Cats and Dogs at the Shadbolt

Lively City column by Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 12, 2005

Do you love your cat or dog? (And who doesn't love their pet?) Do you have a favourite drawing, painting, photo or other image of that pet?

If so, then the Burnaby Art Gallery is looking for you.

This spring, the city's famed Ceperley House art gallery will be home to The Truth About Cats and Dogs: Portraits of Our Pets, a community-based exhibition that combines professional works from the city's official art collection with works created by the public.

The City of Burnaby Art Gallery is seeking artistic representations of cats and dogs for inclusion in this unique exhibition, which will run from March 8 to April 3. A reception for all participants and guests is set for March 12.

All of the submitted images will hang in the hallowed halls of Burnaby's gallery and share space with Jack Shadbolt's Solid Citizen Cat and Patrick D. Cox's The Cowhand.

Submissions can be a drawing, photo, digital image or painting (on paper), must be no larger than five-by-seven inches and labelled on the back with your pet's name. The deadline for entries is Friday, Feb. 11.

Works can be dropped off in person at the Burnaby Art Gallery, or sent via e-mail to gallery@city.burnaby.bc.ca or through the mail to: Cats and Dogs Show, Burnaby Art Gallery, 6344 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby, B.C., V5G 2J3.

Due to the large volume of expected entries, the submitted artwork cannot be returned.

ONLEY ON NY LIST

Burnaby filmmaker Mehdi Ali has another laurel to add to his already brimming cap after his most recent documentary, Landscape Revealed: The Art of Toni Onley, was listed as a finalist in the 2005 New York Festival film and video competition.

The hour-long documentary, which received rave reviews in both the Globe and Mail and the Burnaby NOW, was among 220 entries in the fine arts and craft category, with only four or five chosen as finalists.

The film, which was four years in the making, looks at the unique art and controversies surrounding Onley, the famed B.C. abstract artist who died in a tragic plane crash on the Fraser River on Leap Year Day, last year.

"The documentary was a tribute to a friend of mine," said Ali, who recently confirmed that the film will be shown at the Montreal International Film Festival and the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival this year.

Last year, Ali's previous documentary Access Challenge, an hour-long film that looked at six teams that took disabled hikers on treks into the Cascade Mountains of Manning Park, won a Silver Hugo Award from the Chicago International Film Festival, and received the TASH Image Award for advocating equity, opportunity and inclusion for people with disabilities.

THEATRE READY TO REOPEN

It appears that the Heights Performance Theatre has found its benefactor and will reopen in time for a shortened schedule this spring.

Caroline Beatty, a north Burnaby resident, longtime nonprofit volunteer, mother of four and aficionado of the performing arts has taken as artistic producer for the society that operates the most intimate theatre in town.

The small theatre company had been in limbo ever since last fall when its founder, Gemini-award winning actor Jim Purcell, opened his Diabetic Pantry food store for people with the blood sugar disorder.

Beatty has the skills time and devotion to help keep the theatre running. Now she's looking for a financial benefactor to help get the next production off the ground.

Stay tuned to the Burnaby NOW for more details in the coming weeks.

SOLID GOLD FOR JEAN RICE

The gala Solid Gold Concert coming to the Orpheum Theatre later this month will be dedicated in honour of a Burnaby resident who passed away last year.

The evening of world-class a cappella harmony will be dedicated to Jean Rice, the founder of the Lions Gate Chorus and one of the most active women in the 50-year history of the Sweet Adelines International in B.C.

The Jan. 22 concert features the Lions Gate Chorus with special guests Brava! and Max Q, and will be hosted by famed Vancouver actor Nicola Cavendish. Current Burnaby residents who sing in the chorus include Pat Titos, Monica Thorsness, Marlene Guthrie, Olivia Gautama, Corinna Garriock and Sofia Layarda de Rama.

Rice, who lived in Burnaby for the last several years of her life, held the first ever rehearsal of the Lions Gate Chorus in her living room in 1954. She was the recipient of a Governor General's Caring Canadian Award in 2001, largely for her work with Sweet Adelines and the Myasthenia Gravis Association, which provides information, support and companionship to people who suffer from the rare autoimmune disease.

The Solid Gold Concert takes place at 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Orpheum Theatre. Tickets are $25 to $75 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster at 604-280-4444.

SNYDER TAKING ON THE WORKS

Former Burnaby arts and cultural services publicist Gord Snyder is settling into his new role helping to publicize what's being billed as the largest art and design festival in North America.

More than 200,000 people are expected to attend The Works, a massive free summer arts festival taking place in Edmonton, Alberta, from June 24 to July 6.

The call for artist submissions to the 20th anniversary of the big event is coming up this week, Jan. 14, and complete details can be found on The Works International Visual Arts Society website at the www.theworks.ab.ca.

Martha Carter, the artist-in-residence at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, is best known for her dynamic works that combine live dance with new media and other forms of art.

And if the compelling press photos of her latest work are any indication, then her audience is in for a real treat later this month when Carter and her company Marta Marta House of Price present The Spell Remains at the Shadbolt Centre on Jan. 28 and 29.

The Spell Remains is an exploration of Carter's 'house ballet' style featuring six dancers - Amber Funk Barton, Lina Fitzner, Katy Harris-Mcleod, Jennifer McLeish-Lewis and Lindsay Prentice - with the lighting of John Carter and the music of composer-DJ-dancer Jacob Cino.

According to the press release, her works "explore the frontiers of the spontaneous and the rehearsed, the live and the digital, the mixing of mediums and the bridging of audiences."

This season, the Shadbolt will a total of 10 different productions, including Sexy Laundry, an Arts Club Theatre production, on Jan. 24 and Leave It To Cleavage starring Ellie Harvie and Diana Frances on Feb. 11 and 12.

Tickets to The Spell Remains are $25 adult, $22 student/senior or $11 youth. Subscriptions to the Shadbolt spring series are $60 for three shows, $100 for six shows, or a variety pack that includes six tickets to whichever shows you like for only $140. For more information, call the subscription information box office 604-205- 3000.

FIDGITAL CD RELEASE PARTY

After five years of slogging through the trenches and many lineup changes, a hardworking and very polished electro-funk band with roots in Burnaby is starting to see the signs of a successful future.

Fidgital, winners of the 2004 Canadian Independent Music Award for favourite electronic artist/group, will be releasing their third album, Renovations, at Buffalo night club in Vancouver on Thursday, Jan. 27.

"Last year was a pretty big year for us, and we're hoping to keep the momentum going," said Keith Gillard, songwriter, producer and keyboardist for the four-piece combo.

Hot on the heels of winning the best electronic band in the country - an honour presented to them by another Burnaby hometown hero, Joe Keithley of DOA fame, during the Canadian Music Awards ceremony in October - the band is now looking forward to working with CBC Radio Three and lining up a busy year of performing.

Gillard said the band defies the stereotypes.

"I call it 'nu pop.' The idea is real pop songwriting - songs people can sing along with - and new production techniques," he said. "We're trying innovative ways of presenting classic songwriting that blends elements of European and Japanese dance music along with songwriting that is influenced by greats like Cole Porter and Antonio Carlos Jobim."

The band reminds me of several Vancouver area groups that joined forces in the early 1980s to create MoDaMu Records, a production company that eventually evolved into the highly successful Nettwerk label.

Fidgital's CD release party for Renovations takes place at The Buffalo Club, 1161 Granville St., Vancouver, at 8 p.m., Jan. 27. Special guests include Beats and Scratches and No Luck Club.

BOOK SIGNING

Burnaby's newest author, former State of Maine criminal investigator Ron Nason, will be signing his most recent work, The Northern Lotus, at the Coles Book store at Lougheed Town Centre through the weekend.

Nason, who previously published the children's book Bandits in the Grapes (it's about a family of raccoons) will be on hand at the book store on the lower floor of the mall for most of the day Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14 to 16.

DANCE AT THE SHADBOLT

Martha Carter, the artist-in-residence at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, is best known for her dynamic works that combine live dance with new media and other forms of art.

And if the compelling press photos of her latest work are any indication, then her audience is in for a real treat later this month when Carter and her company Marta Marta House of Price present The Spell Remains at the Shadbolt Centre on Jan. 28 and 29.

The Spell Remains is an exploration of Carter's 'house ballet' style, featuring six dancers - Amber Funk Barton, Lina Fitzner, Katy Harris-Mcleod, Jennifer McLeish-Lewis and Lindsay Prentice - with the lighting of John Carter and the music of composer-DJ-dancer Jacob Cino.

According to the press release, her works "explore the frontiers of the spontaneous and the rehearsed, the live and the digital, the mixing of mediums and the bridging of audiences."

This season, the Shadbolt has 10 productions, including Sexy Laundry, an Arts Club Theatre production, on Jan. 24 and Leave It To Cleavage, starring Ellie Harvie, on Feb. 11 and 12.

Tickets to any show are $25 adult, $22 student/ senior or $11 youth. Subscriptions to the Shadbolt spring series are $60 for three shows, $100 for six shows or a variety pack that includes six tickets to whichever shows you like for only $140. For more information, call the subscription information box office 604-205- 3000.