Alberta Arts Days
September 17 to 19
The Banff Centre and various venues
Free
Information: www.AlbertaArtsDays.ca
The Banff Centre, one of five Celebration Sites chosen by the Ministry of Culture and Community Spirit for Alberta Arts Days, will mark the event with three days of interactive, behind-the-scenes cultural activities, and partnerships with galleries and key arts groups throughout the community. The big celebration happens Saturday, September 18 at the Centre, with a free community barbecue, a sneak peek at the new original opera Lillian Alling by John Murrell and John Estacio, performances, film screenings, and guided tours.
“Our creative spirit and provincial pride will be on full display during Alberta Arts Days,” said Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. “My thanks and congratulations to The Banff Centre for its leadership and the many Alberta Arts Days community partners for helping to make culture accessible to all.”
Running September 17 to 19, the whole weekend highlights the vibrancy of arts and culture in the province, in celebration of national Culture Days.
“The Banff Centre is proud to be a Celebration Site for Alberta Arts Days,” says Sarah Iley, vice-president, Programming. “We share the Minister’s belief in the importance of celebrating Canadian art and artists and so The Banff Centre is also a founding partner of a new event which has caught on right across Canada: Culture Days. This year, for the first time, over 500 communities across Canada are following Alberta’s lead and hosting Culture Days, inviting everyone to get involved in the arts.”
Banff Centre events through the weekend include readings and performances by Aboriginal writers Kinnie Starr, Lee Maracle, Marilyn Dumont, and Beverley Hungry Wolf on September 17, an opportunity to make an artist book in the Paul D. Fleck Library and Archives, screenings of Prairie Tales short films and videos by Alberta filmmakers, and a tour of The Banff Centre’s outdoor art works by artists including Brian Jungen and Janet Cardiff.
You can also catch an outdoor performance of works by the world’s leading environmental composers at Two Jack Lake, or Parks Canada’s interpretive family theatre piece IMAGINaNATION, or readings and performances by contemporary Aboriginal artists including Kinnie Starr and Marilyn Dumont. Experience the best of local and international visual art at galleries around town, including Canada House, the Walter Phillips Gallery at The Banff Centre, Willock & Sax Gallery, and Mountain Galleries at the Fairmont Banff Springs. Meet contemporary artists at a special open house at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. Then sit back for an evening of vintage films hosted by Parks Canada, or be entertained by folk singer Chloe Albert in The Club at The Banff Centre.
Alberta Arts Days began in 2008 with 81 events in 30 communities across Alberta. In 2009 it had grown to more than 500 events in 116 communities. The weekend brings together artists, arts organizations, community groups, municipalities, libraries, schools, and businesses for a province-wide celebration of arts and culture – tours, exhibitions, films, performances, and hands-on family-friendly activities. In 2010, five organizations have been chosen as Celebration Sites – The Banff Centre, Lethbridge’s Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Red Deer’s Bower Pond Stage, St. Albert’s Arden Theatre, and Grande Prairie’s Centre for Creative Arts – bringing together events and activities for their communities. Each one is preparing a full schedule of events for three wildly creative days.
An inspiration for the first-ever national Culture Days, this year Alberta Arts Days is being held in conjunction with this Canada-wide celebration of arts and culture, featuring activities in communities from coast to coast to coast. The Banff Centre is a founding partner of Culture Days.
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