The annual film series and planning sessions kept the Bella Coola Valley Arts Council busy during the winter months, said president Heather Ross.
Now the council is gearing up for a busy spring and summer.
Recently, the art council helped sponsor the “reinvention” of the Bella Coola Festival of the Arts and contributed to the “Fiddle Fun” yearly workshops.
In addition, the arts council sponsored an evening performance and workshop with Robin Lane, a percussionist with the Sarah McLachlan School of Music.
“Mr. Lane had been in the valley giving workshops with SD#49 school classes and he finished up his week with an evening of marimbas and drums at Lobelco Hall with the audience taking part at the end,” said Ross.
During the last weekend of April, the BCVAC sponsored one more film from local director/producer Jean-Philippe Marquis, who has been showing his documentary Silvicola at various film festivals across the country this past year.
“This documentary reflects on modern forestry and our connection/disconnection with the forest,” Ross said.
Silvicola won the John Kastner Award at Hot Docs 2023, Best Canadian Film at Planet in Focus 2023, and received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council and the NFB.
With spring finally arriving, the Art House will open mid-May and there are several shows lined up already for the spring and summer.
Ida Eriksen has organized the schedule starting with a variety show of local artists’ work, followed by exhibitions of works by Kashka Clellamin, Holly Willgress, Heather Martin and Anne Ehrlich.
The annual Visual Arts Show will be held June 21 to July 10. Entry forms and information for the VAS will be available soon on-line and at the Art House.
With files from Heather Ross
