Archive | Community RSS feed for this section

Spring Studio Sale – East Van Artist June Hunter May 1 & 2

29 Apr

JuneHunterSpringStudioSale

East Van artist June Hunter, is having a Spring Studio Sale this coming weekend May 1st and 2nd. If you don’t know her work, June has a way with nature that shows in all her pieces. Her work has been featured in Style at Home House and Home and Where Vancouver as well as on CBC’s Living Vancouver.

At June’s Spring Studio Sale, you can expect to find sale prices on art, jewellery, tiles, magnets, one of a kind mixed media miniatures and a small number of the highly sought after crow and Vancouver medallions as well as charm bracelets. You can also expect to find new large prints on plexiglass in limited editions. June Hunter’s Studio is located at 2785 Parker Street (one block west of Renfrew – between Hastings St. and First Avenue). The Studio Sale runs Friday, May 1st from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm and on Saturday, May 2nd from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

If you are not able to make the Studio Sale, you can also visit her Shop Online or find some of her work at Doctor Vigari Gallery, 1816 Commercial Drive.

Photos Courtesy of June Hunter Images

JuneHunterStudio JuneHunterCrows

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Got Craft? Spring Edition Maritime Labour Centre May 2 & 3

27 Apr

GC-May2015-CardFVancouver’s largest indie craft fair, Got Craft?, returns this Spring to the Maritime Labour Centre on May 2 & 3, 2015. This event showcases some 75 local vendors with a wide variety of curated handmade goods. As well, they will be bringing back some of their most popular workshops to this event such as hand lettering with legendary sign painter, John Lennig of Big Top Sign Arts.  What we were pleased to learn is some of the new East Van vendors that will be taking part in this upcoming event. They include:

East Van Light
Emilie Crewe
Five Corners Creative
Graveley & Sons
Kate Barazzuol Jewelry
Owl & Windsor
The Nine O’Clock Gun Company
Fable Naturals

For those doing a little Mother’s Day shopping, the timing of this show is just right, being Mother’s Day is May 10th.  The first 50 people through the door each day will receive a swag bag full of goodies from vendors and sponsors. Got Craft? takes place on May 2 and 3, 2015 between 10:00 am-5:00 pm at the Maritime Labour Centre, 1880 Triumph Street. Admission is $3 at the door, and children (10 and under) get in free.

EastVanLight-2 GotCraft_Spring2015_Mom

EmilieCrewe-1 KateBarazzuol-2

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Earth Day Celebration Everett Crowley Park April 25

22 Apr

EarthDayGrassEarth Day is today, April 22nd.  Earth Day Canada’s mission is to foster and celebrate environmental respect, action and behaviour change that lessens our impact on the earth. This Saturday, you are invited to attend an Earth Day Celebration at Everett Crowley Park (entrance at Kerr Street and 64th Avenue) in Southeast Vancouver from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm.  Volunteers will plant 1,100 native trees and shrubs that are being provided by the Vancouver Parks Board. For those that didn’t know it, Everett Crowley was the old Kerr Dump and is now a natural green refuge for people, dogs and wildlife. The reforesting of this park continues every year and this is the longest running Earth Day Celebration in Vancouver. It is an ongoing project between Champlain Community Association and Vancouver Parks Board. If you haven’t been inside the park, you should take a wander, it’s quite a pretty spot. This Saturday, along with the tree planting, there will be live entertainment, cultural and ecological exhibits and a host of children’s activities.  The celebration gets under way at 11:00 am and goes till 3:00 pm.

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

City of Vancouver’s Keep Vancouver Spectacular Campaign This May

21 Apr

KVSLogo20YearsSpring is officially here which also means the return of the City’s annual clean up campaign called “Keep Vancouver Spectacular” that takes place each May. This initiative began in 1996 and is now in its 20th year and was a co-ordinated  effort between the City of Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver and Oceans Blue Foundation. It has evolved with a variety of sponsors over the years. People get together individually or in groups to clean up their neighbourhood streets, lanes, parks and shorelines. The City of Vancouver supplies the tools which include:

• Garbage bags
• Gloves, cleanup tools (tongs)
• Free pickup of litter collected

As a past Block Captain, there is satisfaction in everything looking green and clean in your neighbourhood. It is amazing how much garbage can be picked up with a small group of people. It is rather simple if you are the one doing the organizing. You simply go online fill out the registration form. After that, the City delivers you the requested items. Enlist a few volunteers. Designate a location that everyone in your group returns the garbage to. The City will pick up the collected garbage from that designated spot. The time commitment is what you make it, but generally 1 to 2 hours is the average. If neighbours need a little encouragement to participate, truth be told, I have enticed a few neighbours with fresh coffee and baked goodies. Organizing a clean up in your neighbourhood is a great way to get to know your neighbours and build some community.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Block Captain, the City of Vancouver provides a Block Captain Manual which is fairly straightforward and available to download online.

Did you know, in 2012, 16,400 volunteers in 180 groups came together to fill more than 6,000 bags with litter.  Remember though if at any time you see items illegally dumped, you can contact the City at 311 or email them to request the item(s) be picked up. Will you help keep the City looking spectacular?

Tags: , , , , , , ,

20th Annual Stone Soup Festival At Britannia Community Centre May 9

16 Apr

StoneSoupFestivalBritannia Community Centre, 1661 Napier Street, is hosting the 20th Anniversary of the Stone Soup Festival on Saturday, May 9th. This annual event is a celebration of food, art, environment and community. You can expect to find a food market, local artists, community groups, talks and workshops, live music, tea leaf reading, children’s activities, free soup and much more. The Stone Soup Festival aims to bring awareness to the issues of food security, the benefits of sharing resources and eating ‘local’ and celebrating the diversity of food in our neighbourhood, the environment and its importance to the culture of our community.

Some of the highlights from this year’s festival include:

The Food Connection: Spice Blending Demonstration/Workshop
12:00 pm
Family Activity Room

Hives For Humanity: A Bee Behavior Workshop
2:00 pm
Family Activity Room

Re-indigenizing The Land & Food System: Talk by Dawn Morrison, Secwepemc First Nation
3:30 pm
Britannia Library

There will be live music on the Commercial Drive Stage starting at Noon with the Carnival Band kicking things off, then at 1:00 pm Backspin takes the stage followed by the Tim Sars Duo at 2:00 pm. After that Russell Shumsky and Bud Kurz keep things moving about 3:00 pm and they are followed by Rio Samaya at 4:00 p.m. The Stone Soup Festival kicks off at Noon and runs till 5:00 pm. This is a family friendly event with lots of activities for the kids including face painting, storytelling and a kids activity area.  For more information, contact the Britannia Community Centre at T: 604.718.5800.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rescue Me: Toby and Zoe Looking For Their Forever Home

13 Apr

SPCAToby&ZoeWelcome to the next installment of Rescue Me in which we feature pets waiting for adoption at the Vancouver SPCA. Today we would like to introduce you to a lovely bonded pair of dogs, Toby and Zoe.  This sweet pair are 9 (Toby) and 8 (Zoe) years of age and each are a Chihuahua cross. As it is harder to place two dogs together, these too have been in foster care for some time and would REALLY like a forever home to call their own.  Toby is a friendly, social guy. His foster family says that he may show a bit of fear in new situations, but it doesn’t take him long to warm up and become your new best friend. Zoe on the other hand is a quiet girl. She is a bit shy at first, but her foster family says once she knows you, your lap will be her favourite place.   Toby and Zoe are currently living with other cats and dogs and are happy in that environment. They are both accustomed to having people around the most of the time. Thus, an adult-only home with people who are retired or people that work from home would be best for this pair. If you are interested in meeting Toby and Zoe, the Vancouver SPCA Shelter would love to hear from you.  The staff is more than happy to make the arrangements. You can reach them by telephone at 604-879-7721 or by email at vancouver@spca.bc.ca. As always, we thank you in advance for sharing this information to help Toby and Zoe find their forever home.

UPDATED June 8, 2015 – We are pleased to report Zoe & Toby have found their forever home.

Tags: , , , , ,

Creating Curiosity – Curiosity Collider Event at Café Deux Soleils April 15

10 Apr

Creating-Curiosity-Event-TitleYou are invited to Creating Curiosity hosted by Curiosity Collider on Wednesday, April 15th.  What is Curiosity Collider? It is a grassroots organization that is an inclusive community hub for curious innovators from any discipline. Their aim is to foster participatory partnerships between science and technology, art and culture, business communities and educational foundations to inspire new ways to experience science.  Their intention is to be a catalyst for collaborations that seed and grow engaging science communication projects. This coming Wednesday, they are hosting their first event which will include speakers doing a Pecha Kucha-esque show and tell says co-founder, Theresa Liao. Each speaker will provide a show and tell for approximately 7 minutes. The speakers they have lined up for next week’s event include:

Dominique & Cindy Duby who create award-winning chocolate masterpieces using food science + food architecture at their cutting edge atelier, Wild Sweets®.

Chris Waltham who merges experimental lutherie (crafting string instruments) with the physics of acoustics.

Erik Zepka examines the space between art and science: What can they learn from each other?

Adam Barlev from Vancouver’s Symmetry Group explores dodecahedral space as both art and science.

Joy Kirkby will speak on alien ecosystems and how they inspired her to encourage youths to take an artistic view of science.

Char Hoyt will share how a curiosity for understanding the shape of the universe took her oil painting into several new dimensions.

“Creating Curiosity – come meet curious people, and explore new ways to experience science together.”

You are invited to come out and learn how curiosity can lead to creativity and innovation. Collide with and meet other curious people so you can explore new ways to experience science together.  The event takes place at Café Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive, on Wednesday, April 15th and gets under way at 8:00 pm doors open at 7:30 pm. Cost is $5.00 at the door.  For more information, you can email Curiosity Collider directly at info@curiositycollider.org.  You can also follow them on Facebook or on Twitter @ccollider.  What makes you curious?

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Vaisakhi Parade Saturday April 11th SE Vancouver

9 Apr

Vaisakhi2015Vaisakhi is a festival celebrated every April by millions of Sikhs around the world. It is a day that marks the New Year and is also the anniversary of one of the most important events in Sikhisim, that being Khalsa. It also marks the beginning of the Harvest Season. This Saturday, April 11th, come celebrate Vaisakhi. A parade will start its procession at 11:00 am from the Ross Street Temple, 8000 Ross Street (at 64th Avenue) in SE Vancouver and will travel south on Ross Street to SE Marine Drive, then west on Main Street, North to 49th Avenue and east to Fraser Street, south to 57th Avenue, east to Ross Street before returning to the Ross Street Temple. In addition to the parade, there will be Nagar Kirtan hymns, floats, live music, rides and free food prepared by local residents and businesses. The event runs until 4:00 pm.

Tags: , , , ,

Coming Soon … An EastVan Community Kitchen Space – The Uncommissary

8 Apr

TheUncomissaryLogoComing soon an East Van community kitchen space at 477 Powell Street The Uncommissary.  From what we are hearing this will be an amazing creative space.  Organizers of this space, Luc and Lisa Leimanis, are on the hunt for local food companies wanting to join a community kitchen that provides some of the usual items including stoves, ovens, prep tables, walk-in coolers and freezers, storage, dishwasher and parking. That call went out and the response was swift being there is a lack of community kitchen space in Vancouver.  Their plan is to have three stations within the community kitchen that is well stocked for foodie professionals to make their wares. They will also have space for two food carts and other food production companies. Also on the drawing board is a store and café called The Uncommon which will be open Monday to Friday. The store will sell the products that are made in house and where possible they will work those products into the menu in the café.  The aim is to be open some Saturdays for community BBQs.  The Uncommon will also be available for rent in the evenings for pop-up events as well as some in store events that they plan to host.  At present, they are working through the regulatory process and renovations, but plan to be up and running (provided all goes smoothly) in June. We look forward to welcoming this new venture to East Vancouver.  Watch this space for updates.TheUnCommonSpices

Tags: , , , , ,

Ideas Gathering Event April 26 To Support Art In Renfrew-Collingwood

7 Apr

PlacesSpacesFacesThe Renfrew-Collingwood area is looking to generate ideas to develop a plan for art and cultural spaces  within its community.  They are looking for support for new studios, galleries and rehearsal and performance spaces within the area. If you are an artist, resident, community organization or stakeholder interested in supporting arts, you are invited to an Ideas Gathering Event: Places Faces Spaces on April 26th at the Collingwood Neighbourhood House on Sunday, April 26th.  The event takes places from 1:30 – 6:30 pm and you are asked to RSVP online or by calling Collingwood Neighbourhood House at T: 604.435.0323. If you are a resident and artist and not able to attend the event, you can also participate by way of a survey to indicate what you’d like to see for art and culture in the area.

Tags: , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →