The CreComm Cave? or Procrastinate - CreComm Style, Part 2

With IPP panels appearing on the horizon for Monday, I’ve been doing some strategic prep on my increasingly frequent breaks between homework.

Rather unintentionally, I found myself looking up past episodes of the CBC program Dragon’s Den on YouTube for some quick entertainment, and learned some valuable lessons for when we all face the CreComm Dragons next week:


#1 Being cute, creative, and funny isn’t enough.



#2 Don’t argue if you get rejected.



#3 Have realistic goals and don’t be creepy/patronizing.



#4 Great ideas fall flat if you can’t convince the panel you have a solid strategy and interested markets.



#5 Be able to explain yourself in plain English, and under a minute.

Redefining art: alt. mag

This was a week of milestones in CreComm.

First, deciding on an IPP that I’m actually excited about and just might work out; second, watching a screenplay that I wrote get filmed (and realising just how cheesy my lines were); and finally, yesterday afternoon, hitting the send button that emailed the final PDF of our magazine to our printer.

Yes, hitting the presses this weekend is Manitoba’s first alternative art magazine, alt., featuring artists, exhibits, music programs and even exercise classes that push the boundaries of what is defined as “art”.

From researching, interviewing, writing the articles, and creating the ads, to laying it all out on InDesign and painstakingly pouring over every inch of every page to make sure everything was as it should be, we are all really happy with the result.

In the past few days we all worked incredibly hard so that it was not just ‘finished’, but a finished product we (Caitlin MacGregor, Jeremy Williams, Karleigh Danowski, and me) are proud to have our names on.

24 pages, 7 articles, 6 full page ads, 3 months.

No sweat, eh?

Mennonites and art: paradox, or a natural pairing?

Photo credit: me.

Traveling to Morden, Manitoba can inspire visions of corn and apples (at its annual festival), fossils (at the discovery centre), or even roses (from the research centre’s plant cross breeding program) – certainly not canvases and paintbrushes. But visiting the Pembina Hills Arts Centre will change that mindset.

Located in what was the town’s original post and customs office, complete with a functional clock tower, the centre – run by the Pembina Hills Arts Council – is easily spotted blocks away from its location at 352 Stephen St.

Creating awareness and encouraging artistic expression in the 7,000 strong community began in the 1960s, but was spearheaded in the 1980s by Pamela York-Hardy who “was an artist from B.C. who came up here and went ‘this place needs some culture’,” said Monica Friesen, the centre’s administrative director.

York-Hardy didn’t have to look far: today, the council represents 16 communities from Pilot Mound to Altona, in an area – which may surprise some tourists – teeming with amateur and professional artists.

“It’s kind of a paradox,” said Friesen, “It’s a very prominent Mennonite area which means historically [the people were] humble, simple, peaceful, quiet, don’t be proud. But then we have this burst of artistic talent.”

Admission is free, and visitors can browse the four galleries, two of which currently display the centre’s March exhibit: a tribute to the work of the late Margaret Dykman, along with equally impressive paintings and sculptures from her father, husband, son, granddaughter, and niece.

Upstairs, galleries three and four house a variety of local work (landscapes, portraits, and abstracts) as well as classrooms for drawing, painting, and pottery which occupy what was once the postmaster’s residence. The living quarters, including the kitchen and bathroom, are well intact and explained in detail (complete with a ghost story) by Friesen, who offers group tours of the building.

This rich blend of history and art makes the centre an important asset to the community.

“Arts is everywhere and people don’t realise it,” said Friesen. “They’re reluctant to come into an arts centre and go ‘I don’t get it’ or ‘this is boring’, but when you look at the history and the story of these artists, we’re all connected.”

This is true even for artists originating outside the community. William Reed moved to Morden from Saskatchewan and has several acrylic paintings in the centre showcasing his self-taught skills.

“To be accepted into a new community, I wanted to show in the community art gallery. [Now] I’m making friends and [I get to] share information with fellow artists.”

Visitors can share in the fruits of the artists’ labours in the centre’s sizable gift shop containing all things handmade: dinnerware (pottery mugs as low as $15); jewelry (earrings starting at $20); paintings; photography; corn and apple shaped beeswax candles; and soup, cake, and beer bread mixes.

The Pembina Hills Arts Centre is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10-5 PM in Morden, about a two hour drive from Winnipeg. Visit www.pembinahillsart.com or www.mordenmb.com for more information.

Second time's still a charm: Basia Bulat at WECC

Almost two years since her last performance in Winnipeg at Folk Fest, indie songstress Basia Bulat returned to the city Thursday night to promote her new album Heart of My Own and played at the next place you’d find folkies (at least during the winter): the West End Cultural Centre.

(all photos by me at flickr)

Just after 8 PM, opener Katie Stelmanis strode onto the stage to sit at the venue’s old Baldwin piano – which immediately revealed a poor choice in stage setup: Positioning the piano at the far right of the stage had Stelmanis singing into the wings, rather than to the audience, and gave half of the crowd stage left nothing more than a clear view of her back.

But the Toronto-native tried to work with the arrangements, making tentative jokes about her lack of view which eventually gave way to the usual takes on Winnipeg weather. Her music, similar in style to that of Regina Spektor, combines her opera-trained vocal range with a shot or two of punk and synthesizer.

Her set received a polite but otherwise quiet reception from the almost, if not entirely full-house crowd who were clearly anticipating Bulat – and were a little displeased by her late arrival: at 30 minutes since Stelmanis’ last song, one man rose from his seat and shook his fist at the still empty stage.

Five minutes later, Bulat and her band hurried onto the stage to loud applause, jumping straight into a (disappointingly guitar-led, but nonetheless beautifully performed) rendition of her new album’s title track, Heart of My Own.

Swapping guitar for her signature autoharp, she ran through a series of old and new tunes including Gold Rush and her widely successful In the Night (which garnered great approval from the crowd) but had to cut it short when one of the harp’s strings broke.

Bulat handled the mishap with ease, quickly switching to the oddly placed piano for Run and Snakes and Ladders with a quip about the string instruments’ bad temperament towards her in the winter.

Despite having been on a rigorous tour schedule for much of 2010 – including Paris, London, New York and Chicago – Bulat appeared fresh and energetic: swinging ‘round the stage during the more lively numbers, her voice carrying well over the pounding drums from her brother, Bobby, and viola and backing vocals from Allison Stewart. Indeed, the concert could have passed for one in the first leg of her tour, rather than in the middle, had it not been for her speaking voice which was clearly quite hoarse after performing almost nightly since the end of January.

Compared to performances earlier in her career, like at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 2008, Bulat has gone far to strengthen her presence on stage. No longer shy and nervous during solos, she is as comfortable as if the stage is her second home. The smooth transitions between instruments – at this concert, ukulele, piano, autoharp, guitar, and a 95-year-old hammered harp – and song tempo demonstrate that Bulat, over the past three years, has done well to master her craft.

Yet in spite of her increased confidence and fame, Bulat remains a humble performer who is conscious of her audience and genuinely surprised to get song requests from the crowd – especially in Polish: she ended the night with an encore performance of To Nie Ptak, a Polish song loosely translated as It’s Not A Bird, which resonated gorgeously throughout the theatre despite her autoharp’s broken string.

After the show, Bulat, a first-generation Canadian from Polish parents, confirmed rumours that she’s planning to release an all-Polish album, but perhaps not for her next major recording. Despite assurance from her family, Bulat wants to improve her Polish pronunciation and possibly stake out recording studios in Poland before committing to the project.

Heart of My Own is in all indie-supportive stores now.

Download Gold Rush from the new album for FREE here.