Columbia Basin – Artists in all disciplines—as well as arts, culture and heritage organizations—are invited to apply for funding through the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance (CKCA), which delivers the Arts, Culture and Heritage Program of Columbia Basin Trust (CBT).

For 2012/13, funding has increased by $55,000, to $706,000. This will help CKCA better meet demand in sought-after programs like minor capital for arts and heritage facilities, support for touring and major project funding.

“We’re very happy CBT has increased the funding made available to arts, heritage and culture through our programs,” said Jacquie Hamilton, CKCA Chair. “The works of these organizations and individuals touch upon the lives of people throughout the Basin, and CKCA appreciates the opportunity to provide support.”

Funding is available for: individual and group projects; minor capital projects; touring; arts and heritage mentoring/master classes; organizational development; major projects; artists in education; major exhibits; major heritage capital projects; and heritage projects.

“This is support for our neighbours, our museums, our local theatre troupes—for the many ways arts, culture and heritage weave through our lives,” said Gary Ockenden, CBT Director of Community Engagement. “We’re proud CBT can strengthen this sector in order to benefit the whole community.”

Find out more and get the application form by visiting www.basinculture.com, contacting your local community arts council or phoning CKCA at 250.505.5505 or 1.877.505.7355.
Applications must be received by March 9 or March 23, 2012, depending on the program. CBT delivers economic, social and environmental benefits to the residents of the Columbia Basin. To learn more about CBT programs and initiatives, visit www.cbt.org or call 1.800.505.8998.

Photo Submitted

Columbia Basin – To assist those interested in applying for Arts, Culture and Heritage Program grants from Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), Krista Patterson and Natasha Smith of the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance (CKCA) will present workshops on how to apply and what to expect from the application process. CBT’s Arts, Culture and Heritage grants are managed and administered by CKCA. Individuals of all artistic disciplines as well as arts, culture and heritage organizations residing in the Columbia Basin are invited to attend the workshops.

CBT proudly supports initiatives and projects that highlight Basin culture and heritage, and for 2012/13,
funding has increased by $55,000, to $706,000.

Workshops are FREE. Registration is not required. Locations, dates and times are as follows:

Silverton: Saturday, February 11, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. hosted by the Slocan Lake Gallery Society
Location: Silverton Gallery, 408 – 4th Street

Trail: Saturday, February 18, 10 a.m. – 12 noon hosted by the Trail & District Arts Council
Location: Greater Trail Community Ctr., Room 208, 1501 Cedar Avenue

Fernie: Saturday, February 18, 9 – 11 a.m. hosted by the Fernie & District Arts Council
Location: The Arts Station, 601 – 1st Avenue

Kimberley: Saturday, February 18, 3 – 5 p.m. hosted by the Kimberley Arts Council
Location: Centre 64, 64 Deer Park Avenue

Creston: Sunday, February 19, 1 – 3 p.m. hosted by the Community Arts Council of Creston
Location: Creston Community Complex, Rotocrest Upper Level, 230 – 19th Ave. North

Revelstoke: Saturday, February 25, 10 a.m. – 12 noon hosted by the Revelstoke Arts Council
Location: Okanagan College, Room 102, 1401 – 1st Street West

More information, funding policies and program application forms are available online at www.basinculture.com, from local community arts councils, or by phoning CKCA at 1-250-505-5505 or toll free at 1-877-505-7355.

CBT delivers economic, social and environmental benefits to the residents of the Columbia Basin. For more information about CBT, visit www.cbt.org or call 1-800-505-8998

Press Release:

NCO is pulling out all the stops for this production.  The producers of the show are sparing almost no reasonable cost to maximize the production values and musical impact of the premiere. “To be able to afford everything we need to make this happen we have had to raise our ticket prices for this one unique production,” Horswill, explained. “Because tickets for the Thursday (March 8th) opening night performance are both scarce and in high demand, they will be the most expensive at $50 for each seat “

Tickets for the Friday and Saturday evening performances (March 9th and 10th) will be $40 for adults and $30 for seniors and students. Saturday afternoon matinee tickets will sell at the usual NCO price of $25 for adults and $15 for seniors and students. “Hopefully this range of prices, from $15 to $50, will offer something suited to every taste and every budget,” said Horswill.

Full-cast staging rehearsals for KHAOS began last Saturday. There will be a cast of 42 singers and instrumentalists and 1 solo dancer on stage for these performances as well as a behind-the-scenes crew of another 15 or 20 designers, directors and technicians.  “The commitment of each and every one of us is to do our utmost to ensure that every ticket holder leaves the theatre convinced that the performance of KHAOS they have watched was worth every penny they paid and more,” Horswill concluded.  “Truly, no-one (opera lover or not) will want to miss the once-in-a-lifetime birth of the West Kootenays’ very own opera.”

KHAOS, created by local composer, Don Macdonald and local playwright, Nicola Harwood, is a re-imagining of the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone set in a contemporary world of climate change and looming global disaster.   The opera asks the question “What if a civilization’s greed and need for “progress”  prevented Persephone from returning to Earth to console her grieving mother? Would Demeter’s grief and rage end life on earth as we know it?”

Tour performance dates and locations:

Nelson’s Capitol Theatre, March 8th, 9th & 10th (various times)

Key City Theatre, Cranbrook;  Saturday, March 17 @ 7:30 p.m.

Grand Forks Secondary School Theatre, Friday, May 11 @ 8:00 p.m.

Charles Bailey Theatre, Trail; Saturday, May 12 @ 8:00 p.m.

Prince Charles Secondary School Theatre, Creston; Sunday,

May 13 @ 2:30 p.m.

Tickets will be available at the usual local outlets in each community closer to the performance dates.

For more information and to hear excerpts from KHAOS, visit www.khaosopera.com.

Set the tone for next year's jazz fest.

The Kaslo Jazz Etc. Society proudly presents the 2012 Kaslo Jazz Etc. Festival Artwork Contest.

The contest for submissions of artwork for posters, T-shirts, website and other promotional material is on now.

Deadline for submissions is Friday, Mar. 2.

They’re looking for original, creative four-colour art that reflects bright, festive, simple, clear images of professional quality that is camera ready and transfers well to posters, T-shirts, etc.

What do you win?

A $500 cash prize

• 2 weekend passes to the 2012 Kaslo Jazz Etc. Festival
• Festival merchandise featuring the winning design
• Artist mention in the 2012 Kaslo Jazz Etc Festival program

Artwork may be submitted digitally or in original form. Previous posters can be seen www.kaslojazzfest.com.

Send your artwork to:

Mailing address:
Kaslo Jazz Etc. Society
PO Box 1293, Kaslo, BC V0G 1M0

Physical address: 404 Front Street Suite 2 Kaslo, BC V0G 1M0

Email: info@kaslojazzfest.com (Artwork contest in subject line)

With a slight change in the U-19 format this year, the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture has partnered up with the Kootenay Association for Science and Technology to bring you the REEL Youth Film Festival.

submitted.

Screenings will begin at noon on Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Miners Hall with a $3 admission charge. The REEL Youth Film Festival features some of the best in international youth film-making, along with submissions from the talented youth of the West and Central Kootenays (youth under 19 must submit films by November 4, 2011 – visit www.rosslandcac.com for submission guidelines and prize information).

The 2011 Reel Youth Film Festival is a collection of compelling and entertaining short youth films: animations, dramas, documentaries, comedies and a musical. Whether facing down riot police in Copenhagen, vying for love in Philadelphia, or searching Vancouver’s downtown east side for a missing aunt, these are the unflinching stories of today’s youth.

Local sponsors of the Reel Youth Film Festival include the Columbia Basin Trust, Kootenay Association for Science and Technology, BC Arts Council, Columbia Power Corporation, Nelson and District Credit Union and of course the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture.

The highly anticipated Gala Event, sponsored by Teck, is once again taking place in the Ross Thompson Room at the Prestige. Ticket prices are $35. Doors open at 6pm with films starting at 7pm. As usual, you can expect a lovely evening of live performance, great food (by Gabriella’s), choice of wine, and, returning this year, the Silent Art Auction which will feature local artists.

The performer this year will be Dominique Fraissard: hailing originally from Australia, he now calls Canada’s west his home. He has opened for Jack Johnson, John Butler Trio, the Waifs, Bill Bourne; amongst others and has been a BCIMA 2011 Top 3 Finalist for: People’s Choice, Best Folk/Traditional Recording, Best Roots/World Recording, and Best Producer. Certain to be a hit in Rossland, BC Musician Magazine sums him up by saying “…we are sure to be hearing more of this warm, comforting voice in the cool, dark festival night”. Listen to his music at Myspace.

As done last year, the Silent Art Auction will be donating ALL FUNDS raised. This year’s organization will be the Kootenay Columbia Trails Society (KCTS – www.kcts.ca): the group that creates and maintains the trails within the area. Last year, the auction’s highest item went to artist Julie MacDermott (www.juliemacdermott.com) who has agreed to come back this year with two pieces – her energetic, action paintings of the Rossland lifestyle will be sure to grab your attention.

Here’s a trailer for the touring film festival.

Join popular CBC host Grant Lawrence for a reading and slide show about his award-winning book, Adventures In Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound (Harbour Publishing, $26.95), at venues across the Kootenays. See below for the schedule.

Grant Lawrence. Photo submitted.

Grant Lawrence has become a popular voice across Canada as host of the CBC Radio 3 Podcast. Fans of independent music tune in to his podcast or turn up an old song from a record by The Smugglers, Grant’s defunct rock band. In Adventures in Solitude, Grant shares how Desolation Sound shaped his life in music and the history of Canada.

Young Grant’s father bought a piece of land next to BC’s Desolation Sound marine park in the 1970s, just in time to encounter the gun-toting cougar lady, left-over hippies, outlaw bikers and an assortment of other characters. It was these early experiences, many alongside an influential hermit named Russell, which led Grant to a life of music and journalism far away from Desolation Sound. In his book, Grant returns to regale us with tales of “going bush,” the tempting dilemma of finding an unguarded grow-op, and other laugh-out-loud stories from this unique place.

Grant Lawrence hosts the popular CBC Radio 3 Podcast with Grant Lawrence, and Grant Lawrence Live on CBC Radio 3 and Sirius 86, and can also be heard on various CBC Radio One programs such as DNTO, Spark, All Points West and On the Coast. Adventures in Solitude – a bestseller in BC and across Canada – won the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award for best book published in British Columbia earlier this year.

Just last month, the book was also shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction, and the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, one of the richest literary prizes in Canada.

In addition to his book and radio appearances, Lawrence hosts many major music events, such as the Polaris Music Prize Gala, the Western Canadian Music Awards and various festivals around North America, and conducts music industry seminars and keynote addresses on music and media related topics. He still spends much of each summer at his cabin in the Sound. The rest of the time he lives in Vancouver, with his wife, Canadian folk singer Jill Barber.

Kootenay schedule

• Sun, October 30, 2011: Grant Lawrence Reads in Nakusp - Nakusp Public Library (92 6th Avenue NW, Nakusp)
• Sat, October 29, 2011: Grant Lawrence Reads in Trail - Crockett Book Company (109 8100 Rock Island Hwy., Trail)
• Sat, October 29, 2011: Grant Lawrence Reads in Rossland - Cafe Books (2063 Washington Street, Rossland)
• Fri, October 28, 2011: Grant Lawrence Reads in Cranbrook - Lotus Books (33 S. 10th Avenue, Cranbrook)

There is chaos in the literary community! The Kootenay Literary Competition is now open and the theme this year for the adult competition is “Chaos” in all its forms.

Photo source: redcargurl, Flickr, Creative Commons.

This popular annual writing event is open to all writers in the entire Kootenay region. This year there will two distinct competitions: one for adults and another just for youth.

Youth can enter the Grades 10-12 category or Grades 7-9 category.

Grades 10-12 should use the following first line : “It wasn’t that I meant for it to happen….”.

Young people Grades 7-9 but must include the following words in their piece: “tricks”, “seventeen cents” and “sweet” in their writing. Adults can enter in four categories: Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Poetry and Emerging Writer.

There will be great cash prizes and an awards ceremony, winners readings, and free food.

Prizes range from $50 up to $200 depending on the category.

Competition Details

The 2011 Entry Fees are as follows:
$35.00 for each submission in the Adult competition (4 Categories)
$15.00 for each submission in the Youth competition (2 Age Categories)
Information, rules, category descriptions, details and entry forms will be available on our website www.litcomp.inthekoots.com

Submissions

Maximum 3,000 words in the adult competition and 2,500 in the youth competition. Submissions must be submitted in standard competition format. A submission format template is available on our website. Submissions must be submitted electronically, with entry fees received by mail, before the submissions is considered.

Writers may submit in more than one category but each submission must be accompanied by a separate entry form and fee. All submissions must be submitted to mailto:info@ndac.cail.com no later than 5:00pm on November 15th, 2011.

Entry fees, with a copy of the entry form, should be mailed (or dropped off) to:

Mint Agency, Suite # 6 – 560 Baker Street, Nelson, BC V1L 4H9

For complete information on the competition, entry forms, entry fees and how to submit, visit the KLC website www.litcomp.inthekoots.com or email kootenaylitcomp@gmail.com or contact KLC Committee Member, Kathy Hartley at kathart@shaw.ca.

Winners in each of the categories will be announced at the KLC Awards Ceremony and Celebration planned for early 2012.

It’s that time of year again – the 12th annual Rossland Mountain Film Festival!

Shout Out Out Out Out.

There are some changes this year with the format. Typically having Friday and Saturday late night events, we’ve condensed our films and entertainment and will be having one exciting show on Saturday, November 26th being held at Rossland Secondary School. Be sure to get your tickets early as it’s sure to be a sellout – how do we know? Because we are thrilled to announce that this year there will be TWO bands at the event!

Co-headliners this year will be returning favourites Five Alarm Funk (www.fivealarmfunk.com)and, new to Rossland, Shout Out Out Out Out (www.shoutoutoutoutout.com). Both bands are sure to follow up our film showing with an excellent time.

Films have started arriving already but we are always looking for more! Spread the word – tell your friends – to send in those films!

As with every year, there will be the all ages film screening, film making workshops, the Under-19 competition, Gala event with charity art auction, films being shown around town, and our speaker presentation. Keep an eye out for more details and information in the coming weeks and don’t forget to check out our website, www.rosslandfilmfestival.com, for updated information.

Conceiving Family follows (Director/Producer) Amy Bohigian and her partner, Jane Byers, as they adopt biracial 15 month-old twins, Franny and Theo. Their journey to becoming a family, like the other four same-sex couples, is laden with challenges, including confronting the Christian Fundamentalist foster parents who express fear that the children they’ve cared for since birth will now, “grow up to be gay” with parents who are “going to hell for their sins.” Required to live together for two weeks during the kids’ transition they confront their differences in the most surprising ways. Combining personal interviews, intimate footage, and family photos, Conceiving Family tells the collective story of what it takes to become an intentional family.

Here’s the trailer:

Katherine Pettit will open the evening with her short animated documentary Dancing With the Moon. From Katherine’s press release:

The Nelson based documentary company, Sand KMT Productions Inc. is pleased to announce the public release of “Dancing with the Moon.”

“Dancing with the Moon” is an animated short autobiographical documentary that profiles Katherine Pettit (Director/Producer) on her troubling encounter with infertility. The hope to conceive dwindles and despair hits when Katherine is diagnosed with the enigmatic disorder PCOS – Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. PCOS is the most common hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age, and is a leading cause of infertility. The doctor recommends a harsh fertility drug that could put Katherine’s health at risk. Determined to conceive naturally, Katherine tries a curious, yet non-invasive treatment – Lunaception, coupled with a three-month diet cleanse and the use of natural remedies prescribed by a naturopath doctor.

The documentary was funded by the BC Arts Council, was animated by a Nelson native, Sam MacKinnon and features the music of Adham Shaikh.

The producer/director of the documentary, Katherine Pettit says “I made the film for women who are struggling to get pregnant. There are natural, non-invasive options that are not part mainstream knowledge. This film is intended to spread that knowledge.”

The film will have its premiere play at the Capitol Theatre on September 17 at 8pm.

Ben Nixon (Photo: BeardedMan Photography)

Ben Nixon is the 22-year-old bassist/engineer/poet of formerly Nelson-based band Locomotive Ghost. The folk-rock group will be performing with special guests in Nelson at Cottonwood Market and The Royal on Saturday, September 17th.

As our guest blogger today, Ben has written this poignant tribute to Nelson’s arts scene as the birthplace of his adult artistic life. 

When I first came to Nelson, B.C. I travelled for love, pure and simple. I was seventeen years old and smitten with a girl I had met at a global issues conference outside of Vancouver. When a friend of mine mentioned a contemporary music school he’d heard of in the area I latched onto it as an excuse for something I was justifiably interested in (sound engineering) to take me to where my heart wanted to be. Once the idea had been planted, tiny suggestions of reinforcement kept popping up everywhere in my life until, after graduating high school, I packed my things and moved East.

Freshness and Energy on the Streets

There in the Kootenays I reveled in the splendor of nature, the freedom of summer, and the wonder of love. I couldn’t believe how beautiful my surroundings were. I would walk down the street, laughing out loud and grinning at the mountains, the trees and the lakes that seemed to shift with every block I walked. Every day I would discover some new perspective that I hadn’t seen before. My experience was the same with the people I met. There was such singularity, freshness and energy on the streets. I was dumbfounded by how a community so small could house so many artists – and such talented ones at that!

Cortney Osness, Ben Nixon and Mike Buckley (left to right) of Locomotive Ghost enjoy the crowd in High River, AB. (Photo: EJ Buckley)

Nelson’s Supportive, Local-First Mindset

The longer I lived in Nelson, the more connected to that arts scene I became. Some people look down on small towns as easy conquests in a vicious musical food chain. I never really cared how big of a fish I might become, I was just happy to be swimming in a pond that was teeming with such vibrant life.

Nelson gave me more than I could have ever asked for to develop as a young musician and sound engineer. It’s remarkable to think that I lived there for nearly four years and only had to spend three months working a regular day job. When I started Mossy Rock Productions I never really considered that it might not work out. I guess I was one of the few lucky small business owners.

I was so fortunate to have opportunities just dropped in my lap, one after another, and be able to make a living doing what I loved immediately out of college. That, to me, is a testament to the monumentally supportive, local-first mindset that is a defining characteristic of the area.

When Locomotive Ghost decided to leave Nelson to embrace big city opportunities we discovered that it was much easier said then done. We’d all grown so attached to the place and the culture that it really tore us up to say goodbye. Circumstances dictated that the three of us make the move at different times, and, as the second one to leave, I wanted so badly to say “Wait! Stop! Let’s go back!” I volunteered in Lethbridge for six months before completing the move to Calgary, and for the first four months of that I dreaded every day that I had made the wrong decision. I realized very quickly that – even though I’d lived there for less than a quarter of my life – Nelson was much more a home to me than Vancouver had ever been.

Locomotive Ghost admires the view in Nelson, BC. Left to right: Mike Buckley, Ben Nixon, Cortney Osness. (Photo: Jen Smith)

Where We’d Like to Raise Our Kids

These days whenever we have a particularly good show it’s because we’re in a city or neighborhood that possesses our favourite qualities of Nelson: discernible community, equality in interaction, and an appreciation for human expression. We love these places that feel like small towns without being “small town”.

Locomotive Ghost has been in Calgary for two months now, and we’re very excited by the growing arts scene here, but we still speak of Nelson often.

It’s still the place we’d like to raise our kids. It’s still the place I compare every natural beauty to. And when people ask me where I’m from, I proudly truncate seventeen years from my life and say “I’m from Nelson, B.C.”

In less than two weeks we’ll be revisiting the first venue that ever gave us a shot, sharing a stage with people who taught us invaluable lessons, and breathing in all the fresh mountain air we can get.

We can’t wait to be back.

Readers, feel free to respond in the comments section below. There is no log-in procedure; just start writing.

Locomotive Ghost will be performing with special guests at Cottonwood Market and The Royal in Nelson on Saturday, September 17th, 2011.