STUFF HAPPENS

THE FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE UPCOMING PERFORMANCES & ACTIVITIES

David Hare's STUFF HAPPENS is a dynamic political drama. " I describe it as a play about how a supposedly stupid man, George W. Bush, gets everything he wants- and a supposedly clever man, Tony Blair , ends up with nothing he wants," states David Hare. Describing the events leading up to the 2003 invasion on Iraq, Stuff Happens provides a biting analysis of what happened and asks the audience to examine the power of dissent.

DATES: Preview October 17-21
Opens October 22 until November 8
TIME: Tuesday- Saturday 8:00pm
Wednesday Pay What You Can Matinees at 1pm
Saturday/Sunday Matinees at 2pm

Firehall Arts Centre
280 East Cordova Street@ Gore Ave.

Box Office: 604.689.0926
Office: 604.689.0691
Fax: 604.684.5841
Email: firehall@firehallartscentre.ca

Purchase tickets

Gallery Atsui opens doors in Strathcona

In addition to the Lower East Side Studio, another new gallery has opened recently on Hastings and Princess. Gallery Atsui is by appointment only and its founders are artists Alex Grewal and Sascha Yamashita and writer-designer Todd Nickel.

“I’ve got a background in commercial galleries and Alex has a background in artist-run centres,” Yamashita says. “We thought Todd would be a great third addition, having worked in other facets of the arts.”

The gallery’s front window features a collaborative textwork by its artists, Kim Kennedy Austin, Steve Calbert, and Aaron Carpenter. Inside, the beautiful watercolour drawings, digital abstractions, and felt cutouts are well served by the polished appearance of the room. Immaculate white walls, glossy grey floors, and discrete track lighting all contrast with the raw appearance of many artist-run enterprises.

Keeping expenses low was a significant factor in choosing the location, and in undertaking most of the renovations themselves. The three partners all have day jobs, and Grewal and Yamashita share the studio at the back of their rented space. “We’re a working studio-gallery space, we’re not a nonprofit organization,” says Yamashita. Grewal adds: “To go the nonprofit, artist-run centre route, there would be so many obstacles, like becoming a registered charity.”

Their aim is to produce monthly exhibitions, do some community outreach, and make Atsui self-supporting through sales. “We would really love it to break even,” says Nickel modestly.

Full Georgia Straight article.

Harper dead set against Insite

Amid protests, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper found himself once again defending his government's controversial efforts to end supervised street-drug injections at the Insite facility during a campaign stop in Richmond yesterday.

He said the Tories remain dead set against something they consider promoting drug use.

"When it comes to drug use, we want to make sure that we expend our resources on treatment and prevention, which we believe are the more appropriate vehicles," Mr. Harper said.

Proponents of Insite have expressed anger this week that the RCMP has commissioned research that offers contrary views of the facility's effectiveness.

Strathcona resident Gillian Maxwell, who lives near the Insite safe-injection site, said she felt compelled to join the protestors. "We're reminding Mr. Harper that we're still here, and we're not going away, and Insite isn't going away," she said. "Insite is a health-care facility, and it saves lives, and he can't shut it down."

Globe & Mail

The Province

Full Frontals - Rear Views

To the casual observer, this phrase could suggest at something rather provocative. It is, after all, referencing a Strathcona Vancouver photograph exhibit early in October.

Strathcona community residents are fortunate to have an opportunity to see a long-time Strathcona, Vancouver resident, Louise Francis-Smith, share her photographic expose of the neighbourhood.

Full Frontals, Rear Views

Louise Francis-Smith, a long-time resident artist of Strathcona has a collection of Strathcona photographs from many years past.

WHEN
October 3 - 19, 2008

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday October 3, 6-9pm

WHERE
RedIron Studio and Gallery
884 East Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC, V6A 2X1
604-254-0585

Read more about this photographic journey and introduction for the upcoming show at the LiveInStrathcona.com Arts & Culture pages about Louise Francis-Smith.

Ambassador Services expansion with Strathcona BIA to go before council

A Project Civil City report is recommending that the Committee on City Services and Budgets negotiate and enter into a one-year sole-source contract with the Strathcona and Chinatown BIA associations. These contracts recommended to council are for the expansion of the Ambassador Program with BIAs that also include Kerrisdale and Robson Street.

The recommendation and contractual delivery of the ambassador services would use trained professional service providers for the Chinatown and Strathcona Programs. Key elements in the programs involve street patrol duty, safe-walk services, criminal activity monitoring and data collection and tracking, and appropriate action taken under the Trespass Act. The Strathcona BIA program will also employ a unique combination of foot and bicycle patrols with some limited vehicle use (in occasional instances where patrol-personnel safety might be a concern) their program has significant on-street community interaction.

Full city report.

Georgia Straight article.