SURREY — I sat down with myself and had a chat about friends and the importance thereof. There are categories of friends, apparently. Close friends, activity friends, workplace friends and friends for life friends. Not talking about people you just happen to know or even Facebook friends, but friends. So I made my list and made a discovery: All my friends are involved or invested in the arts! Seriously. Does this give me a narrow focus? Is there life outside of the arts? Of course there is, it just isn’t on my list. I’m OK with that. Here’s to you, my friends.
At Surrey Art Gallery tonight (Thursday, April 21, from 7 to 9 p.m.), you’ll have the chance to hear artist Sonny Assu talk about “1UP,” his site-specific installation for the gallery’s off-site programming venue, Surrey’s UrbanScreen. Sonny? Fantastic. Sonny isn’t on my friends list, strictly speaking, but he has been good friends with some of my friends. Years ago, when Assu was in high school in Surrey, he performed and painted posters for the Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Society. He went away to study art, and wow – look at him now. I know this is a short notice for Sonny’s talk, but do go if you can.
Located on the west wall of Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre, UrbanScreen is situated on traditional Kwantlen territory. As a Ligwilda’xw/Kwakwaka’wakw person, Assu seeks to comment on the land, honouring and making visible the parallel narratives of Indigenous people and the histories of this place, now known as City Centre in Surrey. Assu’s artwork becomes a metaphor for how the First People have risen up for rights within a system that was designed to oppress and assimilate them.
UrbanScreen is Canada’s largest non-commercial outdoor urban screen dedicated to presenting digital and interactive art, and can be viewed from SkyTrain, between Gateway and Surrey Central stations. Exhibitions begin 30 minutes after sunset, and end at midnight. Cool.
Of course, Surrey Art Gallery has constant exhibitions in its space at Surrey Arts Centre. The two theatres are fairly fully booked for a variety of performances. Then there are the two gallery spaces, plus classrooms, and a gift shop. It is just one of my favourite spaces in Surrey. Next time you are at the arts centre, do take time to shop at the Surrey Art Gallery Association’s gift shop, located adjacent to the Studio Theatre.
The gift shop offers a selection of unique and finely crafted artworks by artists from around the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Choose from decorative and functional pottery, handcrafted jewelry and limited-edition prints. Hours of operation are Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. My friend, Barbie Warwick, manages the gift shop, and says that this time of year, and right through the summer, are slower times for the shop. “Yes, we are open,” she says.
It may seem like an unusual place to shop, but then aren’t we looking for the different and unusual gift for our list of friends? SAGA, by the way, is one of the sponsors for the UrbanScreen project, and Barbie is also involved in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society. And there it is. Our lives intersect in such diverse ways.
Surrey Art Gallery does get provincial funding assistance, so I should just give some mention of that. Funding for the arts is a serious issue, and the BC Arts Council is distributing more than $7 million to 313 artists and arts organizations as part of a recent round of grants totaling $899,871.
Well, it is a start. Money doesn’t grow on trees. But money, wisely invested, does grow – sort of like my list of friends. Put a little in, and you can get big results.
