Screaming success

ripoffs 2016Here is a photo of the RipOff artists with their creations just after the bell rang on Saturday signalling the end of this year’s challenge.

Although the iconic painting, “The Scream” by Edvard Munch is considered a depressing picture, the RipOffs did their best to liven it up.   Each of the nine artists added an element from the previous nine years challenges: perhaps a dancing girl from Toulouse Lautrec, a cypress by Vincent van Gogh, or a tulip by Geoorgia O’Keeffe. In addition, the current challenge was to add an anachronism – often a reason for the “scream”. For example, a number of artists chose some form of industrialization or climate change in the background as their anachronism. Guest artist, Bethany Handfield with her encaustic talent was a delightful addition.

To celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary, a grand opening reception was held in “big blue”.  Guests were surrounded by previous year’s RipOff challenge pieces.  Shown together the impressive display gave kudos to the merits of the RipOff’s artistic achievements.

The artists wish to thank the Oliver Community Arts Council  for their support in mounting this year’s special anniversary challenge.

Who knows what the group will conjure up for next year.  Perhaps something acknowledging Canada’s 150th birthday….any suggestions?

Federation of Canadian Artists on display at local winery

FCA Art at Tinhorn
by Carol Munro, FCA

“Art at Tinhorn” – The Artists of the South Okanagan-Similkameen return to Tinhorn Creek Vineyards with their annual summer exhibition of fine art. August 23 to September 8, daily from 10-6.

This popular annual summer show and sale features paintings by the Artists of the South Okanagan-Similkameen, all of whom belong to the Federation of Canadian Artists. You can expect to see paintings in a colourful array of media: oils and acrylics, watercolours, encaustics and mixed media.

A visit to “Art at Tinhorn” makes a great outing, and it’s a good way to showcase for summer visitors our rich and lively world of art. So plan to spend some time with art. Visit Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, between August 23 and September 8. The Tinhorn gallery is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Exercise your legs and your brain

Walking Tour 1

Where: Visitor Centre, 6431 Station St.

When: 10 am on Fridays in August

Join our Young Canada Works students on a guided tour of our downtown heritage. Tours will be offered in August on Fridays at 10 am, weather dependent, starting at the Oliver Visitor Centre.

Bring a hat, shades and water bottle and learn about our built heritage, Oliver’s early days, and other fun historical facts. Tours will run through August 30. If you’d like to do the tour on your own time, stop by the Archives, Museum or Visitor Centre for a copy of the self-guided tour.

Want more information about the Oliver and District heritage Society, Museum, and Archives? Click on the PDF link below to read the latest Lamplighter newsletter.

Lamplighter Summer 2013

Art Happening with Federation of Canadian Artists

by Carol Munro, FCA

FCA Art Happening

The Artists of the South Okanagan-Similkameen return to Shatford Centre with “Art Happening”, an exhibition of fine art on view from August 2 – September 12.
“Art Happening” is a new show opening at August 2 at Shatford Centre in Penticton. The exhibiting artists are all members of the Federation of Canadian Artists, and you will find a wide range of media on view: watercolours, oils, encaustics, acrylics and mixed media among them.
A visit to the show makes a great outing on a summer’s day, and it’s a good opportunity to showcase for summer visitors the lively world of art to be found in our neighbourhood!
So plan to spend some time with art. Visit Shatford Centre to see “Art Happening”, any time between August 2 and September 12. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday 9-5. Shatford Centre is located at 760 Main Street in Penticton.

Old-Fashioned Picnic — with games and cake

by Helen Overnes, Oliver Women’s Institute President

BCWIThe Oliver Women’s Institute is celebrating their 90 years of working in this community and wish to invite interested citizens, families with children or grandchildren and visitors to

Family Picnic

Sunday August 18th

11am – 3 pm

Oliver Parks & Recreation Grounds (by the Oliver Community Bandshell)

 

11:00     Introduction of Dignitaries

11:15     Historical background of area 90 years ago by Helen Overnes.

              Presentation of our work by members

11:30     Entertainment

12:30     Meet and Greet / Family Picnic

1:30       Team Games for 6 – 12 Year Olds

              Obstacle Race for Parents

2:30       Birthday Cake

 

Admission: $2 per family.
Bring a picnic… water and juice will be provided. Hats, chairs, rugs, umbrellas, sunscreen and your children for an interesting fun time discovering what we were like back in 1922 when the area was opened up for Agriculture for Veterans of WW1 and other people hoping to find a better life for their families. In 2013 we are now a prosperous fruit & vegetable growing area and the Wine Capital of Canada.
For more information:  250-498-4705

Four arts groups win contracts

Arts Jam  blank

Four local arts groups have been awarded funds from the Oliver Community Arts Council (OCAC) to supply public arts programming in the

2013-14 season.  Contracted Service Agreements permit groups to function as an “arm” of the arts council by providing public artistic events  in accordance with the OCAC mandate.

The Oliver Sagebrushers  was awarded a contract to run two weeks of “Art and Gardening” during August 2013. The lessons will be open to both children and adults.

The South Okanagan Concert Society was granted an award to assist with their upcoming concert series: Bergmann Duo (piano), Musica Intima (vocal ensemble) , Khac Chi (bamboo instrumentalists), and Ken Lavigne (tenor).

The Sage Valley Voices Community Choir received funding for their Christmas Concerts, December 7 – 8, 2013.

The Friends of the Oliver Library successfully applied for financial assistance for their 2014 Summer Reading Program for Children, specifically, to hire a professional magician to entertain participants at one event.

The maximum amount an applicant can request is $500. The award is based on adherence to the OCAC constitutional mandate, meritorious programming, and demonstrated financial need. All applicants were successful this year, receiving full funding for the amounts they each requested.

The next round of Contracted Service Agreements (CSAs) will be evaluated next year, in June 2014 for programming from Sept 2014 – August 2015. CSA applications are always available for downloading from the OCAC website (oliverartscouncil.org) on the “Forms” page. Deadline: June 1 of each year.

Picture This!

Picture This
Artists of the South Okanagan-Similkameen Exhibition 
at Picture This Gallery
submitted by Carol Munro
Displaying their work in a new venue, The Artists of the South Okanagan-Similkameen invite you to an exhibition of fine art at Picture This Gallery in Penticton, beginning June 15.The show includes work from the studios of 30 local artists, all of them members of the Federation of Canadian Artists. You’ll see a variety of styles and media, from encaustics, pastels and mixed media to acrylics,
oils and watercolours. So, plan to make a date with art! Come along — and bring some friends! — to the opening reception on Saturday June 15, from 11:00 a.m.
to 2:00 p.m. The show will continue until July 27.
Picture This Gallery is located at 133 Westminster Avenue West. The gallery hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The exhibition is supported by the Penticton and District Community Arts Council.

Best quilters in Canada found right here at home

Set in Stone full

The South Okanagan can boast some of the best quilters in Canada, as seen in the Canadian Quilters Association’s National Juried Show held in Penticton, May 16-18.

Marianne Parsons from Oliver won first place in the Original Design Abstract Pictorial category for her “Set in Stone” quilt (at left) with 5 fossil panels on it. The award came with a $1000 prize. Marianne is a member of the Fabricators, a local art quilt group, and the Double O Quilters Guild. She is also a member of the Fibre Art Network, and will participate in a curated show of work by that group at the La Conner Quilt Museum in La Conner, WA, Oct. 10 – Dec. 31, 2013. Two of her quilts can also be seen in the Grand National exhibit at the Josef Schneider Quilt Haus in Waterloo, ON for the summer.

Joan Bielun from Penticton (another one of the Fabricators) also won first prize in her category for her “Elements of Change” quilt featuring the giant Wave. It was nice to see that the first award of the evening ceremony in Penticton went to a Penticton resident! That quilt is the cover quilt on the national magazine, The Canadian Quilter, summer issue.

Maya Brouwer  Hide and Seek  TTex viewers choice

Maya Brouwer, a former Oliver resident, now a Double O Quilters Guild member living near Victoria and a Fabricator as well, won the Viewer’s Choice award for her Trend-Tex Challenge, “Hide and Seek” (at left). Her piece also earned the highest bid at the event.

Miriam March Lattice Garden

Miriam March is a Double O Quilters member and is a longarm quilter from Rock Creek. She took first place in Canada in the Bed or Wall Quilt longarm quilted category at Quilt BC with her quilt, “Lattice Garden”. (pictured foreground below, Pat Kelly photo, Boundary Creek Times)

Several other area quilters earned awards as well. Judy Harpur from Rock Creek, (who grew up in Oliver), earned a Judge’s Award for her quilt, “Picasso’s 39 Ford”, and Karen Thatcher from the Grand Forks area won 2nd place in the Original Design, Abstract Pictorial category. 

To see all of the winning quilts, go to www.canadianquilter.com then click on Galleries on the red bar, and then on NJS 2013.

Seeing double at Oliver Art Gallery

[slideshow_deploy id=’7677′]June is the month where the South Okanagan starts to hum. With daily sunshine, sweet smells from the orchards, people are happily looking foreword to Summer. The Oliver Art Gallery Artists, are also inspired to go out and paint the local scenes and produce more of the fine art, the gallery is famous for.

This month, as a special to bring in Summer, we have a double spectacular show by featuring, not one, but two of our fine artists.

The art of Nancy Gray and Jennifer Farnell will be displayed during June. These two are spectacular artists in different ways. One is a detailed realist, while the other is inspired by life’s situations and emotions.

Nancy Gray took several art classes in 2003, which re-ignited her need to be creative. She continued painting and then moved to the South Okanagan in 2007 and thoroughly loves it here. After getting established, she joined the Artists on Main in Osoyoos in 2008 and then the Federation of Canadian Artists as a supporting member. She was juried to Active status in May 2009. In June 2012 she joined us, at the Oliver Art Gallery.  Nancy usually works in watercolour, however she does like to explore in other mediums like graphite and acrylic.

Jennifer Farnell paints from life’s inspirations, feelings and imagination. She never uses a reference photo. Her work lets the observer interpret whatever it is they may see or feel in their own unique way. Jennifer paints mainly in acrylics and he work has sold in many venues between Alberta and B.C.

The Oliver Art Gallery is lucky to have Nancy and Jennifer add to the variety of styles and mediums by its 20 artists. Drop in to view the high quality art, ceramics and jewelry.

The gallery is at 6046 Main Street, open Tuesday – Saturday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Great Moments in Art with FCA artists

after-the-storm robertsWelcoming the return of spring, The Artists of the South Okanagan-Similkameen (Federation of Canadian Artists chapter) are presenting an exhibition of their art at Leir House, beginning on Friday May 24. The show includes work from the studios of many local artists, all of them members of the Federation of Canadian Artists. You’ll see a range of styles and media, from acrylics and oils, to watercolours, encaustics, pastels and mixed media. It’s a collection full of energy and colour, and it’s called “Great Moments in Art”.  Plan to make a date with art, and come along—and bring a friend!-

Great Moments in Art

May 24 – June 21

Tuesday through Saturday

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Opening Reception

Friday May 24

6-8 pm.

Leir House Cultural Centre,

220 Manor Park Avenue,  Penticton

Make some time for some “Great Moments in Art”, supported by the Penticton  and District Community Arts Council. For further information, contact Leir House at 250-492-7997.

The South Okanagan – Similkamenn chapter of the FCA is  a member of the Oliver Community Arts Council.

Artwork: “After the Storm” by Bonny Roberts