Thursday, May 18, 2023 edition - Tiny art, big impact

Thursday, May 18, 2023 | ☀️ High 28C | Forecast | Smoke forecast

Good morning!

My parents like to tell a particular story from when I was little: I had just finger-painted some sort of mess or drew a school bus with pencil crayons, and I would walk up to one of them and announce, “I’m a professional artist!” Not that I was going to be an artist or wanted to be an artist, but that I was one. Everyone who paints, sculpts, and draws is an artist. The trick to being a “professional” lies in learning how to make a living off of it.

Today’s story is about making art—and one of the ways that professional artists help younger creatives learn about (and start breaking into) careers where they sell their work.

Thanks to new Current members Gloria and Linda! You can support our work and become a Current member here. Also thanks to Mission Mayor Paul Horn for the inspiration for today’s quiz.

NEWS

Tiny art, big impact

A little bit of space on a gallery wall goes a long way.

Like a blob of heavily pigmented paint, the canvases in an upcoming exhibition at the Kariton Art Gallery are small—four by four inches, exactly—but mighty. Some works will be an artist’s first in a gallery exhibition. Others are painted by professionals. But a portion of the proceeds from each sale will help fund arts programming in Abbotsford.

This will be the second year for the Abbotsford Arts Council’s Big Tiny show, for which anyone can submit a small piece of art.

All work is accepted, but local professional artists join the show too—both by submitting their own pieces, and getting others involved. (The deadline for submissions this year this Saturday.)

One local illustrator treats the show as an opportunity to give back to an organization that helped her start out; another uses The Big Tiny to introduce her young students to the wider art community.

• Today, Grace writes about why two career artists love The Big Tiny, a little art show with a large impact.

Need to know

🧑‍✈️ More than 1,800 pilots at Westjet and Swoop will ready to walk off the job on Friday if a new deal can’t be reached [CTV]

📈 Officials are keeping a close eye on Fraser River water levels [Langley Advance Times] / You can see the latest Fraser forecast here [BC River Forecast]

🤑 A Mission woman won the lottery—after finding the million-dollar ticket in her wallet weeks after her numbers came up [Mission Record]

👉️ Rock-scaling work on Highway 1 west of Hope will pause during Victoria Day long weekend [Province of BC]

🧑‍🦼 A 22-year-old Langley resident got a specialized wheelchair that can fit in the trunk of his racecar [Langley Advance Times]

🏎️ A Ferrari was impounded in Chilliwack after its driver was caught doing 161 km/hr [Fraser Valley Today]

➡️ Mission is applying for a Foundry centre again [Mission Record]

🏊‍♂️ A Surrey woman is planning a 50-km swim-and-run fundraiser in and around Harrison Lake, where her father drowned 27 years ago [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🎭️ An Aldergrove resident is running the stage in Gallery 7’s production of Jeeves Intervenes [Langley Advance Times]

🔥 A ban on large fires on the BC coast will come into effect today; campfires will still be allowed [CTV]

👉️ A Fraser Valley MP is seeking federal funding for a new pool in Agassiz [Agassiz Harrison Observer]

🏞️ Chilliwack is asking residents to plan for emergencies as freshet season looms [Chilliwack Progress]

🎂 A Langley father continues to fundraise—and buy birthday cakes for strangers—in memory of his son [Langley Advance Times]

🎫 Single tickets and six-packs are now available for the Fort Jazz Fest Cool Blues Show, July 21-22.*

*Sponsored Listing

SPONSORED BY BC CHRISTMAS TREE ASSOCIATION

Learn how to grow Christmas trees

BC-grown Christmas trees have been in short supply over the last few years creating unique business opportunities.

If you have had any interest in learning about growing Christmas trees, then this is your opportunity. Both members and non-members are invited to attend the annual Field Day and Christmas Tree Growers Conference being held this year in Salmon Arm, BC from Thursday, Sept. 7 until Saturday, Sept. 9.

This is an opportunity to gain knowledge from various presenters, to participate in farm tours, interact and learn from other growers, and enjoy the beautiful Okanagan Valley.

Learn more information regarding this educational opportunity.

The Agenda

Transit deal passes in Chilliwack despite frustrations with province

Buses will be funded for another year in Chilliwack—once they start running again.

Chilliwack council agreed Tuesday to pay its share of costs for transit operation in the city despite expressing frustration over the province’s unwillingness to broker an end to the transit strike or fund transit expansion.

The operating agreement lays out how transit will operate in Chilliwack—and how much both the city and BC Transit will pay for it—for the next year. (We wrote about the deal on Tuesday, read that story here.) 

At its Tuesday meeting, council criticized the lack of provincial funding to expand transit services.

“The province has this mandate to reduce carbon emissions,” Coun. Jeff Shields said. “Yet they won’t commit any funding at all to expand routes for communities like Chilliwack that have seen an increased demand.” Meanwhile transit in Metro Vancouver, he said, seems to have as much provincial money as it can spend. Chilliwack has been seeking provincial investment for route expansion for years.

Councillors were also unhappy with the province’s unwillingness to step in during the ongoing labour dispute between transit workers and their employer. Effects of the work stoppage are far-reaching and many residents are frustrated, Coun. Bud Mercer said.

“If this was Vancouver and transit had been down this long the province would already be involved,” he said residents have told him. “We’re being treated like the poor cousin out here.”

(The Current recently interviewed Labour Minister Harry Bains about the issue of mediation. Bains said mediation doesn’t work unless both sides welcome it.)

The ongoing strike affects the costs of operating transit. Although rider fares aren’t collected, wages aren’t paid and fuel isn’t purchased while buses aren’t running. City staff said that expenses are down to “bare bones.” Revenue and expenses incurred during the strike wasn’t included in the annual agreement. Instead, excess funding from BC Transit during the work stoppage will go into a reserve fund that can be used to offset future increases—including higher gas, infrastructure, or labour costs.

Throwback Thursday

Crowds gathered in Fort Langley when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the town in 1939. Mounties accompanied the royals on the train, which didn’t stop in the town but slowed to a crawl so residents could get a wave from the passing royals.

The royals toured Canada for a month that year, on the eve of the Second World War. The visit was said to be part of an effort to cement relationships between Great Britain and Canada in the face of increasing geopolitical tensions. We wrote about a subsequent visit a decade later by the King’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, after she died last summer, you can read that story here. 

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