Taking place August 10 and 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Columbia Basin Culture Tour allows you to explore artists’ studios, museums, art galleries and heritage sites during this free, self-guided event.
You can travel to studios and archives that aren’t normally open, see demonstrations, new exhibitions and collections or meet people behind the scenes. To participate in the tour, simply grab a map, your Culture Tour Directory and go.
In the Rosemont area visit Tea Preville to view her knife-painting landscapes in oil. Then stop by Carol Reynold’s house where she creates paintings of Nelson. She will have a “bargain deck” to check out and lots of paintings on display.
Also on Munro Street are Richard Dudley and Robert Dudley. Painting has been a lifelong passion for Richard Dudley and since retiring Richard devotes a sustained effort to painting landscapes. Robert Dudley creates functional and decorative accessories for the home and person.
In the Uphill neighbourbood, you’ll find Cynthia Sherry, who has been painting and drawing for 35 years, on Gore Street.
On Stanley Street you will find the work of two artists, Fiona Brown and Kimberley Hyatt. Brown is a clay artist, mixed-media book-maker, and BC teacher. Hyatt is a graduate of the Kootenay Studio Arts clay program. The other mediums she works in as well are graphite, textiles and the written word.
In Fairview, be sure to stop at three more venues. Synergy Art Studios, on Nalson Avenue, is where conceptual artist Ron Robinson works mainly in mixed media. Kalika Bowlby, a functional potter, and Bradley Poole, a jeweller, are a husband and wife team both working from their home-based studios on Fifth Street. They will display and sell their finished work. Then head over to Robert Nestman’s woodworking studio on Radio Avenue, where he makes eco-friendly accessories and furnishings.
Several downtown galleries are also taking part in the tour. Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History will be open with their exhibits Abandoning Paradise: The Northern Gateway Project and City in Flames: A Journey Through Nelson’s Fire History.
At the Oxygen Art Centre you can view the work of artist in residence Adad Hannah, showing both videos and photographic stills from her reenactment of French painter Theodore Gericault’s iconic painting The Raft of the Medusa (1818-1819).
Selkirk College’s Kootenay Studio Arts building on Victoria Street will have their studios open.
Sanderella’s Boutique will be showcasing handicrafts produced by the family, complemented by artistic and delectable baking.
In the Old Church Hall, three artists using various mediums and techniques will be featured: Graham Hurst, a 15-year-old high school student who discovered an interest in birds and photography; Sue Parr, whose paintings are based on sketches made en plein air and photographs taken on personal trips; and Sally Johnston will be showing large abstract pieces imbued with her dramatic love of colour and high contrast.
Tour brochures are available at participating venues and online at cbculturetour.com.
The Columbia Basin Culture Tour is generously supported by Columbia Basin Trust funding.