Arts and culture

Playwright Christopher Morris performs during a production of his play, “The Runner” a Human Cargo Production at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in this undated handout photo. Set & Costume Designer, Gillian Gallow and Lighting Designer, Bonnie Beecher. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Dylan Hewlett

Gaza conflict-fed friction prompts another B.C. cancellation of play

Vancouver’s PuSh Festival will not stage planned production of The Runner

 

Kara Lee and Sam Fransen enjoy Matt Maeson on stage at Rifflandia 2023. (Katharine Brynjolfson/Black Press Media)

Here are some of the biggest Victoria art headlines of 2023

There were record-breaking festivals, major changes to venues, and plenty of other things worth talking about

 

Wendy Maurer’s glass bead art is permanently on display at Qualicum Art Supply and Gallery. (Kevin Forsyth photo)

Qualicum Beach glass artist does not let Parkinson’s stop her

Mauer’s glass bead art permanently on display at Qualicum Art Supply and Gallery

 

Pattiann Withapea, Parksville BC Culture Days co-ordinator and lead artist, with her 2022 art banner titled ‘The Silk Road’. (Deborra Adkins photo)

Parksville selected as kickoff city for BC Culture Days 2024

Organizers present plans to council along with request for support

Pattiann Withapea, Parksville BC Culture Days co-ordinator and lead artist, with her 2022 art banner titled ‘The Silk Road’. (Deborra Adkins photo)
Amanda Swinimer’s new children’s book – The Science and Superpowers of Seaweed – has won an international award. (Contributed photo)

Shirley author wins North American book award

Amanda Swinimer wrote children’s book on seaweed

Amanda Swinimer’s new children’s book – The Science and Superpowers of Seaweed – has won an international award. (Contributed photo)
Organist Jenny Vincent and CBC science journalist Bob McDonald will blend art and science in a concert at Knox United Church in Parksville on Oct. 22. (Photo courtesy Jenny Vincent)

PQB organist, science journalist plan green energy concert

‘Future is Now’ will blend science and the arts at Knox United Church in Parksville

Organist Jenny Vincent and CBC science journalist Bob McDonald will blend art and science in a concert at Knox United Church in Parksville on Oct. 22. (Photo courtesy Jenny Vincent)
Rose (Rebbekah Ogden), left, and Lucy (Jasmine Case) in a scene from The Fiancee. (Photo by Don Bodger)

Review: Clever script, perfect casting make The Fiancee a delight

You will still be chortling as you drive home from Chemainus Theatre comedy

Rose (Rebbekah Ogden), left, and Lucy (Jasmine Case) in a scene from The Fiancee. (Photo by Don Bodger)
Claire Watson’s winning design shows Canadian icon Elsie MacGill holding blueprints with a Maple Leaf Trainer II and Hawker Hurricane fighter plane. (Royal Canadian Mint image)

Tofino artist designs new loonie honouring Canadian icon Elsie MacGill

Claire Watson’s vision selected by Royal Canadian Mint to honour barrier-breaking engineer

Claire Watson’s winning design shows Canadian icon Elsie MacGill holding blueprints with a Maple Leaf Trainer II and Hawker Hurricane fighter plane. (Royal Canadian Mint image)
Skyler Punnett’s new illistration, ‘The Crow That Ate The Wind,’ honours the first responders who fight wildfires. (Skyler Punnett)

Penticton artist honours firefighters nationwide

Proceeds from the work’s sales set to go to the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation

Skyler Punnett’s new illistration, ‘The Crow That Ate The Wind,’ honours the first responders who fight wildfires. (Skyler Punnett)
Grant Leier, a Nanaimo-based painter who's shown his work at galleries across North America, will be the guest artist at the 25th annual Ladysmith Arts on the Avenue festival on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 26-27. (Bailey Seymour/News Bulletin)

Ladysmith to hold 25th Arts on the Avenue festival

Nanaimo painter Grant Leier is this year’s featured artist

Grant Leier, a Nanaimo-based painter who's shown his work at galleries across North America, will be the guest artist at the 25th annual Ladysmith Arts on the Avenue festival on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 26-27. (Bailey Seymour/News Bulletin)
Lana Popham (centre), B.C.’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, poses with members of the Cowichan Public Art Gallery Society, including society president Jock Hildebrand (front left), Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley (far left) and Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples (third from right). (Robert Barron/Citizen)

Arts minister impressed with plans for new Duncan art gallery

Lana Popham said she’ll look into funding options

Lana Popham (centre), B.C.’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, poses with members of the Cowichan Public Art Gallery Society, including society president Jock Hildebrand (front left), Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley (far left) and Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples (third from right). (Robert Barron/Citizen)
Rappers Wiz Khalifa, left, and Snoop Dogg perform at Hip-Hop 50 Live, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP)

Hip-hop turns 50, reinventing itself and swaths of the world along the way

Hip-hop ‘connects to what is true, and what is true, lasts’

Rappers Wiz Khalifa, left, and Snoop Dogg perform at Hip-Hop 50 Live, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP)
Festival enjoyer Bob Orchard shows off his costume, titled ‘Kraken’ at the 2022 Salish Sea Lantern Festival (Contributed ArtSea Community Arts Council).

Salish Sea Lantern Festival resurfaces to brighten Sidney’s summer

Lantern walk on Aug. 26 highlights an ocean-themed arts week

Festival enjoyer Bob Orchard shows off his costume, titled ‘Kraken’ at the 2022 Salish Sea Lantern Festival (Contributed ArtSea Community Arts Council).
The Bowker Creek Brush-Up Art Show takes place in the stretch along the Bowker Creek banks, between Armstrong Avenue and Hampshire Road in Oak Bay. Local artists set up tables to showcase their art amidst entertainment and other community tents with fun activities. (Joanie McCorry/Contributed to Black Press Media)

Oak Bay’s Bowker Creek Brush-Up returns for residents to canvas once again

The one day artist market will be on Aug. 13 this year

The Bowker Creek Brush-Up Art Show takes place in the stretch along the Bowker Creek banks, between Armstrong Avenue and Hampshire Road in Oak Bay. Local artists set up tables to showcase their art amidst entertainment and other community tents with fun activities. (Joanie McCorry/Contributed to Black Press Media)
Uminari Taiko performs at the Japanese Cultural Festival at Fudo Japanese Restaurant in Broadmead Village in Saanich on Saturday (July 22). (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

Japanese Cultural Festival shares with Saanich

Festival featured food and performances celebrating Japanese-Canadian culture

Uminari Taiko performs at the Japanese Cultural Festival at Fudo Japanese Restaurant in Broadmead Village in Saanich on Saturday (July 22). (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)
Crowds flocked to Moss Street for the 34th TD Art Gallery Paint-In on Saturday (July 15) in Victoria. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

Thousands visit 34th TD Art Gallery Paint-In

Moss Street was lined with artists displaying their work

Crowds flocked to Moss Street for the 34th TD Art Gallery Paint-In on Saturday (July 15) in Victoria. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)
Marian van der Zon, under the stage name Of the Sun, is hosting a CD release party for her debut solo album ‘Still Rising,’ which was created over years of rehabilitation from injuries she sustained from a 2013 vehicle collision. (Submitted photo)

Island folk artist rises from injury that robbed her ability to enjoy music

Yellow Point’s Marian van der Zon’s ‘Still Rising’ focuses on themes of rehabilitation

Marian van der Zon, under the stage name Of the Sun, is hosting a CD release party for her debut solo album ‘Still Rising,’ which was created over years of rehabilitation from injuries she sustained from a 2013 vehicle collision. (Submitted photo)
Jennie Neumann (Molly Jensen) and Jacob Woike (Sam Wheat) listen in to Madeleine Eddy (Oda Mae Brown) during ‘Ghost The Musical’. (Photo by Don Bodger)

Review: Phenomenal cast anchors summer blockbuster musical at Chemainus Theatre

‘Ghost the Musical’ sure to be a hit for theatre

Jennie Neumann (Molly Jensen) and Jacob Woike (Sam Wheat) listen in to Madeleine Eddy (Oda Mae Brown) during ‘Ghost The Musical’. (Photo by Don Bodger)
ABOVE: Jeremy Humpherville, artist and owner of Coastal Carvings Fine Art Gallery in Coombs. The gallery and its artists will be featured in an upcoming TV series on APTN. (Kevin Forsyth photo) BELOW: Levi Purjue carves while cameraman Taylor Hanley captures the moment for an upcoming docu-series featuring the artists of Coastal Carvings Fine Art Gallery. (Submitted photo)

Coombs gallery to gain national exposure with upcoming TV series

Coastal Carvings Gallery will be featured on show expected to air on APTN

ABOVE: Jeremy Humpherville, artist and owner of Coastal Carvings Fine Art Gallery in Coombs. The gallery and its artists will be featured in an upcoming TV series on APTN. (Kevin Forsyth photo) BELOW: Levi Purjue carves while cameraman Taylor Hanley captures the moment for an upcoming docu-series featuring the artists of Coastal Carvings Fine Art Gallery. (Submitted photo)
Mohawk artist Logan Staats of Duncan is the recipient of SOCAN’s 2023 TD Indigenous Songwriters Award. Staats is being recognized for his song ‘Deadman’, and will be honoured at SOCAN’s Annual General Meeting in Vancouver later this June where he will have the opportunity to perform in front of industry professionals, other music creators, publishers, and music industry stakeholders. (Submitted photo)

Vancouver Islander wins 2023 TD Indigenous Songwriting Award

Duncan’s Logan Staats honoured for his latest single ‘Deadman’

Mohawk artist Logan Staats of Duncan is the recipient of SOCAN’s 2023 TD Indigenous Songwriters Award. Staats is being recognized for his song ‘Deadman’, and will be honoured at SOCAN’s Annual General Meeting in Vancouver later this June where he will have the opportunity to perform in front of industry professionals, other music creators, publishers, and music industry stakeholders. (Submitted photo)