Posts Tagged ‘Flin Flon’

Flin Flon’s MLA weighs in on Culture Days

November 28th, 2010 by Culture Days

Read below for remarks about Culture Days from Gerard Jennissen, MLA for Flin Flon, Manitoba. Published by The First Perspective: News of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, November 25, 2010.

Dancing down Main Street, Culture Days 2010 in Flin Flon, Manitoba (photo: Crystal Kolt)

Mr. Speaker, on the weekend starting Friday, September 24th, Flin Flon and surrounding communities hosted the very first, and super successful, Culture Days. It comes as no surprise to me that there is overwhelming support for arts and culture in Northern Manitoba.

The first Culture Days were part of a grassroots movement across the country to encourage participation in the arts and culture by hosting a weekend of free activities across Canada.

In Flin Flon, a dedicated group of volunteers – spearheaded by the Flin Flon Arts Council and its many partners – put on an impressive program of events over the weekend that showcased a variety of local art and performances. The activities in Flin Flon included artists and participants from Northern Manitoba and across Canada.

Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross and I had a chance to participate in the opening ceremonies which took place at the Gala Café tent near the Flin Flon community centre. We spent much of the day sampling the many creative offerings. We enjoyed watching mask-making at the R.H. Channing Auditorium as part of the youth programming and were impressed by the creative exhibitions in the Sportex, among other things.

There was much to choose from. There were explorations of the rich history of Manitoba’s earliest mining community, live concerts showcasing Northern artists, workshops for young people, and a variety of art exhibits. Hundreds of people joined in a Flash Mob Dance down Main Street on Saturday night and the museums had to stay open extra hours to accommodate the high demand.

Over 5,000 people attended Culture Days. Attendance rivaled that of major centres in Manitoba. Flin Flon and region’s Culture Days events were spotlighted in national media coverage – which just goes to show what a success it truly was. Arts and culture are alive and well in this vibrant region of Northern Manitoba.

Congratulations to all of those participating in Culture Days – especially the North’s most creative sparkplug, Crystal Kolt. I’m not sure how the artistic community in Flin Flon is going to outdo itself next year, but as always I’m confident there will be even greater and more sophisticated artistic activities on the horizon.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Gerard Jennissen, MLA for Flin Flon, Manitoba

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All Good Things Come in Small Packages

July 29th, 2010 by Crystal Kolt

‘All good things come in small packages’ I’ve heard this saying all of my life and although sometimes I didn’t want to agree, it always seemed to be true. I mourned my skinny legs and 56 pounds at age twelve, skinny arms while pounding out Chopin in my teens and 20’s and would give anything to have a taste of that ‘problem’ today (I’m planning a Valerie Bertinelli-esque comeback). Similarly when my husband and I were studying Piano duo in New York with fabulous piano duo teacher/performer Jeaneane Dowis, one of her many words of wisdom was to build our career in a small community where you can hone your art, survive with family and friends during those ‘thrifty’ years shall we say then move on up the circuit.

Well the small town she meant was Winnipeg and as life would have it we would invest in those words by heading eventually more North until we would arrive at the best artistic time in our lives in a town (it’s actually still called a City because at one time its population was over 10,000 and once you’re called a City you’re a city) of 6,000 people called Flin Flon. We left Winnipeg thinking that we were leaving music behind forever. You see 15 years ago when we were professional musicians (Mark with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Contemporary Dancers and myself teaching piano and enjoying being a stay at home mom with our two children) government cuts seemed to be happening all over the place and we either had to come up with a plan or live off of the kids in our old age. One law degree later led us to this northern community.

Little did we know what we were getting into. Did we gulp when we drove past the Welcome to Flin Flon Home of Bobby Clarke billboard? Yes but we soon found out that this place was also once the home of famed Tenor Jon Vickers, the Young family (Neil’s dad and grandparents), the Prices and the Goodman’s. Twenty five years earlier, music and musical theatre was HUGE in this community!

Hearing about our musical past, we were embraced. Within a few months a chorus of 40 people was formed, a year later it was up to 80 and it swells to over the 100 person mark yearly. We have performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony, many amazing independent Canadian artists and 25 of our group joined in the New York premier of Scott Macmillan’s Celtic Mass for the Sea in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Alternating between classical masterworks and musical theatre productions we have also created and produced original musical theatre that have received National recognition (check out Bombertown the Musical on Youtube if you want). Our peers shake their heads in wonder. How is it possible?

We love our small community and we’re not the only ones. I’ll bet R. Murray Schaefer, Heather Bishop or Irvin Head would back me up. We love getting to the ‘big city’ to cheer on our friends but ‘no matter how humble there’s no place like home’. I CHEER ON ALL SMALL COMMUNITIES IN CANADA TO CELEBRATE CULTURE DAYS! By the way, I have to admit I now enjoy watching a few games of Hockey and a few players have joined the Flin Flon Community Choir. There’s balance in everything.

Crystal Kolt

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Manitoba Update

July 26th, 2010 by manitoba

Have you checked out the Culture Days celebration schedule for Manitoba lately? Below you’ll find links and updates on how things are coming together for Culture Days in Manitoba’s towns and cities. Winnipeg has some fantastic activities planned, as do Flin Flon, Brandon and Portage la Prairie.

New Culture Days activities for Manitoba are being registered often and we expect to see activities posted in Gimli and Saint Eustache in the coming weeks. There will be lots of opportunity to explore the arts and cultural scene en français in Saint Boniface with activities in the works for the Maison des artistes, the Saint Boniface Museum, The Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre and more!

Keep checking the website for updates and remember it’s not too late to consider organizing your own Culture Days activity!

Big city sizzle

Come Culture Days, Winnipeg will be ready to show us why it was awarded Cultural Capital of Canada this year! Wonderfully creative activities are planned for the community’s Culture Days celebration including interactive art-making experiences at the cre8ery, Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library’s Crafternoon event, a celebration of independent theatre with playwright readings at FemFest 2010 and the CITY STORIES mobile story exchange project to name just a few.

Existing events and festivals are tying into Culture Days, too. Thin Air, Winnipeg’s International Writer’s Festival and its francophone component Foyer des écrivains will have plenty of free events during the Culture Days weekend. Prairie Theatre Exchange is moving Winnipeg’s largest celebration of new plays to September and the full three-day schedule of free play readings, backstage tours and acting workshops will be added to the Culture Days Celebration Schedule very soon.

The first edition of Winnipeg’s Nuit Blanche celebrations is being launched during the Culture Days weekend in Manitoba – watch the blog for more details on this all-night celebration of the arts on Saturday, September 25!

Brandon joins the party
September 25 is shaping up to be a blow-out celebration of arts and culture in Brandon! The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba invites daytime visitors to contribute to a graffiti mural, a collective needlepoint project and to join in the fun of making a comic book! At 7:00pm it will be time to head down to 10th Street for performances, artist talks and other hands-on activities. Keep watching the website as new information is added to the Culture Days Celebration Schedule for Brandon.

Arts and culture northern style
Culture Days in Flin Flon will have something for everyone from hip hop to animation to quilting, from concerts to modern visual arts to traditional birch-biting displays and plenty of opportunity to meet and mingle with professional artists. Heritage figures will roam the towns to share their stories with passersby and the Gala café in Flin Flon will have entertainment every evening in an elegant setting.

The Flin Flon Arts Council and its many partners have been very active in organizing Culture Days activities. Check out this blog post from Crystal Kolt reflecting on how they’re creating such a vibrant Culture Days celebration for Flin Flon.

Portage la Prairie

In Portage la Prairie, be sure to check out the War Brides exhibition at Portage & District Arts Centre – this exhibition of paintings and multimedia installations from Calgary artist Bev Tosh depicts the experience of young women from around the world meeting and marrying their husbands during World War II, including Tosh’s own mother. The War Brides exhibition has been making it’s way across the country since 2006.

Manitoba’s Culture Days Project Manager

Manitoba’s Culture Days Project Manager Nicole Matiation has been liaising with many other groups across the province about their plans and ideas for Culture Days. There is still time to register a Culture Days activity so be sure to connect with Nicole.

Important note! Plans are underway for a printed bilingual Manitoba Culture Days program guide and other promotional opportunities. Please register on the Culture Days website by August 10 to be included in the Manitoba print program guide. The same deadline applies for inclusion in the francophone and bilingual activity guide.

Nicole Matiation
Culture Days Project Manager for Manitoba
Email: nicolematiation@culturedays.ca
Phone: (204) 942-8221

Keep Reading
Browse through the Culture Days blog for more information on Culture Days in the Manitoba region.

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Communities self-mobilizing across the country

July 2nd, 2010 by Culture Days

Last week, on June 22, 2010, some 25 people joined the bi-weekly telephone information session for a roundtable on community organizing. Amazing reports were heard from communities across the country that have taken up the Culture Days vision and made it their own:

  • Simone Georges from 4th Line Theatre was on the line representing the Peterborough Culture Days committee. They’ve received some funding from the Community Futures Development Corporation in Ontario to hire a part-time coordinator who will coordinate, archive and chronicle Culture Days activities in Peterborough until the end of September. How did this group start? Read more on the Culture Days blog.
  • The London Arts Council and the Ottawa Arts Council are spearheading the movement in their respective Ontario communities. Both organizations reported that it was a “no brainer” to get involved with the national movement. Read their suggestions for generating interest and organizing your community.
  • Sheila McKinnon, from the City of Surrey, BC was happy to report that the Culture Days timing is just perfect for them. A decommissioned fire hall has been converted in a new cultural centre; it will be officially inaugurated during the Culture Days weekend with activities at the new centre covering the full 3-day period.
  • Crystal Kolt, Cultural Coordinator of the Flin Flon Arts Council was on the line but with so many people on the call, unfortunately, Crystal didn’t get a chance to make her report. Fortunately, you can read her 6 Tips for Community Organizers on the Culture Days blog.
  • Liesl Jauk, calling from the City of Richmond, BC, is running a local campaign to let people know about Culture Days, remind them of any deadlines, and to help promote activities in the area. The City will also produce its own programming for Culture Days. The Richmond Cultural Centre will be a hub where artists will be invited to join with city-operated activities. (Remember, if you have space to share with artists and other activity organizers, add your name to this list of venue operators.)
  • Also on the line were some people who are interested in seeing Culture Days take root in their community (but official plans or working groups have not been developed yet). Anna Rose from Stouffville (ON) reported that the idea is still in its early stages in her community, but following this telephone meeting, with all the templates and resources available, she thinks they’ll hit the ground running now. Eliza Hemingway, from Chemainus (BC) described her ambitions for this first year of Culture Days as modest, but challenging for the context she is working in. “I would just like to try to get artists out of their studios, into one venue for year one. […] We already have two restaurants on board, and a few people with outdoor spaces.”

Read part 2 of community updates from this call, from the London Arts Council (ON), Ottawa Arts Council (ON), Town of Kindersley (SK), City of Burnaby (BC).

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We’re Crossing The Line!

June 11th, 2010 by Crystal Kolt

Manitoba and Saskatchewan are erasing the lines this CULTURE DAYS. For the past 9 months, artists, museums, municipalities and school divisions have been sitting at a very large round table discussing how to make CULTURE DAYS in North Central Canada the best it can be. With the huge benefit of being border communities, Flin Flon, Manitoba and Creighton Saskatchewan are joining forces… and artists to explore the unique arts, culture and heritage found in this part of Canada. We love it all! Birch bark biting, animal Tufting, a huge musical scene including the Flin Flon Community Choir which not only brought Canada 2 original musicals theatre productions to Canada including BOMBERTOWN but also joined forces and voices with our friends in Nova Scotia to premier Scott Macmillan’s fantastic work CELTIC MASS FOR THE SEA in New York’s CARNEGIE HALL. Great Theatre companies and our Artists include Sculptor Irvin Head, Jason Lucas, Linda Mandes and Elaine Angelski. We can’t wait to see and hear artists and performers from Thompson, MB , Churchill, MB Cranberry Portage and The Pas MB.
We Can’t Wait!

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