The Ladysmith Arts Council plans to start out the new year with a bang got cold water splashed on them quite literally.
The pre-Christmas windstorm that rocked much of the Island put a hole in the roof of the LAC’s Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery, forcing the postponement of their January exhibit Juxtaposition and moved the Jan. 5 panel discussion by well-known community artists Grant Leier, Nixie Barton and Shelia Norgate — on the topic “Creativity and Commerce: Strange Bedfellows” — to the Aggie Hall.
But the LAC — often described as the most active arts council on the Island — is soldiering on.
In addition to a play writing competition sponsored in conjunction with the Yellow Point Drama Group (more on that coming next week) the council is also hosting its 100 day challenge, which invites artists of all media to create something every day until April 10.
Anyone can join in by signing up on the Ladysmith Arts Council’s Facebook page, and then posting a photo of what they have painted, drawn or sculpted that day, says Ladysmith Arts Council president Kathy Holmes.
“So for 100 days, it’s incredible to see the progression and how people change. One of our artists last year copied old portraits, she created these 100 paintings of old masterpieces and sold them for 20 bucks each. They were just amazing,” says Holmes. The idea is to start out the new year by getting everyone to exercise their artistic muscles, she adds.
“There’s lots of encouragement from other artists and it’s all about being positive,” says Holmes.
On that note, the council have also started a new project called “Love”, that came out of the push to get Ladysmith to adopt a poet laureate. To encourage the poetic inspirations of the community, they are inviting writers of all ages in the community to compose poems about Ladysmith and Stz’uminus.
“We’re going to do a poetry trail, so a lot of the poems will be in shop windows, along the Holland Creek Trail, they could be hanging on a tree so you could read them, or if you’re first nations they could be on the paths to the schools, just bringing this love for our community together,” says Holmes.
The poetry trail will start in mid-January and run until Valentine’s Day.