BC Arts and Culture Week is a province wide, annual celebration of art during the third week of April. Needing little excuse for a party, Oliver artists in all media delight in showcasing their skills. This spring, several arts groups are in the spotlight.

The week opens with the Oliver Sagebrushers art club presenting Art at the Owl  at the Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Guest House. The Sagebrushers are joined by artists from Osoyoos. The opening reception is from 1 -3 pm on Saturday April 20, with a continuing exhibit and sale during the following week. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Drop by the guest house in the afternoons from 12 – 4 pm daily.

The Sage Valley Voices Community Choir is “puttin’ on the Ritz” with a choral concert of Vaudeville, Broadway and Hollywood hits. Not content to be “just” a choir, the ensemble adds colourful costumes and comedic repartee to enliven the performance.  Audiences have a choice of Saturday  April 20 at 7 pm or a matinee on Sunday April 21 at 2:30 at Oliver United Church. Tickets are $10 at the door, and include refreshments after the concert. Food Bank donations are always welcome.

The arts council takes their monthly “Arts Jam” on tour to the Oliver Regional Library on Tuesday April 22 at 9:30 am. The Friends of the Oliver Library will host the event. Arts Jam is a social gathering of many of the council’s 17 groups and 15 businesses. The primary purpose is to exchange current events news from  the local art scene. The public is always invited to catch up on all things arty in Oliver. The council also takes the opportunity to inform the public of its programmes and projects and address the needs of council members.

Oliver’s fabulous fibre artists invite the public to two open houses during BC Arts and Culture Week. The Double O Quilters Guild host theirs on Wednesday April 24 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Oliver Community Centre Hall. Tour displays and demonstrations throughout the hall.

The Desert Sage Spinners and Weavers Guild fling open their doors the following day at the same venue: Thursday April 25 from 10 am to 1 pm. Watch their flurry of activity at a felting bee. They are currently working on a felting project entitled “Crossing Borders”  for the Association of Northwest Weavers Guilds (ANWG). The local guild is felting two large three-dimensional cottages, one Canadian, one American. The cottages will be linked by a “cross-border” clothesline representing the goodwill between the guilds on both sides of the 49th parallel. The Desert Sage Spinners and Weavers plan to enter the  finished product at the ANWG conference in late June.

Visit Paw Prints Studio and Gallery at 212 Carr Crescent in Willowbrook Valley and the Oliver Art Gallery on Main Street, both of whom are also celebrating BC Arts and Culture Week.

The Oliver Community Arts Council is grateful to Arts BC, who funds BC Arts and Culture Week every year with a small grant  to cover joint publicity. We are also grateful to the Province of BC and the BC Arts Council who support the work of Arts BC.