THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2017 VOL. 74, NO. 23
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IT’S 10 FEET HIGH, 16 feet long, and, if you could lift it, weighs roughly 30 tons. Artist Peter Vogelaar has been plying his trade and etching out a massive sand sculpture at the North Peace Cultural Centre over the last week— his ode to the centre’s 25th anniversary celebrations taking place this weekend.
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It’s a welcome and fitting return home for the former Fort St. John resident and business owner. “I’m sure I’m going to have tons of people coming up saying hi,” Vogelaar said last week. “I’m excited. I’m looking forward to coming
back and seeing friends and helping to celebrate the cultural centre.” With fellow artist Denis Kleine lending his hands to the project, the two are combining a series of images of some of the top performers who have played the centre and the locals who have enjoyed it in return. “People are welcome to come by and watch us work,” Vogelaar said. “We might not have time to chat, but it’ll be neat to see it happening.”
A bright 25 years of arts and culture North Peace Cultural Centre celebrates silver anniversary CONTACT US
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ALEISHA HENDRY ahendry@ahnfsj.ca
T
he road to having a fully functioning arts centre in Fort St. John was much like the Alaska Highway—a long, winding, and bumpy one. As the North Peace Cultural Centre marks its 25th Anniversary with Bright Nights in June this weekend, we take a look back at how the “heart of the arts” in Fort St. John came to be. The idea behind an arts centre in Fort St. John goes back to the late 1960s, as the community saw a need that wasn’t being fulfilled. The Fort St. John Community Arts Council had been working with arts groups to fill the gap, including creating the ArtSpace in 1986, located in the building that houses Whole Wheat and Honey Café today. The day it opened for class registration, the line up was out the door and around the block. That was proof of how badly the arts were needed in the community, says long-time arts advocate Sue Popesku. Cultural events were still held in Fort St. John, but with limited space and facilities, it was difficult to get performers to the area.
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The scene at the Bright Nights In June grand opening of the North Peace Cultural Centre on June 26, 1992. The 25th Anniversary Bright Nights In June gala takes place June 9.
Margaret May, director for the Fort St. John Community Arts Council and chair of the Peace River Performing Arts Festival, remembers performing in arts festivals held in the gymnasium at the old high school. “We did our festivals in the high school gym, with a big mat or tarp on the floor,” May recalls. “I remember when Ballet B.C. was up and they had to do the same, dancing on the mat on the floor.” The gym couldn’t hold many people, plus the performers had no real stage or backstage area. As well, performances could only be one night so as to not take any more gym time away from the high school sports teams. “Not an ideal situation,” says Popesku. There was also a desperate need for a larger library. The city library was originally part of a building where Shoppers
Drug Mart is now located, which shared space with three other organizations. In 1980, the North Peace Cultural Society tried to get an arts centre built in Fort St. John. The group felt that the arts were integral to having a wellrounded community, as “not everyone plays hockey,” says Popesku. The original plan for the cultural centre was to have a theatre and the public library in a new building located on the site of where the Pomeroy Sport Centre is now. That project went to a regional referendum twice, and was defeated by a narrow margin both times. “If one area voted no, then the whole thing was done,” says Popesku, despite the fact that the ‘yes’ vote actually outweighed the ‘no’ vote overall.
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BC NDP Leader John Horgan and BC Green Leader Andrew Weaver had much to say in the Lower Mainland last week, but little to say to residents of Northeast BC. Since announcing their plan to work cooperatively to oust the BC Liberals and form an NDP-led minority government in its place on May 29 and 30, reJohn Horgan peated requests by Alaska Highway News for an interview with both party leaders have been ignored. Meanwhile, BC Liberal and Peace River North MLA-Elect Dan Davies will be sworn in at a ceremony at the legislature Thursday. He had little insight on how business will unfold when the legislature is recalled and his party challenged. Davies hasn’t reach out to either Horgan or Weaver directly, and declined to speculate on why calls from the north were being ignored. “I just hope that’s not their take on northern B.C. moving forward,” he said. Much remains unknown, Davies said, with question marks looming above the future of Site C, LNG, mining, oil, and forestry. “I’m just going to make sure we’re hammering down what we need do and making sure our voice is heard,” he said.
Peace River boater advisory in place BC Hydro is advising boaters to use caution when passing through the Site C dam site. Work continues to clear a backlog of debris and logs piled up under the Peace River construction bridge due to high water levels, and will continue for several weeks, Hydro says. The main marked navigation channel under the bridge remains open, but boaters are advised to avoid the dam site for safety reasons. Boaters choosing to pass through the site are urged to use extreme caution, Hydro says.
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