Community Arts & Culture

ABERTHAU/WEST POINT GREY/PARK BOARD ARTIST/GARDEN AND CULTURAL RESIDENCIES

VANCOUVER CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL – Cultural Residency

We are pleased to have a cultural residency partnership with the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Society (VCBF) for arts and cultural programming/events at Aberthau/West Point Grey. This partnership will open the doors to unique arts and cultural programming and diverse new audiences for the community. The society is passionate about making opportunities to explore the creative process and new cross-cultural collaborations with local emerging and professional artists and sharing the resulting new work with the public. VCBF will be collaborating with existing user groups, resident artists and garden stewards and will tap into current special events happening here. Check out events here www.vcbf.ca.

MUSIC OFF THE PAGE – Aberthau Studio Residency 

As practicing musicians, Róisín Adams and Emily Best hope to use the fieldhouse studio program to expand upon artistic and learning practices to develop music appreciation and group practice for all ages allowing them to give back to the community through free workshops and events. Some projects may include concerts in the parks, sound walks, community choirs, special musical collaborations and performances with the ultimate goal of encouraging interest in music and connecting Vancouver’s vibrant musical community to the community at large. Stay tuned for event and workshop opportunities. For workshops and events go to https://musicoffthepageblog.weebly.com/

As part of the Music off the Page Fieldhouse Residency at Aberthau, musician Simon Schweitzer rehearsed and recorded these works in the studio while we were in lockdown (no public in the building), which you can listen to here.

Music off the Page

This residency facilitates the creation and performance of new contemporary dance works with emerging and mid-career dancers. Under the direction of dancer and choreographer Desirée Dunbar, dancers develop their own vocabulary and express themselves with peer support, as well as develop skills in administration, production and teaching. Dancers then collaborate with other community dance groups and professional artists, performing at various venues.
-For more info go to www.dezzadance.com
–View a video of the dance performance, Fall Leaves
–View a video of the dance performance series in Jericho Park

ABERTHAU COMMUNITY & ECO ART GARDEN – Village Vancouver

Located behind the Mansion, just off of NW Marine Dr, and hosted by Village Vancouver, the garden includes VV’s Collaborative Demonstration Permaculture Garden, the WPG Preschool Garden and art/garden projects by our artist residencies resident and local artists. Emphasizing permaculture design elements, it offers fun, inclusive social, educational, culinary and cultural activities for community members. Enjoy cooking, fermenting, preserving and DIY demonstrations, including canning, fermented sodas, and making tofu and paneer, timely gardening workshops such as early summer gardening, vertical gardening and growing herbs, the seed savers club, and a native edibles walk, as well as Saturday morning gardening. For more info visit www.villagevancouver.ca or email Ross Moster at ross@villagevancouver.ca. The garden is a member of West Point Grey Village Vancouver and the Westside Neighbourhood Food Network.

ARTISTS IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

LOCAL FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT BY VILLAGE VANCOUVER – McBride Fieldhouse Studio Residency

This residency will have a food, gardening and environmental focus with partnerships by artist collectives like Loco Moto Art whose work has an ecological focus. Happenings in the community will include seed sharing libraries, plant swaps, pollinator walks and indigenous plant walks, events about producing, preserving, and preparing food, neighbourhood village potlucks and work parties at the Aberthau Eco Art Permaculture Demonstration Garden at West Point Grey. Other park activations will include partnerships by artist collectives like Loco Moto Art whose work has an ecological focus. Our hope is to create positive local responses to our climate change and food system challenges. Village Vancouver has a long history of inspiring individuals, neighbourhoods and organizations to build sustainable communities while having fun. For more info about workshops go to www.villagevancouver.ca

ELM PARK RESIDENCY – Experiments in Living

Experiments in Living is a project designed to question our surroundings and better understand the things we take for granted in our daily lives. Through a series of dynamic collaborations with artists, community members, recreation centres, and local businesses we hope to re-imagine objects and activities found within a typical home. To find out about workshops and events visit http://experimentsinliving.tumblr.com

About the Artist Studio Residencies in Parks and Park Facilities

Vancouver Park Board’s Fieldhouse Studio program transformed former care-takers’ suites in parks or underused facilities across Vancouver into active spaces for community engaged creative practices. In each cycle artist collectives, food, greening and environmental groups are given free access to these spaces in exchange for engaging neighbours, colleagues and curious visitors in imaginative, collaborative work in parks. These inspiring projects lead communities into deeper conversations about living in the urban environment. Find out more about all 24 Fieldhouse Programs across the Vancouver Park Board here.

JERICHO ARTS CENTRE

Jericho Arts Centre (JAC) is a 135-seat performance venue located off NW Marine Drive near Jericho Beach in the heart of Vancouver’s West Side. It is operated by the Friends of Jericho Arts Centre Society (FoJACS), a non- profit society made up of the users and volunteers who work on JAC.  FoJACS leases JAC from the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.  United Players of Vancouver is the Resident Theatre Company with Fighting Chance Productions and Ensemble Theatre Co-operative being the Resident Guest Companies. Performance time not used by these Companies is made available to the community by application.

The Jericho Arts Centre was commissioned by the Parks Board 1993. Its criteria for use is as follows:
-To expand the access to the arts for all members of the local community
-To provide a variety of options for participation in the arts through association programs and the activities of arts groups
-To develop a collaboration between the community centre and arts groups
-To provide opportunities for a range of artistic disciplines

For more information and upcoming performances visit: http://www.jerichoartscentre.com/

register now!