Culture Days is about to spread across the country, and to celebrate, local yarn bombers are dropping their colourful knitted and stitched creations onto Vernon.
The Vernon Public Art Gallery and Gallery Vertigo have been buzzing with creative energy as participants prepare for the yarn bombing, or urban knitting, event to hit downtown on Saturday, Sept. 29.
The yarn bombing comes on the heels of popular knitting workshops with Eleanor Bassett and Kelli Rose held at the VPAG and Vertigo, respectively.
Participants are now ready to install their own creations, including patches, pom-poms, sleeves and throws on public benches, sign posts, trees, railings and bike racks along 30th and 31st Avenues.
Yarn bombing participants and the public are also invited to the VPAG on Saturday at 1 p.m. to listen to a special presentation on public art with Kelowna-based artist Crystal Przybille.
“We are thrilled to have Crystal join us during this special event. She is a very accomplished artist and will bring new light to the benefits, opportunities and possibilities of public art in our community,” said VPAG executive director Dauna Kennedy Grant.
The Vernon-raised artist will speak about public art, her artistic practice and recent European art tour.
Przybille has an impressive background in public commissions and is keen to share her knowledge and passion for public art forms.
Those attending the talk will learn about commissioned artwork, site specificity, community involvement and collaboration, as well as different forms of public art, ranging from permanent sculptures to interactive audience driven art forms.
Przybille is a graduate of fine arts with a major in painting from the University of Victoria. She has continued her professional practice, both in Canada and Europe, receiving numerous grants and awards for her work, including from the Canada Council for the Arts and B.C. Arts Council.
Przybille has participated in artist residency programs in B.C., Nunavut, and the Netherlands. She has been awarded numerous public commissions including a temporary public sculpture for Rotterdam’s World Port Days to be installed in Sept. 2013, as well as the Victoria 150 Public Art Commission, The Hands of Time, also to be completed in 2013.
Her latest public project was the Father Pandosy Mission 150th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture, erected in Kelowna earlier this year.
Culture Days is an annual, nation-wide volunteer movement to raise awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement in arts and cultural community activities.
“Culture Days is a strong initiative that promotes arts at a community level that are accessible to everyone. The Vernon Public Art Gallery stands for the same values,” said Kennedy Grant. “We want visual arts to be available to everyone. The benefits are enormous, and we are happy to take part in this annual event for the fourth year in a row.”
Theatre offers tour for Culture Days
The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre is excited to be included amongst nearly 7,000 free activities that are set to take place in some 800 communities across Canada for the third annual Culture Days from Sept. 28 to 30.
To celebrate, the centre is offering a backstage peek of its state-of-the-art theatre.
Tours will take place Saturday, Sept. 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every hour on the hour.
Admission is free and participants are asked to meet at the loading bay doors on the north side of the building located adjacent to the Vernon Curling Club parking lot.
Culture Days events are free and open to the public. For anyone wishing to participate in the yarn bombing, meet at 11 a.m. at the VPAG, 3228-31st Ave. More information is available by calling 250-545-3173. More information on Culture Days is available at www.culturedays.ca.
