Jun
24
This past weekend, Bridge Songs: ?rogress took place on Alberta Avenue, and took over many of our lives. Mine included.
Wednesday and Thursday last week were given to our feature exhibition at the Stollery Gallery, as Edward Van Vliet and the artists installed work. Thursday was also a day for renting (a lot of) equipment for the performances, setting it all up in our venue, sound checking and trying to squeeze in some practice time. Our Event Space Gallery was set up that night, and it was absolutely chock-full of art.
Friday, Jennifer worked like a mad woman to complete the ambiance for the space, working right up to performance time while weaving in and out of practicing performers. When 7 o’clock rolled around and people trickled in through the doors, the space looked great, but we sure didn’t feel ready. It’s too soon! Too soon!
With not one full dress rehearsal to our credit, we had to begin. The show must go on. This is the kind of unpreparedness yielded by the fusion of a dozen busy lives creating an event like this in their “free” time. But begin we did, and that night, for about 50 guests, we performed Bridge Songs: ?rogress for the first time. It went alright, but I knew it could have gone better. We all knew. I went home wishing I’d had more time to prepare, wishing more people had come out (we’d hoped for 100 that night), wishing I hadn’t made so many mistakes, wishing myself into an uneasy sleep (or lack thereof).
Saturday was a different story entirely.
We were still tight for practice time, but had at least had a full “practice” the night before. The exhibition at the Stollery was together and people were enjoying it. We knew our stuff now. Joe Gurba was reading poetry. A burgeoning crowd grew outside the sanctuary doors, wanting in. More time, more time! Ok, open the doors!
As we waited backstage for the first film (John Osborne’s Genesis) to end, we could hear the energy of the crowd. We could feel the electricity that precedes a great show. We all knew this final performance would be our best. And in that confidence we began.
Song after song, we nailed it. Mistakes were smoothed over or made to sound intentional. Even my cracking voice mid-scream miraculously landed on a note that fit just right. Our final song was supposed to be sung by Jeanne Williams, but she lost her voice. Daniel Mantai took over and I doubt anyone but us knew. Joe’s poetry glued our narrative together, playing right off of Jordan Majeau’s “Soul City” story arc. It was a beautiful night, enjoyed by near 150 people, many from outside of the Urban Bridge and City Centre communities. As we closed with Jaimie Clements preview from The Avenue Movie, then the song Hope there was a tangible sense of that “hope” in the room. Many from the Alberta Ave community were there, with hopes of their own. I’m sure they’ve asked many times, “is this progress?” I hope they got a sense that, through the steps forwards and back, it is.
By the Numbers
Our hope was to have 200 people enjoy Bridge Songs. When you add it all up, we likely exceeded that by a bit. About 50 on Friday, about 150 on Saturday and over 20 for Sunday’s workshop takes us right about where we wanted to be. It’s nice to see the event growing little by little. It’s nice to know it’s being enjoyed far beyond the little group of us creating it.
Of course, the numbers will continue to grow as our “?rogress” exhibit at the Stollery Gallery continues through to the official closing reception on July 5th, as part of The Works Festival.
Those people not only supported the project with their presence, but financially. Everything we took in those two nights is to be donated to the Nina Haggerty Centre for The Arts and a home for abandoned seniors in Mexico. In total, just over $1500 was raised. I’m pretty proud of that, and offer up a big thank you to every who bought a CD, bought some food or just donated to our causes. Because of you, Nina Haggerty Centre will be able to buy a touchscreen drawing tablet that will enable some of their clients to create digital art works previously impossible because of their physical limitations. Because of you the project in Mexico will continue to grow into a reality. It’s nice to know we have reached beyond ourselves and our communities, both across the street and across the world.
Where Do We Grow From Here?
From here, we’ll be doing a lot of soul searching and evaluating. Were the two nights worth the sacrifice required? Was the album a rewarding undertaking? Was the workshop what we had hoped? Without stretching ourselves too far, how do we continue to challenge ourselves, and move beyond ourselves involving the local community to a greater extent. How many people would we like to see attending? And how many participating? What theme should we build Bridge Songs 2012 around? With prayer and discussion and discernment and the wisdom of many, we’re moving forward.
We’d love to hear your feedback about Bridge Songs: ?rogress. We’re more than open to your suggestions. Got a crazy idea you’d like to try next year? That’s how most of this event was born! Leave a comment below, or send us an email at info@iloveartists.ca.
Tags: Bridge Songs, bridge songs: progress, is this progress?
Posted in Bridge Songs: Progress, Essays and Reflections, Event Reviews, Events, Is this progress? | Comments Off
Jun
14
This year, more than one person took the time to capture Bridge Songs on film on June 5th. I’m glad they did, because it was a wonder-full night we want to remember for a long time. And for those of you who weren’t able to make it out, these images give a glimpse into “the sound (and sight) of glory”.
This first batch of images was captured by Susan Wilde, with post-processing by our own Jennifer Wilde. They’re simply lovely.
http://wildelifephotography.com/Events/Bridge-Songs-Faerie/
Tags: Bridge Songs, Bridge Songs: Faerie, event, performance, photos
Posted in Alberta Avenue, Art, Art Shows, Bridge Songs: Faerie, Concert Reviews, Event Reviews, Galleries, Photography | Comments Off
Feb
19
I’ve been to the new Art Gallery of Alberta, and I have not been disappointed. But how to sum up the experience? I could shout at you to simply GO! My descriptions will, I fear, make it smaller and not larger in your mind. There is so much lost between words. There is so much my soul saw that speech cannot satisfy. I could tell you about each exhibit and what I learned there and how each has inspired me. Perhaps one day I will. But for today, what seems right is to “criticize by creating”, as Michelangelo has entreated. I will respond to art with art. My own poem. My son’s drawing. My daughter’s photograph. For what is a gallery if not a place that inspires more creation, pouring forth beyond it’s own walls into the waiting world?
TO SAY I WAS THERE
to say I was there
climbing moonlight stairs
blue illumination of
name after name
builders and blocks
delighted by details
My son Jack's drawing of the Art Gallery of Alberta (click to view full size)
to say I was there
stealing the children from school
playing hookey and playing
ascending secret stairs in long lines
all of us waiting as
years’ worth of waiting boil down to
one more line
all of us waiting
as young as my two children
mouths and eyes agape,
looking up
taking this in for the very first time
seeing
My daughter and I attempt a Karsh potrait
this new thing that will be that old thing
this one moment that will settle back into flat timelines
this loud and boisterous “yop!” waiting to fade
and echo
and fade
but not today
not yet today
to say I was there today
somehow different than tomorrow will be
somehow other than yesterday was
today was
carbonated anticipation
and we all drank deep
to say I was there
beneath the borealis
swooping and diving like a whooping crane
a ski slope past gliding through present
on towards future
we were
in the belly of a burgeoning behemoth
in the laugh of a generous giant
in the glimmer of a city’s hopeful eyes
widening
reflecting on glass
held up on steel
skyward
reaching
to say I was there
and it was different than I thought
and it is really something
and I can keep the memory
a gift
Tags: Art Gallery of Alberta, Poetry
Posted in Art, Art Shows, Creativity & Inspiration, Event Reviews, Friday Feature, Poetry | 7 Comments »
Aug
27
This week’s issue of Vue Weekly features an article by Ted Kerr – a friend of mine who I seem to bump into around town every few months or so. One such meeting was at Urban Bridge Church’s showing of Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher. Ted was in attendence that night, as a representative from HIV Edmonton, who we had invited out for the night.
6 months later, Ted has reflected on that night from his perspective in the Vue Weekly column, “Queermonton”.
I’d love to hear some thoughts on his words – and the night in general if you were there.
Here is an excerpt from the intro to Ted’s article, followed by the link to the full article.
Last winter my friend Lynn and I represented HIV Edmonton at a screening of what we now know to be an irresponsible and homophobic film—Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher, directed by David Sabatino. Unfortunately, no one at HIV Edmonton had seen the film prior to agreeing to be involved in the director-attended screening and group discussion. We have subsequently learned to never do that again. The film is about Loonie Frisbee, a gifted young preacher and closeted gay man who was continually let down by his community leaders and who died of complicaations related to AIDS in 1993.
Within the first 20 minutes of the so-called documentary it was obvious what we were watching was neither journalism nor art but propaganda. Lynn and I watched the film with rapidly beating hearts and clenched fists, both of us hoping that everyone else was also realizing how lacking in rigor and potentially damaging the film was.
As the lights rose, we waited for the first comment from the audience. Our hearts sunk as the hip-looking middle-aged woman started the group discussion with a “thank-you†to the director.
Read the full article here
Posted in Art, Essays and Reflections, Event Reviews, Movie Reviews | 12 Comments »
Mar
13
It may have only been for half an hour, but I finally got out to the Art Gallery of Alberta’s Free for All exhibit today.
It actually kept my two toddlers interested as well, so that is saying something.
Obviously, with only a half hour to take it all in, I need to go back. I couldn’t get a good look at, well, anything. But that is the beauty of it. What I got today was sheer scope. And that was enough to blow me away.
Before going, I wondered how the response to this experiment would have been. Would Edmontonians have heard about the open call for “one and all” to bring their art and have it displayed on the Gallery walls? And if they did hear, would they have any art to bring? And if they did have art, would they have the courage to bring it? And if they did, would they remember the deadlines? And etc, etc.
All of this worry and doubt was blown asunder by the sheer feast for the eyes I encountered walking into the Gallery. I have never seen a more beautiful display of art. Really.
There is art EVERYWHERE in that place. And it is not a small gallery. Almost every inch of wall is covered with a piece. Of course, they are not all masterpieces, but so many of them are in my books. I couldn’t believe how GOOD alot – even most of this stuff was.
And then there were the floors – strewn with sculpture, fashion and … a hand sewn banquet table of stuffed delights?
At one piece my 3 year old son Jack remarked, “that one isn’t art”. When I asked him why he said, “because it has 2 squares and a spring on it”. I’m not sure I can argue with him on that particular one.
But that is the beauty and wonder of this exhibit – anything goes! To me, it is a testament to creativity – it is an explosion of the creative seed God has sown throughout our human race. And this is just Edmonton!
For me, to walk around in the gallery this month is to breath life-giving air. It is to fill my senses with creative energy, and remind me what I am about.
And somehow, it is one great big praise Chorus to the Lord Almighty.
Convinced? Check out more photos and times at the Art Gallery of Alberta website.
Posted in Art Shows, Creativity & Inspiration, Event Reviews, Reviews | Comments Off
