Poetry Gabriola Society received the official word today that our funding will be cut by the Province of BC by $20,000. What is truly bizarre, however, is that while all artistic endeavors and arts festivals have been cut from the program, the "Arts & Culture" section still funds "cowboy days". New blog at poetrygabriola.com/blog .

For those Poetry Gabriola members who have been following the arts advocacy campaign, I have sent a new letter to my pen-pal, Minister Kevin Krueger. It can be viewed on the PGS blog at http://www.poetrygabriola.com/blog .

It's your favorite day of the year - The Poets' Picnic!!

August 28th, 2010

At the Commons

This year's Poets' Picnic is a three-way collaboration between Poetry Gabriola Society, People For a Healthy Community, and the Gabriola Commons. Poetry Gabriola has had such great partnerships this year we really wanted to embrace the concept of collaboration - the Poets' Picnic is an event where all three partnerships are strengthened!

Festivities begin at the Commons on Saturday, August 28th at noon and will start to wind down around 2:00pm, but may go longer. Hosted by Poetry Gabriola, the picnic will feature Portia Boehm and Miles Black on the outdoor stage along with League of Canadian Poets president D.C. Reid reading from his new book. You can also get tickets to see Miles Black at his fabulous solo show at the Roxy on Saturday night!!

Many Gabriola poets have signed up to read so far, and there will be an open mic for picnickers who are moved to tell a tale or recite a verse. This is a PICNIC, not a potluck, and we ask that you bring your own blanket or chair and a picnic lunch. share if you wish, but please keep your picnic self-contained and take away anything that you bring in with you. Kitchen facilities will not be available. EVERYONE is invited.

This year's Poets' Picnic is a benefit for PHC. This is a free event, but we ask that you bring a tin or two of food or a small cash donation for the food bank. If it pours with rain, we will adjourn to the Mad Rona Coffee Bar!

See You at the PICNIC!!!

Poetry Gabriola is Calling All Poets!

The Annual Poets' Picnic will be held at the Commons on Saturday, August 28th from noon until 2:00pm. We would like to invite all POETS to join us for an afternoon of poetry, music, food and FUN! Please email info@poetrygabriola.com or call Hilary at 250-247-7604 if you would like to READ or PERFORM at the outdoor stage. Please let us know right away so we can add you to the line-up! Stay tuned for more information as the program develops...

Tony Wilson and the Longhand Trio Friday Night!

Friday, August 6th at the Roxy, 7:30pm

Tony Wilson is a sophisticated stylist whose sound reflects the dirty-blues and hipster-bop elements of the big cities where jazz was born. Some of his most popular performances have been his big-band interpretations of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Captain Beefheart. It’s magical stuff, and Wilson will be well supported when he brings his Longhand Trio to the Roxy on Friday (August 6). Bassist Russell Sholberg and drummer Skye Brooks might be city boys, but they’re empathetic enough to join their leader wherever he wants to go, however surprising, delightful, or strange those places might be.

If you like musical adventure, don’t miss this show!

 Admission is only $10, payable at the door.

Holistic Hip Hop from the Heart!

Hip hop classes: August 9th and 10th at Kirkwood Dance Academy, 2138 Bowen Rd

Hip Hop dance and music can be as positive and powerful as it is political.  Crimson Coast Dance Society is offering 2 days of positive, heart based, hip hop classes for everyone of all ages.  August 9 and 10th, HeartCore artist Dustin "Homage" Lee will teach classes at Kirkwood Dance Academy, 2138 Bowen Road (near Northfield).  For those 8 to 14 years old, classes will be held at 12:30pm and 6pm.  For anyone over 14, classes will be held at 2pm and 7pm.  Cost is $12.00 per class.  There are discounts for taking more than one.  The classes are offered to raise funds for The Crimson Coast Dance Society's youth program, The Body Talk Project. 

For information and registration: 250.716.3230

July 29, 2010

Earlier this month I passed on a story by Janet Smith (The Georgia Straight) outlining how the BC Liberals, having slashed arts funding to an unprecedented degree, are now planning to produce a series of new festivals across the province in the three years preceding the next provincial election. Dubbed "B.C. Spirit Festivals" these new events will take place in February 2011, ostensibly as a way to "commemorate the Olympic spirit". It will also be an attempt by the government to repair the appalling optics that have resulted from the Liberals' horrific treatment of the arts and culture sector over the past two years.

Independent arts organizations and professional festivals will not be eligible to apply to this program, (which is funded by $3 million of the paltry $10 million set aside for arts festivals funding in the last budget) and awards will only go to community arts councils and aboriginal cultural organizations. So while this is good news for local Arts Councils, Band Councils and Friendship Centres, established festivals and professional arts organizations that have been impacted by funding cuts in the past two years are once again left out of the running. One can only hope that the organizations that are successful in obtaining funding through this program will produce festivals that are inclusive of other organizations and are not shy of political content. My hope is that the resultant festival events frankly discuss the current situation in the arts instead of pandering to the funding bodies.... Here's an update from the Georgia Straight, and links to the original story.

-peach

Liberals clarify B.C. Spirit Festivals plan to arts groups

By Janet Smith

The province has confirmed details about the controversial new B.C. Spirit Festivals it is funding out of the $10 million arts Legacy money in its last budget.

In an announcement released today, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts said $3 million will be directed toward the February festivals.

The events are meant to "renew the pride and excitement British Columbians experienced during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," arts and tourism minister Kevin Krueger stated in the release.

The program will be administered by the Assembly of BC Arts Councils, with support from the BC Arts Council. Grants will be handed out based on population, providing up to $50,000 to produce festivals in communities. Applications will be chosen through a "peer-review process", according to the release.

Those applications will be accepted from August 1 to October 6, 2010. There is also a hint in the release that any leftover money may flow to festivals already in place: "after this initial intake, support may be available for festivals that embody the vision of BC Spirit, and take place throughout 2011."

Word of the festivals has raised the ire of the arts community, which is facing drastic funding cuts.

Aside from seeing the loss of almost all funding from gaming, local arts groups are also seeing major cuts to core funding. In the provincial budget at the beginning of March, it was announced that there would be $10 million given to arts as part of an Olympics legacy. But because the announcement came at the same time as cuts to core funding and gaming grants, arts groups have called for the $10 million to be given to the arm’s length B.C. Arts Council to hand out to groups.

When he got wind of the Spirit festivals, NDP culture critic Spencer Herbert Chandra noted the irony of funding such new events when so many festivals are suffering from funding cuts. “They’ve eviscerated the B.C. Arts Council by cutting them by 50 percent, they’ve decimated gaming funding. People just want stable funding for the arts, distributed by a jury process,” he told the Straight. “I hope these are not going to be government propaganda festivals." (See story at http://www.straight.com/article-333125/vancouver/bulk-10million-arts-leg....)

Full details on the program are at http://www.bcartscouncil.ca/legacy/index.html.

New BLOG post on BC Spirit Festivals Update

Check out my BLOG about the latest Liberal blunder at making nice with provincial arts and culture at http://www.poetrygabriola.com/blog

Tony Wilson at the Roxy, Friday August 6th at 7:30pm

Weeks like this, Gabriola seems pretty much like the best place in the world. Those of us who know and love Hornby Island, however, might concede that our northern neighbour has a fractional edge in terms of beauty—consider the stunning panoramas of Helliwell Park, or Whaling Station Bay’s white-sand beach. And it’s hard not to think of those vistas when listening to Hornby Island guitarist Tony Wilson, whose music seems very much about the place where he lives.

Sure, there are urban elements to it as well: Wilson’s a sophisticated stylist whose sound reflects the dirty-blues and hipster-bop elements of the big cities where jazz was born. Some of his most popular performances have been his big-band interpretations of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Captain Beefheart. But in smaller settings there’s a clarity to his approach that reflects the immense seascapes of Hornby, an intimacy that speaks of quiet nights in front of a crackling wood fire, and sometimes a hint of eeriness as well, suggestive of foggy winter walks in the cedar forest.

It’s magical stuff, and Wilson will be well supported when he brings his Longhand Trio to the Roxy on Friday (August 6). Bassist Russell Sholberg and drummer Skye Brooks might be city boys, but they’re empathetic enough to join their leader wherever he wants to go, however surprising, delightful, or strange those places might be.

If you like musical adventure, don’t miss this show!

 Admission is only $10, payable at the door.

New Poems in CORVUS

Check out new poems by Gary Prideax, Robin Oates and Heldor Schäfer

Greeting to All!!

Summer is finally here and we are looking forward to a great season of arts events on Gabriola!

Poetry Gabriola has two pieces of biggish news for July:

7th Annual General Meeting

July 15th, 2010, 7:00pm @ Mad Rona's

First, PGS will hold its 7th Annual General Meeting on Thursday, July 15th at 7:00pm. The AGM will be at Mad Rona's Coffee Bar, 520 North Road. This meeting is open to the public and all members in good standing are eligible to vote. The agenda will include a re-cap of the 2009-2010 season, the presentation of 2009 Financial Statements, the election of the Board of Directors and a discussion of plans for the upcoming year. And to spice it up a bit, we are combining the AGM with our second piece of news...

CORVUS Online Poetry Magazine Launch!

Poetry Gabriola's NEW MAGAZINE is up and running!!! CORVUS is an online magazine that will serve to act as a forum for poetry and related items submitted by our members. Submissions are SOOO welcome! Please send your poems to corvus@poetrygabriola.com . After the AGM on July 15th we will be launching CORVUS, with short readings by Patsy Ludwick, Naomi Beth Wakan, Lisa Webster-Gibson and more!

Hope to see you on July 15th!

Hilary Peach

Artistic Director, Poetry Gabriola Society