Do you have experience in project/program planning and community engagement? Are you passionate about the interaction between arts and nature? Still Moon Arts Society is on the hunt for an Eco-Arts Programs Manager that coordinates and oversees Still Moon’s Art Programs. You will be taking direction from the Artistic Director and supported by the Operations Manager. This role will have a Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) student to support you in your responsibilities. Still Moon has recently received funding for large projects and requires support in detailed project planning and implementation. You will be passionate about arts, nature and community engagement. Program planning, supervisor experience and exceptional time management is required. You are invited to submit your resume with cover letter to lindy@stillmoonarts.ca by March 17, 2021. To learn more about the posting, visit Eco-Arts Program Manager. To learn about more job postings in East Van, visit our Job Board.
The Neigbourhood Small Grant program is back for 2021. The foundation of this program is connecting people within their own communities. Hard to argue that this is needed now more than ever before. Although the program is envisioned a little differently this year in light of COVID, the fundamental principles still apply.
Small is beautiful. Small ideas are beautiful and manageable.
Everyone has something to offer. Whether you can teach a skill or give some tips, or provide a service. We all have something valuable to share.
It’s your project. You create how you want it to look and feel.
Create your chosen family. A platform to help build networks within your community.
What are Neighbourhood Small Grants? As the name implies, you apply for grants for a project within your community. You can receive grants of up to $500 for projects that connect people socially, or involve sharing a skill or talent. If you are sharing a skill, you may pay out an honorarium of up to $350. Projects must stay within guidelines for physical distancing. Anyone who lives in any of the communities listed below can apply for the grant:
Britannia, Carnegie, Ray-Cam, Strathcona Cedar Cottage, Hastings-Sunrise, Renfrew South Vancouver: Renfrew Collingwood, Renfrew Heights, Sunset, Marpole, Killarney, Champlain Heights, Victoria-Fraserview, Oakridge
The premise of these grants are the belief that the best people effect change in a community that they live in. When money is less of an issue, it allows more ideas to shine. What have other people done? A few ideas include book exchanges, benches and community gardens. Some other idea befitting our pandemic times could include creating small care packages for seniors with a few spring flowers and crossword puzzles and/or word search games. For young children, what about a scavenger hunt in a park with prizes? The ability to be with other children, but still physically distanced. You could also create art cards for seniors in long term care. Art in the park? Whether it’s adults sketching or using pastels, or kids painting rocks to be displayed in the neighbourhood, connection is key and the ideas are limitless. Need more ideas or wish to apply for a grant? Visit Neighbourhood Small Grants.
Do you remember Friday, March 13, 2020? We certainly do, it was when our daily lives changed, some sooner, some later, but this was a defining date for many. On this date, one year later, The Cultch is participating in a worldwide initiative to mark a year of theatre closures due to covid-19. On March 13, 2021, The Cultch along with its theatre community will be celebrating the resiliency of artists. An international company, Aurora Nova initiated this global event in which theatre companies around the world will stream performances of White Rabbit Red Rabbit. This is an award winning play from Iranian playwright, Nassim Solemanipour and performed by Amanda Sum. There are no rehearsals or director. The script is waiting in a sealed envelope on stage. This will be something to see, no two performances are ever the same. To reserve your spot to watch this theatrical experiment, visit The Cultch.
One of our favourite vendors at the Vancouver Farmers Market is East Van based The Front Yard Flower. Co. As the name depicts, it initially started with growing flowers in the front yard of Rose Dykstra’s childhood home. Her business has grown substantially over the years and has evolved to include growing flowers on a farm in Richmond. There is a large financial investment in doing this, along with time. Rose Dykstra along with other small businesses sell their items at the many farmer markets around Vancouver. In March of 2020 when the COVID restrictions hit, many non-food vendors were shut out of the farmer markets which caused angst and hardship for many of the vendors. The ban lasted from early April 2020 to June 2020. Rose’s flower business had to suddenly pivot to e-commerce and with a perishable item this was no easy feat.
The ban for non-vendors had been lifted over the summer and fall. In mid-December the ban on on-food vendors went up again. This was at a time when many of the non-food vendors rely on sales from the Christmas period to support their families. As of today’s writing, the current ban continues with no sign it of being lifted.
Vancouver Farmers Market has done a great job of adhering to COVID protocols in an outdoor environment. Rose Dykstra doesn’t see why she and other non-food vendors have been shut out the markets. On this point, we do agree. We are big supporters of local business. As we think about this issue, we know people are still having birthdays, anniversaries and celebrating new babies. What does this mean? People are still buying or sending gifts, often in lieu of in person celebrations. We see it regularly on our walks. Gifts are being delivered in person with masks, dropped at the door, then a brief interchange before saying a few words and leaving the gift behind.
In our view, by including non-food vendors you are including them in the BC economy by allowing them to work and to continue to sustain themselves, their families and any employees they may have. If you can’t get it locally, where will people turn? For many items, our guess is Amazon. We’d much prefer people support local vs. Amazon. As it comes to flowers and Rose’s business, really could we not all use some flowers to brighten up the spaces we are all stuck in during this pandemic that just seems to go on and on?
If you are in support of bringing back non-food vendors to Vancouver Farmer Markets, feel free to add your support to the Petition at Change.org.
The Cultch and Off The Corner Productions bring you a live streamed show to your living room February 18 – 24, 2021. You are invited to The Nancy Show where each night one lucky guest from the African Diaspora is granted a unique opportunity to reconnect to their ancestors. This is where you will find Max, a gender-questioning and mixed-race introvert, who has hopes of gaining insight into their African ancestry, and finding a better understanding of where they fit in the Black community. Max is seeking answers to some of life’s major questions – What of culture and ancestry lives within us, and how much is determined by our upbringing? Does blood equal belonging?—Max meets the famed Mz Nancy, our host for the night. Witty and glamorous, Nancy seems to have an answer for everything… but, as Max discovers, things are never black and white.
Mx is written by an emerging playwright Lili Robinson which is inspired by personal experience. Robinson was “Raised in Vancouver by my white Canadian mother, I grew up with little connection to the city’s Black community, which was at that time particularly small in number. It was not until late into my teens, witnessing the onslaught of police murders of unarmed Black people in the States, that I was unavoidably confronted with the question, ‘Where do I fit?’ Robinson goes on to say that . “Doing this show means being able to engage frankly with dynamics around the consumption of Black culture, the politics of mixed-race identity, and white folks’ engagement, or lack thereof, with the topic of race.” To pick up your tickets, visit The Cultch.
What people are saying about Mx:
“Mx addresses racism, Black erasure, and the complicity of false “color blindness” — butleaving no stone unturned, it also confronts what can be the false promises of performativeBlack culture.” THE PEAK
“Check your privilege at the door. Mx will challenge and make you feel uncomfortable…At its most powerful, Mx also calls upon members of the audience to be more than purely witnesses.” VANCOUVER PRESENTS
2020 was a year of challenge and change for many and 2021 continues on that same vein. The pandemic has many people pivoting to earn an income from a new source. Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenn Franzen who did a complete 360 and created Loved & Local. Jenn was a self-employment travel agent for 15 years. As we all know, with the current travel restrictions, planning trips isn’t first and foremost on people’s mind nor will it be for some time. So Jenn pivoted and created Loved & Local.
Loved & Local is an online store that features gently used clothing and accessories for women, men and children. Loved & Local also carries items from local artisans including Oona Clothing, Mosaic Earrings, beeswax food wraps by Etta & Olive, candles by Grain & Honey and knitted toques by Littlee Lambs Boutique to name a few.
Loved & Local carries a wide range of items and yes they deliver! They offer free delivery on orders over $20 within a 10 km radius of Loved & Local which is located in Hastings Sunrise. If you are interested in trying on a specific item, feel free to reach out to them directly. They have also just added a weekly auction on Facebook and Instagram that runs from Thursday to Sunday with a starting bid of $1.00. For those wishing to give back to charity in an easy way, Loved & Local supports some local charitable endeavours including Victory House Mental Health Facility. They are currently selling Valentine’s Day cards made by residents. 100% of the sale proceeds go back to Victory House.
We invite you to visit Loved & Local online and give them a follow on Instagram where they post many of their newly acquired items. As always, support local when and where you can.
2020 was a year of change and challenge for many. With it also brought new opportunities and new ways of looking at things. We’ve seen a few creative pivots due to the pandemic we’d like to share with our readers. First up, Johnny Defazio of Roman & Ash Design.
Johnny creates handmade wooden shelf units perfect for Vancouver’s often tight living spaces. In March of 2020, Johnny lost his decade long executive job right before his second son, Ashton, was born. So pandemic hits and he’s a family man with 2 young children to support, Roman 3 ½ years old and Ashton 5 months old, what do you do?
Johnny chose quickly to pivot and ditch the suit & tie for a saw and wood. He already had a great space to work in and a passion for using tools. So last Spring he started creating some fun and unique designs in his garage. He started with small hexagon shelf units, then he started rolling out triangles and unique corner shelf units. Over the Christmas holiday season, he created white wash stars which were a big hit. Soon came the requests for custom work which requests continue to roll in.
Johnny is also now creating wooden hearts in a white wash which can be personalized to display someone’s name or a small phrase. We think that could make a unique personalized gift for someone’s birthday or maybe even Valentine’s Day. Just sayin. You’ll see we’ve included photos of a number of Johnny’s designs. We invite you to give Johnny a follow on Instagram @johnny_defazio. Of course, feel free to reach out to him directly with any custom orders to requests for information. As always, support local when and where you can.
Like many things this past year, Valentine’s Day will be a little different. Whether you believe in the ‘day’ or not, there’s no harm in showing some love to those you care about whether that’s your partner or a close friend. For us cheese, wine, chocolate and bread is just a little piece of heaven. With that in mind, we wanted to share a fun event the good folks at les amis du FROMAGE are hosting. It is a virtual Facebook Live event hosted by Allison Spurrell. Les amis du FROMAGE will set you up with a tasting kit to pick up just prior to Valentine’s Day which includes:
Cheese (8 types) Crackers Chez Christophe flutes Accompaniments Kasama Karkar Island dark chocolate bar Tasting menu
The Facebook Live event runs for one hour. Cost is $95 for your kit loaded with delish goodies which will be available for pick up from the East Vancouver store on 3 different days. Note, wine is not included but they do have some recommendations for you. Cut off for ticket purchase is February 7th. To grab your ticket, or get more information visit, les amis du FROMAGE.
Truth be told, we are not big fans of reality TV shows and even the mention of the housewives shows make our eyes glaze over. Then something caught our eye on a scroll through Instagram recently and we were hooked, East Van’s very own Housewives of Hip Hop. These ladies we can get behind. They are 6 moms brought together by their love of dance and having fun. Along their journey, they have built meaningful friendships as an added bonus.
It all started 6 years ago when the moms were dropping their kids off at Boogaloo Academy for a dance class. The ladies decided the kids were having all the fun and they wanted in on some of that. Soon after, the owner of Boogaloo Academy, Jheric Hizon, taught them some hip hop moves which they then performed at a studio year end dance and that’s where the journey took off. In 2018, they entered some dance competitions in the “adult street dance” category and next thing you know, the ladies won 2 silver medals and invites to perform at the WestCoast Women’s Show and the Victoria Women’s Show.
So who are the women behind the Housewives of Hip Hop? There are 6 women in total, Kerrie, Mirella, Alexa, Jen, Julie and Natalie. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, they have been unable to dance as a group in studio, so 3 of the East Van moms who live close to each other have been dancing in back lanes, carports and parks in various parts of East Van getting their grove on to some great tunes. For those who danced their way through the 80s and 90s, you’ll recognize a number of songs. The music takes us back to a much simpler time in life, a lot to be said for that in a pandemic.
To date, the Housewives of Hip Hop have 2.7 million views on TikTok. You can check them out there, or give them a follow on Instagram @thehousewivesofhophop to cheer them on. Most video clips are 12 -15 seconds.
The Housewives of Hip Hop also have a message they wish to share with women of all ages. Find something that brings you joy. They would like to inspire others to be true themselves, have fun and follow their passions. They have secretly found theirs.
Photos & Video: Courtesy of The Housewives Of Hip Hop
If you have a little extra time on your hands this week and are looking for something to do, we have an idea that’s free and outdoors. If you haven’t yet wandered the murals that are dotted around Mount Pleasant, we highly recommend it. The Vancouver Mural Festival may be over for 2020, but the amazing art is there for you to see anytime. Just bundle up, maybe grab a hot drink from a local business to keep warm while wandering. The local businesses will appreciate your support and you won’t be disappointed by the art. Here’s a sampling of what you will see, but the photos don’t do it justice. We recommend checking them out in person.
ILiveInEastVan.com 