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Celebrating art and community in Ladysmith

Community Canvas and Take a Walk events celebrate BC Arts and Culture Week in Ladysmith.
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Imagination Station participants get started on the Arts Council of Ladysmith and District’s Commuity Canvas Saturday at the Waterfront Gallery.

Ladysmith got a head start on celebrating BC Arts and Culture Week over the weekend.

BC Arts and Culture Week, which is being celebrated April 22-28, is designed to get the whole province involved in art. The Arts Council of Ladysmith and District has received a small grant to help put on two events celebrating art and community.

The Arts Council is hoping to involve the whole community in creating a Community Canvas that will hang outside the Ladysmith Waterfront Art Gallery this summer and welcome visitors to the gallery and to Ladysmith.

The Arts Council invites everyone to bring their enthusiasm to the Ladysmith Waterfront Art Gallery classroom to help paint two four-foot-by-15-foot canvases over the next few weeks.

On Saturday, the gallery’s Imagination Station children were the first to help with the underwater theme. Using their hands, they have created an ocean floor filled with plants, sea stars and oysters.

If you want to join the fun, drop by the Waterfront Gallery Tuesday to Sunday between noon and 4 p.m. from now until April 27 or until the canvases are completed.

“You don’t have to be a Picasso — just bring your desire to paint and wear old clothing in case you get paint on yourself,” says Arts Council president Kathy Holmes. “We’ll provide you with the rest.”

The Arts Council is also working with local businesses and artists to create an art walk in Ladysmith.

Take a Walk  teams up artists and business owners while encouraging Ladysmith residents to Take a Walk, peer in windows or drop into local businesses and discover remarkable original art.

“Not only is the walk good for you, but you may also discover a new business and remarkable art by local artists, right in your own town,” says Holmes.

Step into Ricky’s Restaurant, and you’ll find work by Carrie Kendall. Drop into the Ladysmith and District Credit Union, and you’ll spot Michael Dean’s paintings of boats. Salamander Books and Old Town Bakery are displaying Leona Petrak’s work, while Grant Jewellers is hosting Gail Ralphs, and Brad Grigor’s digital art can be found inside the Chronicle office.

You will find photography, pottery, carving and more by accomplished and well-known artists from Ladysmith in many offices and stores.

Take a Walk during BC Arts and Culture Week and enjoy the art that is all around you. While you are at it, drop into the Waterfront Gallery and see the Arts Council’s April show, The Gods Must Be Crazy, sponsored by Ladysmith Insurance Centres. The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday from noon  to 4 p.m. at 610 Oyster Bay Dr.





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