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Arts and Culture Week
April 20 - 26, 2008

The BC government has proclaimed April 20 - 26, 2008 to be Arts & Culture Week in our Province.

The Arts Council of New Westminster presented events uniquely designed for our arts community. We kicked off the week with a Raymond Burr Mini Festival at the Bernie Legge Theatre, the week continued with various dance groups available all week long for entertainment and workshops, from creative dance for pre-school children to evening classes with our current member groups like the Silver Saddles Square Dance and the Quick Steppers. We offered an evening with World Poetry – Some of the Best of New West at the Heritage Grill.

Throughout the city were various exhibitions open to the community as well as our own Arts Council Gallery featuring local emerging artist Jessie Couzelis, the gallery was open every evening from 7:00 – 9:00 pm.

We finished off the week with Elizabeth Elwood – Signing her current book and reading from the soon to be released “Black Tie Affair”. In the Centennial Lodge was a workshop attended by over fourteen harpists, including Lori Pappajohn who arranged the evening, and was led by the acclaimed harpist, Sarah Deere/Jones.

Week long events were enjoyed by all who attended and served as a wonderful introduction to a wide array of Arts in our city.

Thank you New Westminster for your continued support.

Below is a selection of photos taken at the various events (click on the thumbnails to see a larger view)

Hilda Cliffe Grant for 2008
April 26, 2008

Lindsay McLaughlin has been awarded a bursary from the "Hilda Cliff Grant", in recognition for her efforts to perform at Vancouver's first iPOP presentation (International Presentation of Performers). In the past this calibre of presentation of performers has occurred only in L.A. and New York.

As a graduate of the 20 week program at the prestigious acting school, John Robert Powers, Lindsay was asked to audition for this event. She is one of the twenty-five chosen out of 350 auditions, to perform at iPOP. She will be working hard this summer preparing for this event, which will enable her to be presented in a professional performance to over forty Canadian agents, casting directors, and agencies as well as U.S. and International. This opportunity has not been available in Canada until now. John Robert Powers has been in Vancouver for two years, and has been proven to be a professional acting school internationally for many years.

She is working hard to help pay for this event, by doing a regular after school babysitting job, she has worked for the Arts Council as one of the Art Assistants for the Children's Summer School of the Arts, Easter in the Park, and she is part of the clean up crew when needed.

Symposium: A Vision for Theatre in New Westminster
May 9, 2007

The Arts Council hosted a symposium on May 9: A Vision for Theatre in New Westminster. The event was attended by representatives of the City, theatre groups in New West and individuals with a love for theatre.

The evening was introduced by the President, Susan Wandell. She related a recent visit to Nelson and what they had achieved, even though smaller than New West,  to make arts their focus. (Click to read transcript)

Then Patty Holmes of City Stage New West spoke on the importance of professional theatre and the role City Stage intends to play` (click to read transcript). This was followed by James Rowley of the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society who gave an overview of the history of the Burr Theatre (no transcript).

The symposium gave an opportunity for the various theatre groups to mingle and exchange ideas. Most attendees expressed the opinion that for them this was a positive experience and Andrée St Martin, Executive Director, said that the Arts Council was very excited to host the event and would certainly organize follow up get-togethers for the theatre community.

Attendees were asked to complete a short questionnaire on how they saw the role of theatre in New West and the possibility of New West becoming a regional theatre centre (click to view a copy of the questionnaire). Most attendees agreed that there was a need to explore this further and were prepared to serve on a "steering committee" of some kind. (Click to view a summary of the questionnaires)

What's Next?

s As can be seen from the questionnaires completed, there was virtually unanimous support for the steering / strategic planning group. The Arts Council will endeavour to form such an group.

s Also, as was mentioned above, attendees appreciated the opportunity to meet with others in theatre - so the Arts Council will host regular get-togethers, called Theatre Gossip Teas.

s We also include a discussion document on the idea of a regional centre for theatre,  and a history of the Burr Theatre, as a way to kick-start brainstorming on the future of theatre in New West.

“Kabok Music Concert”
May 12 @ 3:30 pm

The Kabok School of Music presents a concert of music by Telemann and Schubert:

Concerto in G major for Viola
by Georg Philipp Telemann

and

Piano Quintet in A major (The Trout)
by Franz Schubert

Click here to view the detailed program.
 

This concert is a fundraiser.
Entrance is by donation, the Kabok School of  Music is donating the proceeds towards Arts Council programs.

Arts and Culture Week

April 22 - 28 is BC Arts and Culture Week. Here are some suggestions how you can celebrate the arts in New West: visit the our gallery in Queen's Park, read a book at the Library, visit the Museum, go and see the Royal Musical Theatre Society's musical 42nd Street, attend the last Last Monday at the Movies at the New West Cinemas, enjoy live jazz at the Heritage Grill.

Lynn Radbourne and Susan Wandell accepting the proclamation for Arts & culture Week from the Mayor on Monday, April 16th at council.

In Celebration of Film
February 25th, 2006 at Centennial Lodge in Queen's Park.

This fundraising Oscars Night evemt was an overwhelming sold-out success. Red carpet lined with torches and huge candelabras greeted guest arriving for the evening. A glass of complementary champagne was served with appetizers. The 12’ by 9’ screen draped with black velvet curtains displayed the Oscar Ceremony live.

Gold centerpieces reflected the candle light and the buffet and desert table was set with fine silver ware. Couzie’s Catering supplied an excellent choice of gourmet dishes. Chocolate, biscotti, profiteroles, strawberry and fruit skewers with chocolate fountain rounded of the evening.

Here is a selection of photos from the event - click to see a larger view.

Arts Council AGM November 21, 2006 7:30 pm The Arts Council AGM will be held at the Queen's Park premises. Arts Week and Summit September 21 - 28 EVENT SUMMARY At the risk of using a huge cliché, the Arts Week and Summit was an enormous success. So much so that we plan to make it an annual event. The Arts Summit evening’s measurable outcomes can be summarized as follows: Approximately 650 community members attended; Dozens of New Westminster artists and arts students participated in performances; High profile guests came to New Westminster to speak and observe the event; 80 individuals committed to participating in future arts advocacy efforts by joining a new arts advocacy group. (Click here if you are interested in joining the arts advocacy group) DID YOU KNOW? • New Westminster has more artists per capita than most cities in   Canada. • Art is all-inclusive, popular, multi-dimensional, and multicultural. It has been stated that there is little support for the arts in New Westminster. The purpose of Arts Week was to show that: -  there is wide support amongst the people of New West -  the arts is inclusive and popular -  the arts is multi-dimensional and multi-cultural -  artists are part of, committed to, and involved in the community Arts Week ran from September 21 - 28, with events demonstrating the diversity of art in New Westminster and culminated in a final showcase performance, The Arts Summit, at the Massey theatre on September 28. Program & Venue Information - Arts Week - Arts Summit - Guest Speakers - Poster For more information on how you can be involved, be sure to contact us. Arts Week was sponsored by jointly by The Arts Council, the Massey Theatre and a host of arts lovers from all walks of life in New Westminster.

Public Arts Forum
July 14, 2006, 7:00pm at Centennial Lodge in Queen's Park.

On Wednesday, June 14th 106 eager arts enthusiasts attended “THE ART OF THE MATTER” - Arts Forum presented by the Arts Council of New Westminster at the Centennial Lodge in Queens Park.

Various Arts groups were represented including The Massey Theatre Soc., Royal City Musical Theatre Soc. , Vagabond Players, Silver Saddles Dance Group, BC Girls Choir, New Westminster Heritage Preservation Soc., as well as individual painters, potters, historians, actors and local businesses. Also present his Worship Mayor Wayne Wright, Councilors Bob Osterman and Bill Harper.

Special speaker for the occasion was local resident and Director of Planning for Vancouver,
Mr. Johnny Carline, whose topic was appropriately titled, “Culture and Community”. Click here for a transcript of his presentation.

The importance of Arts in the community was the focus of the Forum, in particular the following questions:

1. What is missing in New Westminster for the Arts?

2. How can YOUR involvement make a difference?

The meeting was divided into groups to answer these questions and then the results were shared with the entire group. A compilation has been made of the various ideas (click here for the provisional results). Once the results are finalized, hard copies will also be available at the Arts Council Office in Queens Park and the New Westminster Public Library.

For more background information...

New Westminster Ranks High
Statistically, communities in excess of 50,000 across Canada, British Columbia boasts five of the top nine artistic cities in the country. After Vancouver, Victoria is ranked 2nd - followed by North Vancouver  4th, Saanich  8th, New Westminster 9th and Richmond 10th, tied with six other large cities.

It is not surprising that arts and culture contribute $4.2 BILLION to the BC economy.

Children's Summer School of the Arts

August 27 - 30, 10:00 - 3:00pm

The Summer School was held in at the Arts Council, Queen's Park, New Westminster. The theme was: "Around the World in Four Days".

The Summer School in full swing:

Hyack Festival

This highly popular, fun-filled festival ran from May 22 to 30 - and the Arts Council was there!

and at
FraserFest
July 16 to 18
FraserFest celebrated its 15th anniversary at the Quay and featured entertainment, displays, food, fireworks on Friday and Saturday nights, and much more...

This page was last updated on 05/09/2008