Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Harmony Arts Festival showcases music and arts in West Vancouver


BY LAURA KANE, VANCOUVER SUN
West Vancouver’s Harmony Arts Festival, best known for musical performances by jazz, classical and rock artists, is hitting a new note this year by showcasing its visual arts offerings.

The 10-day event has been bringing local and regional music, visual arts and culinary delights to parks near Ambleside Beach for 21 years. But organizers say this year’s event, from Friday, July 29 to Aug. 7, will exhibit more paintings, handmade crafts, artisan works and sculptures than ever.

“Art is highly valued in West Vancouver,” said Katherine Tong, the festival’s visual arts coordinator. “We have lots of residents that are art patrons and collectors, and a high participation rate in arts in schools as well.”

An Artist’s Circle tent in John Lawson Park will feature renowned artists usually found in museums and world-class art galleries. West Vancouver’s Gordon Smith, one of B.C.’s foremost living painters and recipient of the Order of Canada, is showcasing his impressionistic landscapes and nature-based works. The free exhibition will also feature respected B.C. artists Ian Wallace, Jack Shadbolt, Sylvia Tate and more.

A special fundraising event in the Artist’s Circle Tent on Wednesday, Aug. 3 at 7 p.m. will bring Vancouver visionary Douglas Coupland to speak with Smith and Wallace about the B.C. artists who made this province a hub of artistic talent. Tickets are $75 and proceeds go to the West Vancouver Museum.

A massive art market will shut down Argyle Street between 14th and 16th Street from Friday, July 29 until Monday, Aug. , allowing patrons to browse or purchase artists’ works including handcrafted jewelry, ceramics and woodcuts.

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