On Jurying

I set up the two jurors today with pencils, criteria forms, coffee and a few sweets, then scurried out the door to let them start the process.  Before I left, I shared a few directives.  I fully trust these two excellent minds, but it was important that they know this show is about celebrating the 75 years of the Arts Centre building.  I use a four-point criteria system so that it is as subjective as you can get with art, not allowing much leeway in individual taste.  When I returned, I found the two of them near the end of the list, chattering away like two squirrels in a tree, and fully engaged with the spirit of the exhibition.  They requested yellow stickies to identify 24 "must-be-in-show" pieces.  As many as is possible will be selected from the remainder according to the score on the criteria sheet. It's important that artists know that their work isn't being "judged" as though in a competition. It is being juried.  The priority is to make a cohesive exhibition.  Work not selected may just not fit with the show, even though it may be a successful piece.  Tomorrow morning I will begin the long task of separating the works, calling the artists for pick-up, and laying out the show in preparation for the installation team's arrival at 7pm.  Then we'll have a better idea of how "75" will look by the time we open on Friday night.

Blank Gallery

Fresh paint job, and tomorrow the floors are being rewaxed.  It's like a facelift, only not painful.

ShuGo

I'm excited - we've just added three more groups to the list of live arts events that youth can attend for only $5.  The Arts Council promotes access to live arts experiences for youth by partnering with arts groups to allow ShuGo tickets.  These excellent groups are on board - and all the kids have to do is get their ticket in advance at the art gallery. 

Caravan Farm Theatre, Armstrong 

Shuswap Theatre, Salmon Arm 

Runaway Moon Theatre, Grindrod

Monashee Chamber Choir, Sicamous

Shuswap Association of Writers, Salmon Arm

Live in HD: The Met, Salmon Arm (Salmar)

The Bolshoi Ballet Series, Salmon Arm (Salmar)

Kelowna Ballet, Salmon Arm performances

Northern Lights Community Choir, Salmon Arm

Red Green White

All roads point to the Elves' Workshop (not Elvis) on Saturday, December 17 here at the gallery.  Now that the Affordable Art Fair is on the walls, we focus on the last big event of the season - the madness that is our final Family Saturdays project for the year.  The workshop will have four art-making stations doing stuff we've never done before!  It will be a Christmas miracle if it all comes together.  The DIA is doing a Santa breakfast that morning, then the workshops start at 11am.  If we don't eat all the muffins and end up napping in front of our digital fireplace, then four large-sized elves will be welcoming young families to make stuff for the rest of the afternoon.  It's thanks to Scotiabank and Culinary Inspirations that we can offer this workshop for free.  Generous businesses make the downtown a wonderful place.

All I want for Christmas is my telephone

We can fit 32 gigabytes of memory into an object the size of a postage stamp, we can send hundreds of satellites into space, beaming back thousands of tv channels... why can't Telus make two phone numbers ring on one line?  For the last three days, we've been thrown back to the dark ages with our phones, trying to amalgamate the Art Gallery and Arts Council phone lines.  They can't do it this way, they can't do it that way, reconfigure this, reconfigure that, oh if you have it this way it won't go to voice mail, if you do it that way it won't call forward.  For goodness sakes!  I thought it was going to be simple!  That sound you hear is me pulling my hair out.  Long story short, be patient when trying to call the Art Gallery or Arts Council for the next five business days.  Perhaps use the ol' stand-by... email.

My Dream Council

Only a week or so remains until municipal election day here in Salmon Arm. I'm quite delighted that most of the candidates have indicated that they are willing to hammer out a fee-for-service agreement between the City and the Arts Centre.  On November 15 I will be sending out a list of candidates who signed the letter of support.  Vote culture!

Election Issues

Less than three weeks remain in the municipal election campaign.  In light of the recent developments, as we at the Arts Council/Art Gallery research the City's funding practices, we have turned arts and culture funding into an election issue.  I am hopeful that the eighteen council candidates will sign the letter of support indicating they would be willing to work on a fee-for-service agreement for operations at the Arts Centre.  Of course we would continue to generate about 80% of our own revenue, as we have always done.  We are only asking for about 20%, a security blanket, to provide stability and allow us to plan for the future.  I have put the brakes on a number of projects and ideas because of the lack of stable funding.  If the City ponies up, we will finally have some capacity to put important community projects into action.  To help us in this cause, ask your candidates how they feel about a fee-for-service agreement with the Arts Centre.  It's your money.  Why should it all go to sports and business?