While I am by no means an artist of any kind, I enjoy being creative. I excelled in drama in school both on stage and behind the scenes. I took jazz and ballet as a kid. I love creative writing and design. While attending Centennial College my friend Danielle always focused her Communications efforts on the arts. (You can read more about it in her blog, Art Gander). Already a bit of an art enthusiast myself, I found this very inspiring and it opened my eyes to many art initiatives in Toronto.
Now that I’m back in Niagara I have been trying to keep up with things going on in the area. Luckily, working for the Niagara 1812 Bicentennial Legacy Council often provides me that opportunity. My boss, Vince Del Buono, is an art enthusiast himself. His own collection of Nigerian art was recently featured in an exhibition at the Niagara Art Centre in downtown St. Catharines. Art and culture have become one of the priorities of the Legacy Council and I am so excited that many of the projects that I’m working on have an art twist.
In particular, I am excited about the upcoming symposium we are hosting, Creating 1812: Commemoration, National Identity and Role of the Arts in Hamilton on April 23 and 24. I think it’s pretty cool how the history of the War of 1812 can be applied to the Arts.
Whether you’re an artist or an art enthusiast the event is shaping up to be a great learning experience. So many great workshops are being offered and the list of presenters is impressive (especially key note speaker and well-known Canadian actor/director, RH Thomson).
In particular, I have been working to shape the workshop on drama. This has put me in touch with many interesting people including the moderator, Ron Weihs who is the Artistic Director of the Artwood Theatre in Hamilton and has a produced a variety of historical plays. He will be presenting, along with the creators of an 1812 musical “Manifest Destinty” and members of the Lewiston Council on the Arts. (If you’re interested check out more program details and registration information at www.discover1812.com.)
All the art initiatives that are taking place for the Bicentennial are so inspiring…and after the symposium I’m sure there will be may more great ideas and projects in the works! It is always a pleasure working on projects I believe in. This is definitely one of them.
