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The Hearth is heating up for summer

Here's what's coming up for the Bowen Island Arts Council.
Second Chances
The latest Gallery show, Second Chances, takes discarded and found items and transforms them into art. The exhibit is on until May 5.

As spring buds, so do many initiatives from the newly-rebranded Bowen Island Arts Council, now operating as the Hearth.

We adopted the name, the Hearth, following a series of focus groups with members of BIAC and the wider community. 

We came to the hearth, as a space and as a metaphor, for the creative in us all. A hearth nurtures the fires of creativity. It is a symbol of transformation. It is a gathering place for clan and community. Local graphic designer, Kirsten Degnar, created the new logo to accompany the brand. And it comes with a promise:  we are all artists here. 

Membership in the arts council is still key to our ability to support arts and culture on Bowen Island and beyond the island. Working with the municipality, we’ve advanced community centre project, with a federal-provincial infrastructure grant application submitted in early January.  Islanders can learn more about this project at a number of upcoming open houses. Fundraising will continue as well.

Our first year in the Gallery @ Commons ended in December with the It’s A Wrap exhibition. The second cycle began in January with the sold-out Lorna Crozier workshop and author’s presentation, co-hosted by the library. The Gallery reopened in February with the Mini Gala exhibition, which concluded with the live auction and black and white ball where we raised over $12,000.

We have lots planned for the Gallery this year. 

Second Chances opened April 3 and May brings the Syrian Art Exhibit: a collaboration between Penticton Art Gallery and the Gallery @ Cove Commons.

Our programming continues with the return of Writing from the Belly of the Whale presented by author, Donaleen Saul. The popular Eat Drink Paint sessions, facilitated by Kathleen Ainscough, continue on May 25, this one inspired by Claude Monet’s water lilies.

The now-acoustically-treated Cove Commons will host two jazz concerts. April 20 at 7:30 p.m. the Christie Grace Quintet will perform a community centre benefit concert. Then on Saturday, May 11, the Marc Atkinson Trio from Hornby Island will provide an evening of Gypsy Jazz. Purchase your tickets early as seats are limited. 

As an umbrella organization for arts and culture on Bowen Island, the mandate of the Bowen Island Arts Council is to further opportunities for the arts and artists and to work in a way that will socially and economically benefit our community. In partnership with the Hearth, the West Vancouver Library features the work of four of Bowen Island’s artists whose work pays homage to island life for the months of March and April. This exhibit was also part of the North Shore Art Crawl and helps to put Bowen artists on the map beyond the island shores.

Finally, our Annual Call For Artists for exhibitions in 2020 has just gone out. Artists can submit their applications by bringing their work to the Gallery @ Cove Commons on Monday, May 27. We welcome submissions from both local and off-island artists. For full information, please visit the website, or pick up an information sheet at the Gallery. We’re open from Wednesday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.