Lewis J. Stadlen and Tony Shalhoub(in his Broadway debut) as the Costazuela brothers.

…In 1968, The Odd Couple was made into a highly successful film starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau (once more) as Oscar. Most of the script from the play is the same, although the setting is expanded: instead of taking place entirely in Oscar's apartment, some scenes take place at various outside locations. The film was also written by Simon (who was nominated for an Academy Award) and was directed by Gene Saks. 

…In 1998, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau reprised their roles for the film The Odd Couple II, produced by Neil Simon.

…The success of the film was the basis for 114 episodes of the 1970–75 ABC television sitcom, starring Tony Randall as Felix and Jack Klugman as Oscar. Klugman was familiar with the role as he had replaced Walter Matthau in the original Broadway run. Neil Simon originally disapproved of this adaptation, but by the series' final season, he reassessed the show positively to the point of appearing in a cameo role.

…Randall and Klugman also reunited in 1993 for a made-for-TV reunion film based upon the series. The movie was initially broadcast on CBS on September 24, 1993. Robert Klane was the writer and director, with a cast that included Barbara Barrie as Felix's wife, Penny Marshall as Myrna and Dick Van Patten. The throat-cancer surgery that Jack Klugman (Oscar) had is written into the script, when Felix (Tony Randall) stays with Oscar and helps with his rehabilitation.

…In the fall of 1975, ABC aired a cartoon version of the play entitled The Oddball Couple, produced by Paramount and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The roles were played by a cat and dog named Spiffy and Fleabag.

…In 1982, ABC aired a new version of the series, entitled The New Odd Couple. Produced by Garry Marshall, the premise of the new version has two black actors, Ron Glass as Felix and Demond Wilson as Oscar…This new version was not successful and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

…In December 2013, it was announced that Matthew Perry will be starring, co-writing, and executive-producing a remake of The Odd Couple. The multi-camera comedy will start airing in midseason 2015 on CBS. Perry will play Oscar Madison, a known slob; the role of his clean freak roomie Felix Unger will be portrayed by Thomas Lennon. The show will also star Wendell Pierce as Teddy, their cop friend (a stand-in for Murray), and Georgia King and Lindsay Sloane as Katie and Emily (taking over for the Pigeon sisters). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odd_Couple)

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this famous play book your audition now!

To book an audition please contact; Susan McGillicuddy at (780) 791-8913 or email artsinfo@keyano.ca    

On January 11, Canada will celebrate Sir John A. MacDonald Day in honour our first Prime Minister and one of the architects of Confederation.

Sir John A. MacDonald lived a remarkable life - one marked by triumph and tribulation. His political shrewdness, ingenuity, and grit led to the formation of our nation, the construction of the CPR railway, and the protective tariffs which help us to gain economic and political independence from the United States.

His overriding national preoccupations were unity and prosperity. An 1860 speech summed up his lifelong political creed and political goals: "One people, great in territory, great in resources, great in enterprise, great in credit, great in capital." (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-john-alexander-macdonald/)

MacDonald’s leadership was not without black marks, though, (the Pacific Scandal and the execution of Louis Riel, for example). MacDonald and the Canadian government were also responsible for excluding Asian Canadians from voting and placed a head tax onto Asian immigrants entering the country.  As Prime Minister and as the Indian Affairs Minister, MacDonald’s policies were responsible for the creation of the residential school system.

[The] two primary objectives of the residential school system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, “to kill the Indian in the child.” Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country. (Prime Minister Stephen Harper, official apology, June 11, 2008. http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/the-residential-school-system.html ) 

The celebration of Sir John A. MacDonald is a chance for all Canadians not just to remember our first Prime Minister but also the politics and policies that created this country.  Were it not for Sir John A. MacDonald, there would be no Canada and at the same time there would not have been residential schools. Sir John A. MacDonald and his policies were products of their time.  Since that time, Canada has grown to be a multi-cultural country that includes people from every part of the planet. We still have many challenges to overcome, but as a nation, we need to look back and learn from our past injustices while celebrating our accomplishments and the things that unite us as Canadians. The most wonderful thing about Canada is our democracy and our freedom to change.  For that, we can thank John A. MacDonald, who set us on a path towards national independence. 

Land Effect

What is colour? For artists colour is an expression, a feeling, a memory, sometimes a taste or even a smell. Colour connects and expresses the intangible, the indescribable. It makes the everyday seem extraordinary and the extraordinary feel familiar.

      

What our brains perceive as colour is the reflection of wavelengths of light from objects.

In humans light is received by the eye where two types of photoreceptors, cones and rods, send signals to the visual cortex which in turn processes those sensations into a subjective perception of colour. (Wikipedia.org) 

Our ability to distinguish different objects and their various colours has to do with colour constancy.

Colour constancy is a process that allows the brain to recognize a familiar object as being a consistent colour regardless of the amount of light reflecting from it at a given moment. (Wikipedia.org)

Colour Constancy is why a white jacket still looks white instead of orange under the setting sun but like with other things the brain can be fooled. This fooling of the brain is commonly known as The Land Effect or Retinex Theory, devised by Edwin Land, made famous for his invention of instant photography and the Polaroid camera.

The Retinex theory first appeared in 1959, Scientific American magazine. The article claimed that it was possible to produce a full-colour image with only two component colours white and red. According to Land, we decide the colour of something by comparing its ability to reflect short, medium and long wavelengths with that of adjoining objects. Land considered that the eye and the brain (the retina and cortex) form a single optical system, which he called the retinex.

Have a look at the picture below, made available by grand-illusions.com. What colours do you see? Red, green, yellow, possibly brown? 

http://www.grand-illusions.com/acatalog/Land_Effect.html

In fact this is a demonstration of the Land Effect, since you are looking at a monochrome red image, with a black and white overlay. The only 'real ' colour here is red. However our brains tend to 'see' other colours being present. 

This experiment shows that even in reality colour is interpreted by our minds. It shows that our brains “fill in the picture”. An artist working in light and colour uses these perceptions like a great illusionist showing us the inner meaning of objects, connecting them with great ideas, and filling them with insight. 

Learning Through Story

It has been well documented in psychological journals and other scientific studies that the human brain organizes knowledge by storytelling. With each new life lesson, experience, and event, a memory is created and when you recall that memory it is stored and retold as a story.

The stories of your past evolve and change as you grow and transform as a person. The facts stay the same but which memories/stories one chooses to tell or how one tells them reflects a persons’ current thinking or state of being and creates a narrative for one's life. For example if someone is an engineer and suddenly decides to become a teacher they may recall a past story about their favourite teacher to validate their life decision. The memory was always with them but now it becomes a central story in the shaping of a new life path.  

Studies have also shown that storytelling is also one of the best ways to teach lessons and to communicate to other people. In all cultures stories have been used to pass down knowledge and life lessons especially in First Nation communities where storytelling remains and continues to be an integral part of their culture.

For the Dene people storytelling serves many purposes from teaching life lessons, sharing their strong and rich history, to passing on practical skills. Some stories are as old as time and others are as new as the moment. Most of these stories are not written down but passed orally a tradition that has lasted for thousands of years. For the Dene storytelling builds and bonds people and family members from different generations together. It is one of the many reasons why Elders are so highly respected. In Dene culture the Elders are the archives of the past and a bridge to the present. They have experienced and learned many life lessons making them libraries of stories which they pass along to future generations.

Science is now proving these time honoured techniques of knowledge sharing. Research is verifying what many cultures like the Dene have known for thousands of years, that the human brain remembers best when knowledge is shared not as facts but as stories.