Go Nanaimo Blog

The Nanaimo Art Gallery, 900 Fifth Street, is organizing a Mythical Beasts workshop for young artists aged 7 to 11 from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday, March 19, 2011. Give your children’s imagination free flight as they create wonderfully whimsical creatures from myth and fantasy. They’ll learn how to make weird and wonderful creatures using a stupendous supply of magical materials. This workshop will take place at the campus location, 900 Fifth Street, entrance 5D, building 330, and tuition is $30 plus HST for gallery members or $35 plus HST for non-members, all supplies included. All-day Vancouver Island University parking is $4. To register call the campus gallery at 250-740-6350.

Doug Dodd, producer of Super Summer Singing Workshops, and Manda Chelmak of Headliners School for the Performing Arts are presenting a series of workshops for young singers during the up coming spring break. This year, the school district’s spring break will be two weeks in length, allowing ample time to present this innovative and creative opportunity. Doug and Manda are offering several workshops to be held at Headliners, 165 Fraser Street, Nanaimo, during the March 14 to 25, 2011, break. These workshops are the perfect vehicle for eager young people who want to learn and develop new singing and performance skills, while still having fun. All the courses will be taught by industry professionals and each course will conclude with a concert performance at Headliners School for the Performing Arts.

The first workshop will be a Musical Theatre and Performance Workshop with instructors Joelle Rabu, Nico Rhodes, and Doug Dodd from March 14 to 18 for ages 9 and up. It involves a total of 20 hours of music instruction, concluding with an on-stage performance concert complete with musicians, sound system, and lights. The registration fee is $250 including music, lyric sheets, rehearsal CD’s, and a daily snack break.

A Singer/Songwriter Workshop for ages 12 and up with instructors Alexandria Maillot and Doug Dodd will be from March 21 to 25. A total of 13 hours of instruction will be offered, concluding with an on-stage performance concert complete with musicians, sound system, and lights. The registration fee is $150 including paper, pencils, and a small snack during the break. If a student plays or writes with an instrument they should bring their own. An electric piano, music stands, amps, and bass will be supplied. For registration or information contact Doug at 250-741-8857 or Manda at 250-753-2323.

Tidal Zone, a quilt from the UnspOILed Coast Quilt Project

In less than 10 months, the Positive Energy Quilters of Gabriola Island have finished 10 quilts for the UnspOILed Coast Quilt Project. The 10 quilts will be on display for the first time at three venues around Diana Krall Plaza in downtown Nanaimo during the month of March, 2011. Two quilts will hang in the north stair display area at the Port Theatre, 125 Front St., from March through May. Five will be in the lobby of the Harbourfront Library, 90 Commercial St., from March 1 to 31. And three quilts will be shown in the downtown branch of the Nanaimo Art Gallery, 150 Commercial St., during the week of March 12 to 18.

The quilts at the Nanaimo Art Gallery will be displayed covered with the fabric “oil blobs.” Viewers will be invited to remove the blobs for a small donation, helping to keep our coast clean and oil-free. Donations benefit the No Tankers Campaign of the Dogwood Initiative. There will be a small, informal quilting bee at the Art Gallery on Saturday, March 12, 2011, from 1 to 4 pm.

The UnspOILed Coast Quilt Project was begun in May, 2010, after the Canadian oil transporter Enbridge announced plans for the Northern Gateway which would see enormous supertankers carrying oil from the Alberta tar sands through narrow North Coast passages. Thirty-five people participated in the quilting project, creating their images of those things most threatened by a potential oil spill. The quilts have been displayed at three events on Gabriola. Now they are in Nanaimo. For more information, call 250-247-7656.

Barry Hall and Joan Wallace

Joan Wallace and guitarist Barry Hall will present Deep River: A Blues Journey at Unitarian Hall, 595 Townsite Avenue, Nanaimo, at 7 pm on Saturday, March 12, 2011. Get on board as Wallace and Hall go on a musical journey to discover the roots of the blues, beginning in the cotton fields of the American south. Then ride with Harriet Tubman on the underground railway to freedom in the north. Join the great migration of African Americans to the city in search of a better life. End the journey on a march with the heroes of the civil rights movement. See how the blues mingled with other musical genres as it moved from rural areas to big cities, crossing all class and colour borders to become the catalyst for modern popular music. Listen as Barry Hall interprets the story of blues legends like Lead Belly and Bill Broonzy, while Joan Wallace gets inside the lives and music of Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, and Nina Simone. To ensure your seat on this memorable journey, be at the station by 7 pm. Admission is $10 with all proceeds going to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Deep River is hosted by the Nan Go Grannies. Call 250-751-8663 for more information.

The Nanaimo Art Gallery has coordinated the Festival of Banners for 24 years. The Festival promotes art in the community by bringing art to the public, providing an exciting venue for artists, celebrating community spirit, enhancing the visual environment of Nanaimo streets, and highlighting Nanaimo’s artistic talent to residents and visitors. Hand painted, originally designed banners decorate city streets from May to October. Entry forms for the Festival of Banners are available for pick up at either Nanaimo Art Gallery location, 900 Fifth Street or 150 Commercial Street. The deadline for entries is March 23, 2011. This year’s theme is Life’s Treasures.

work by Francee Kaehn

Francee Kaehn will lead a three-day Introduction to Colour Workshop at Nanoose Place, Multipurpose Room #1, 2925 Northwest Bay Road, Nanoose Bay, from March 15 to 17, 2011. Classes will run from 9 am to 4 pm daily with a one-hour lunch break (take a bag lunch). This three-day workshop is based partly on the strategies of Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Color. The course is suitable for all skill levels from beginner to advanced. For more information or to register ($150), call Judy at 250-937-7570.

As an artist working on a drawing or painting, have you ever asked yourself, “What IS that colour?” In this three-day workshop, you will complete a series of practical exercises through which you will acquire a working vocabulary of colour that is essential to seeing, naming, and mixing colours to match your perceptions. You will learn colour theory by mixing paint. And the best part is that you will end up with a surprisingly beautiful painting that will display colour that is harmonized and satisfying to the eye.

Francee Kaehn has spent the last 30 years as an art educator. She has a bachelor of education degree with a major in secondary art from the University of Alberta. She also attended Grant MacEwan College in the Visual Art/Fine Art Program, where she was recognized for outstanding achievement. Francee does not have a preferred medium in which to work, nor even a trademark style. Rather, she enjoys exploring different materials and techniques, as well as a range of genres from realism to abstraction. It is her belief, however, that no matter what kind of art you want to create, it is important to have a solid drawing foundation. Her retirement has allowed her to move outside the classroom to conduct workshops such as this.

Jason Buie

Jason Buie and David Hoerl from The Twisters are playing at Diner’s Rendezvous, 489 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, on Sunday March 13, 2011. Doors open at 6 pm and the show is from 8 pm Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Those attending should make reservations when they buy their tickets although it’s not compulsory to have dinner.

Jason Buie’s journey on the blues-rock road was cemented the day he received a guitar as a gift, when he was all of six years old — maybe seven, he can’t say for sure. Six-string in hand, Buie has been playing gigs since age 16. At the time, his musical tastes were influenced by a diet of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and the more bluesy Elvis Presley tunes favoured by his parents.

David Hoerl was born and raised in San Francisco. He was originally tutored by Rick Estrin and David Burgin in the art of Blues Harmonica. He has since played with some of the best blues musicians in the U.S. and Canada. In 1982 David came to Canada with Kenny Wayne, became a landed immigrant in 1986, and a dual U.S./Canadian citizen in 2010. As a founding member of The Twisters (and sole remaining original member), he has recorded five CD’s (the latest two on the Northern Blues label). He is Canada’s number one harmonica player in the blues realm.