The City of Victoria has announced the winning bids for grants to help celebrate 150 years of incorporation.
Fifty-seven arts and community groups will share a $283,000 pot to put on a variety of events, performances, displays and parties between May and October.
“This will showcase the remarkable talent and diversity that we have in this city,” Mayor Dean Fortin said Tuesday morning at the Royal Theatre.
“It seems right and wise to place arts and culture at the centre of our city’s celebration,” said Patrick Corrigan, executive director of Pacific Opera Victoria.
“Just as the arts celebrate and investigate the widest range of human emotions and human experience, through this program, arts and artists will illuminate Victoria’s iconic locations.”
The opera company will showcase the Royal, one of the city’s oldest performance venues, with a behind-the-scenes look at preparations for the opening night of **Macbeth in September.
Funding for the celebrations was provided by the Canadian Heritage ($120,000) the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development ($120,000), Francophone Affairs B.C. ($13,800) and the city’s celebration partner, the Greater Victoria Spirit Committee Society ($25,000).
The society selected the winning recipients from a long list of applicants.
They include:
• Ambient Art: Chalk artist Ian Morris will recreate photos from the Maritime Museum of British Columbia
• Rattenbury, the Opera: Other Guys Theatre brings the dramatic life of Victoria’s most famous architect to life
• A Courthouse, A River and a Button Blanket Dance: Artist Peter Morin explores the nation’s relationship to Bastion Square
• City Hall commemorative book: The Victoria Civic Heritage Trust-produced book looks at the civic building’s architecture and site development.
• Victoria 150 print project: Guided by Victoria Edgarr, studio manager of GroundZero Printmakers, 20 artists will each create an etching, linocut or serigraph featuring historic Victoria places.
For more information on Victoria 150 celebrations, visit www.victoria.ca.
