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Events
Events happening today
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May 24, 2019 May 26, 2019
IT SEEMS TO BE A SPRING FULL OF MAJOR ANNIVERSARIES; several Victoria arts groups are celebrating the passion—and tenacity—that has kept them convening and creating together for decades. Fired Up! is one such enterprise; the ceramic artists’ annual spring collective show is now 35 years old and thriving. Samantha Dickie, one of eight “core members” exhibiting work at Fired Up! this year, says the theme, MONUMENTAL, is in reference to “the nature of the collective, the calibre over the years. The whole group is proud that it’s such a long-standing exhibition and show.”
Dickie’s contemporary approach to ceramics, which includes “abstract expressionism and minimalist sculpture within an installation practice,” will be flanked by Vin Arora, Gordon Hutchens, Cathi Jefferson, Meira Mathison, Beth McMillan, Kinichi Shigeno, and Pat Webber. This year’s special guest artists are Elaine Brewer-White, Peter Flanagan, Bob Kingsmill, Alwyn O’Brien, and Clive Tucker.
Untitled by Vin Arora, 20 x 6 inches
When you google “Fired Up,” you could end up finding a paint-your-own pottery shop—not to be confused with this Fired Up! which convenes the region’s top-notch, professional ceramic artists. “Each member, individually, is teaching and exhibiting across North America,” Dickie explains. The collective, as an entity, is focused solely around the annual three-day, themed show in Metchosin; some years, the members take it on the road to Seattle, Vancouver, or Ontario.
As new members replace or join original members, Fired Up! has morphed into a wonderful confluence of styles and approaches, Dickie observes. “It’s amazing to have this cross-generational camaraderie and influence; the diversity for exhibition; the different kinds of work people are doing. There’s a respect for tradition, mastery, and craft producers that is multigenerational; there’s also an approach to pushing new ways…through the younger generation and the guest artists.”
And it’s definitely not all coffee mugs and salad bowls. “You’ll find practical items, and also things that are pushing the new frontiers of ceramics,” she says. You’ll learn a lot, too. “All artists are there to engage about their work and their craft…it’s a clearing house to find out what people are doing and where.” She says it’s not just a show to sell things, “but to be part of the conversation around ceramics and craft in Canada.”
Fired Up! Ceramic Artists: Contemporary Works in Clay presents MONUMENTAL, Celebrating 35 Years, May 24-26, Metchosin Community Hall, 4401 William Head Road. Opening Gala May 24, 6-9pm; continues May 25 & 26, 10am-5pm. www.firedup.ca.
—Mollie Kaye
Upcoming Events -
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May 24, 2019 02:00 AM 04:00 AM
This event began 2019-05-24 and repeats every week on Thursday until 2019-08-29
Draw by Drawing returns! These are weekly drawing drop-in sessions facilitated by VISA Director, Instructor and Artist, Wendy Welch. A unique fun and imaginative project will be presented each week.
$15/session.
All materials supplied.
Lots of parking! Sessions start next week, Thursday, May 23. This is a great way to put some art in your life without committing to a full course.
Upcoming Events
May 24, 2019 02:45 AM
“Who Wins?: The Battle for California’s Energy Market between Vancouver Island and Puget Sound Coal Mines, 1880 -1914” with Jack Bryden
Presented by the Victoria Historical Society
Thursday, May 23, 2019 at James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies Street, Victoria V8V 2G7. Doors open at 7:15 pm for refreshments and conversation. A short business meeting at 7:45 pm will be followed immediately by the speaker, Jack Bryden. Admission is free for members, $5 for guests. See website www.victoriahistoricalsociety.bc.ca.
How did Vancouver Island energize California? Between 1880 and 1914, the rapidly growing state of California relied on imported coal to power everything from locomotives and warships to stoves and heaters in private homes. Yet, despite tariff barriers and competition from Washington State, Vancouver Island coal producers became the major suppliers of coal to the Golden State.
Jack Bryden, a former employee of the BC Ministry of Environment, is a past-president of the BC Water and Waste Association and the current President of the Victoria Historical Society. Jack and wife Britta presently divide their time between residences in Victoria and Quebec City where Jack is on the Board of the 195 year old Literary and Historical Society of Quebec.
Upcoming Events
