Citizen Scene Winter 2018

WINTER 2018

Your guide to fun and entertainment in Prince George

p 12

Cirque Du Soleil Takes the Stage in April

event listings

fences

Don’t miss a thing!

Art exhibition hosted

by Two Rivers gallery

PAGE 20

p4

p 16

Major Acts Coming To CN Centre Seinfeld, Our Lady Peace & Matthew Good Band, Johnny Reid and More!

Jeanne Clarke

awards

6 out of the 10 nominations for this year’s award belong to Prince George authors. Page 8

Bad Magic is the name of the art show Mitchell Wiebe has at the city’s premier gallery facility until April 1. Page 6

The Bid for the BriEr Prince George makes a bid for the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier Cup, Canada’s most famous curling event. Page 7

in this

issue Citizen Scene Winter 2018

4 6 7 8 10 11 12 16 18 20

Two Rivers hosting

Fences

Mitchell Wiebe art exhibition

Bad Magic

Prince George’s

Bid for the Brier Celebrating local history

Jeanne Clarke Awards

Welcome to The Citizen Scene, your quarterly review of all the amazing arts and entertainment opportunities available to residents in Prince George and the surrounding area.

As we were putting the stories together of all the stuff that’s coming up over the next few months, we couldn’t help but be excited about how vibrant this community is and how much there is to do. It’s easy to sit at home and complain about how there’s nothing to do in this town but that opinion is – to be blunt – a lie, based on ignorance and laziness.

Not only is there so much to see and do in Prince George, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with what’s going on in the local arts scene as a volunteer. So much of what goes on happens because of the hard work and dedication of local residents – your neighbours – who want to make this city better and more fun and interesting for everyone.

Yes, some of it costs money but artists deserve to be fairly paid for their work. That money stays in this community and helps fund future artistic efforts. Meanwhile, you’re exposed to the talent of outstanding local visual artists, musicians and actors – also your neighbours. Your investment in the local arts will be rewarded handsomely.

Enjoy everything your city has to offer. You won’t regret it.

Local reading trends

Dribs & drabs

Local authors,

subtle arts

A division of

201-1777 Third Avenue | Prince George, B.C. | 250.562.2441

Cirque du Soleil

Crystal breaks the ice Coming to CN Centre

Big names take the stage

Brian Boyer’s twisted art

Down to the wire

Your source for

Local events

check it out...

Local event listings Looking for something to do in Prince George or want to promote your local event? Turn to page 20 and check out our new events listings!

Publisher and GM Colleen Sparrow

Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout

Director of Advertising Cheryl Stewart

Layout & Design: Grace Flack Photography: Brent Braaten, James Doyle Stories: Frank Peebles, Arthur Williams Cover Image: CIrque du Soleil Crystal performance.

Promotional photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

The Citizen Scene is available online at www.pgcitizen.ca The Citizen Scene is produced by the Prince George Citizen, a division of Glacier Media Group, Copyright ©2018.

citizen scene

the arts

Two Rivers hosting

Robert Frost wrote the line “good fences make good neighbours” but he actually meant the opposite.

BY FRANK PEEBLES

While the abolition of certain kinds of fences would indeed be tremendously positive, the loss of others may be problematic.

4

Winter 2018

Human nature is at once compelled to impose lines of delineation but also pine for freedom of movement. Walls, borders, baselines, hedgerows, boundaries, calendar dates, government policies, social norms, safety codes, all can be a form of fence and all are saturated with complex implications.

What a perfectly tensioned word – fence – to inspire an art exhibition. It was the operative theme but framed with the instruction for the participating artists to interpret the word as they saw fit.

The collected results are on the walls now inside the Two Rivers Gallery.

“The original idea came from our curator George Harris. He had been thinking about all the discussions in the media lately about walls and fences and borders,” said assistant curator Meghan Hunter-Gauthier. “There’s everything happening in the States, the Middle East, refugees, North Korea, so many big topics in world affairs have some kind of connection to the idea of fences. They can protect people, alienate people, cause people to flee, so much of our human existence comes down to some kind of boundary.”

Ten B.C. artists had a go at it. Then they had another go at it. They were able to cross the lines of good taste, get out of their comfort zones, go where no thought had gone before and take their artists’ tools with them. Each one of the participating artists was given multiple spaces within the Fences exhibition.

The group inside the circle includes Shirley Babcock (Prince George), Betty Kovacic (Prince George), Michael Rees (Vanderhoof ), mary mottishaw (Dawson Creek), Perry Rath (Smithers), Susan Neilson (Kelowna), Emilie Crewe (Vancouver), Lori Goldberg (Vancouver), Samantha Dickie (Victoria) and Rachel Rozanski (Port Moody). Their collective work opened to the public on January 15.

“It’s quite a full show,” said HunterGauthier. “We have some large pieces, we have some multi-media pieces, everyone did multiple pieces, and they really seem to have crossed boundaries in their own lives and use these pieces to talk about that.”

She said Babcock related a story to her about the creative process on this exhibition. Babcock was looking out the window of her home when an eagle landed

on the backyard fence. It suddenly occurred to the artist that fences can separate things, fences can protect things, but fences aren’t binary things - in or out, welcome or unwelcome - they are also irrelevant things to some forces in our lives. The eagle showed her that sometimes fences are just a good vantage point or place to rest a moment, for some in this world of borders both tangible and intangible.

“Reflected here are considerations of physical barriers, as well as those that are metaphoric, symbolic, social or political,” said Hunter-Gauthier. “This exhibition considers boundaries that are politically charged, invisible, natural or that have come from within. Some of them are walls and fences with deeply negative connotations; others are well intended.

While the abolition of certain kinds of

fences would indeed be tremendously positive, the loss of others may be problematic.”

An elder confined to an apartment, a Nazi victim held within a death camp, displaced refugees fleeing a homeland that’s turned on them, climate change altering access to the Arctic, such are the topics depicted in the collection, plus many more besides.

Fences appears at Two Rivers Gallery until April 1.

Photo left: Meghan Hunter-Gauthier Assistant Curator at Two Rivers Gallery hangs Happy Day by artist Shirley Babcock. Left is Peace Keepers and Justified by artist Michael Rees and on the far wall is History Lessons ( Mob Bounce) by Perry Rath. This exhibit is titled Fences and features BC artists. Photo by Brent Braaten

Winter 2018

5

citizen scene

the arts

bad magic Mitchell Wiebe weaves magic on canvas with a diverse portfolio infused with good humour.

While he draws from art movements that include symbolism and surrealism, Wiebe ultimately aims to lose himself to a deeply intuitive approach to painting.

BY FRANK PEEBLES

It wasn’t bad magic that got Mitchell Wiebe from Halifax to Prince George, but it was Bad Magic that got his art from his Maritime studio into one of the exhibition rooms at Two Rivers Gallery.

Bad Magic is the name of the art show Wiebe has at the city’s premier gallery facility until April 1. It isn’t voodoo or hocus-pocus, but it is a rich and vivid imagination that spurs his brush across the canvas. The artist is as much a magician as anything conjured by Vegas illusionists, and this exhibition indicates why.

“While he draws from art movements that include symbolism and surrealism, Wiebe ultimately aims to lose himself to a deeply intuitive approach to painting,” said Two Rivers Gallery curator George Harris. “The world that emerges through these large paintings offer an irreverent, revelrous and sometimes raucous spectacle, in which the

viewer might lose themselves in turn.”

Harris went deep into Wiebe’s realm when he toured the artist’s studio in Halifax on a personal visit. Together they formed the general mood of the show, with Wiebe pulling the paintings from among his past works. “(Wiebe’s) studio is packed with unfinished paintings,” Harris said. “Paintings sit upon stacks of paintings that rest against paintings stapled in sheets to the wall having been removed from their supports. In this chaotic, hyper-stimulating environment, paintings from one series cross-pollinate another.

Threads of inspiration transmit themselves through different bodies of work, revealing a diverse range of influences from symbolism, through surrealism, to expressionism and comic books.”

And humour.

Never to be forgotten in an assessment of

Wiebe’s art is his sly and wondrous sense of fun. He loves to imbed a good joke in his paintings, sometimes recurring in a series of paintings. He might be inspired by high artists like Matisse and world events like the technology anxieties of the Y2K situation, but you’ll have no trouble finding unicorns and bunnies scattered throughout his work.

“These characters appear in different iterations: sometimes as the focus of his work, sometimes little more than a flourish, sometimes they are inviting and sometimes menacing in appearance,” Harris said. “At times they are invested with narrative, at other times witnesses to the scene in which they appear. If they appear to spring from the domain of children’s books it is because Wiebe uses them as symbols of flights of fancy and the imagination to which more mature sources of inspiration aren’t always open.”

Artist Mitchell Wiebe helps install his exhibit in Two Rivers Gallery titled Bad Magic. The exhibit will be on display until April 1. Photo by Brent Braaten.

6

Winter 2018

THE BID

BY FRANK PEEBLES

The City of Prince George has a vision for hosting the biggest curling tournament in the world. They are seeing CN Centre as the venue for the Tim Hortons Brier, the famed Canadian men’s curling championship for 2020 After a series of sports and culture events on the city’s recent hosting resume, the

for the

BRIER

practicalities of the bid package will be sparkling, said those in attendance. What the effort really needs is paid public support, to show the Brier organization, Curling Canada, that cheering bums will definitely be in CN Centre seats if we get to be the host city.

“We want to bring the Brier to northern B.C. for the first time,” said Mayor Lyn Hall. “We need to prove we really want it.”

To that end, the button went live at www. ticketsnorth.ca allowing the public to purchase (fully refundable) a deposit on Brier 2020 tickets. The price is $20.20.

“By April 15 we are endeavouring to sell a minimum of 2,020 ticket deposits, but if we can get 3,030 or 4,040 that would really show Curling Canada that we are serious about hosting this event,” said CN Centre general manager Glen Mikkelsen.

The city’s most successful curler ever, Patti Knezevic (she competed in the junior nationals and represented B.C. at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts women’s nationals) said the Brier was

citizen scene

sports

an excellent fit for Prince George after hosting the Scotties twice before, the Road To The Roar Olympic qualifier tournament and the Canada Winter Games curling event.

“I’m very excited about this bid and yes, We Are All Curlers,” said Knezevic, reprising the official slogan of the Prince George bid. “We have proven time and time again that we have the volunteer base. We can handle that handsdown. We just have to make sure we get people into those seats.”

Lest anyone have doubts about the party aspect of the Brier, local organizers promised to make the famed Brier Patch the biggest social gathering in city history. The official Brier bar and trade show would encompass both Kin 2 and Kin 3 for the duration of the event.

Photo: Glen Mikkelsen, CN Centre General Manager, Patty Knecevic, Mayor Lyn Hall and Erica Hummel, CEO Tourism Prince George, announce that Prince George is making a bid for the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier. Photo by Brent Braaten.

Winter 2018

7

citizen scene

books

Jeanne Clarke awards

BY FRANK PEEBLES

History is being made. All the time, actually. And sometimes, tenacious researchers commit the events and experiences of the past to paper, so that future generations can learn and appreciate how their local community was formed.

Ten authors are being honoured, this year, as nominees for their work to document key aspects of our region’s story. These 10 are on the shortlist for the 2018 Jeanne Clarke History Award (Publishing).

There is also a second Jeanne Clarke History Award for Service, but there is no nominees’ list for that trophy, just the disclosure of the winner each year at the public unveiling.

“It is a great opportunity to highlight local history and highlight the people who are doing this kind of writing,” said Amy Dhanjal, communications coordinator for the Prince George Public Library, the agency behind the annual awards. “It is exciting and important to bring people together to celebrate those people who put so much work and thought into preserving our past.”

Darcie Smith, the library’s community outreach librarian, said the shortlist was always dependent on the given year’s book options. Some years have only a few to consider. This year, it was a surge of material.

“We have a wealth of them this year, and we are a regional award but six of these titles are from Prince George so that says a lot about the level of community pride here,” said Smith.

“And when you see that this award dates back to 1985, that’s an impressive amount of local history writing.”

Within the list of this year’s nominee is a familiar name: Trelle Morrow. He has won three past Jeanne Clarkes, as has the late Kent Sedgwick. Only one other author has multiple wins, that being Valerie Giles with two.

Giles is a perfect illustration of the dedication local historians have for telling the region’s story, Smith said, when you realize that she first won in the 1980s, then won again in the 2000s.

“We need these writers,” Smith said. “We know so much about the history of big cities, but the stories in our small towns and communities are just as interesting and just as meaningful. It’s important that we celebrate that and keep encouraging more people to go to that extent of writing it down and forming it into a book.”

The Jeanne Clarke History Awards are named for one of the founders of the library’s Local History Committee. Clarke was on the library’s board from 1978-84, including in the position of chair.

The awards were inaugurated in 1985, but were split into publishing and service streams in 1993. Occasionally ties have occurred in some categories. Books are eligible for consideration if they have been published within the past three years.

The presentation ceremony is always held in February during National Heritage Week.

8

Winter 2018

And The 2018 Jeanne Clarke Award Nominees Are:

Ootsa Lake Odyssey: George and Else Seel (A Pioneer Life on the Headwaters of the Nechako Watershed)

by Jay Sherwood (2016)

Not My Fate: The Story of a Nisga’a Survivor

by Janet Romain (2016)

People of Prince George

by Kathy Nadalin (2017) Historical Memories: People, Places, Programs & Services

by The Prince George Retired Teachers’ Association (2010-2017) Mr. Seebach and the New Store by The Huble Homestead Historic Society (2015)

Unbuilt Environments: Tracing Postwar Development in Northwest British Columbia

by Jonathan Peyton (2017)

I Should Have Married a Cowboy by Barbara Robin (2017)

Silent Passage: Life With Reaction Ferries

by Trelle Morrow (2016) Sunshine and Rhubarb Wine: The Life and Legacy of Bea Dezell

by Dianne Hildebrand (2017)

Miller Bay Indian Hospital: Life and Work in a TB Sanitorium

by Carol Harrison (2017)

citizen scene

books

It’s a lot of lighter stuff.

I think that’s an indicator of how busy people in Prince George are.

They are the kind of books you can pick up and put down.

&

DRIBS DRABS Local readers LEAN towards lighter fare

BY ARTHUR WILLIAMS

Prince George readers tend to spend more time reading during the summer months than in the winter, if library traffic is an indicator, Prince George Public Library adult librarian Patricia Gibson said.

That’s different from most other communities. So is the preference of local readers towards quick and fun page turners.

“It all surprised me. I’m surprised at how much pleasure reading it is,” Gibson said. “I will say it’s atypical.”

In 2017, the trend, in adult books at least, was toward escapist fare – the kinds of books which can be “read in dribs and drabs,” she said.

“It’s a lot of lighter stuff. I think that’s an indicator of how busy people in Prince George are. They are the kind of books you can pick up and put down,” Gibson said. “There is a real contrast between

10

Winter 2018

the very dark, and the very light. There is Stephen King’s new one, End of Watch, with serial killers with psychic powers.

In Repo Madness, (the protanganist) is falsely accused of a crime and has to solve it himself. Then there is the ultra light – romance, especially with an erotic element, like With Every Breath by Maya Banks.”

Coming to Prince George from Kamloops, Gibson said she was surprised by the popularity of science fiction and fantasy in Prince George. The city has a dedicated core of sci-fi and fantasy readers who are devoted to the series they enjoy.

By comparison, in Kamloops, “40 per cent of my fiction budget was for mysteries,” she said.

Looking ahead to 2018, literary prize winners are always in high demand, she said. As the Scotiabank Giller Prize,

Governor General’s Literary Awards, Pulitzer Prize and others are announced, those books immediately go into high demand.

But more locally, the book list for the library book club Gibson runs is always in high demand. Copies of the list are available at both library branches, and library users don’t need to join the club to pick up a copy of the list and check out the titles.

Of course, if you don’t feel like reading, “we’ve got 7,000 DVDs in circulation,” Gibson said.

“We’ve got some great TV series, too.”

Photo above: Amy Dhanjal, Communications Coordinator and Patricia Gibson, Adult Services Librarian, with a few of the most borrowed library books for 2017 in the Prince George Public library system. Photo by Brent Braaten.

local authors, subtle Arts

BY ARTHUR WILLIAMS

At local bookstore Books and Co. a pair of Prince George authors were among the top three bestsellers in 2017, along with an unconventional self-help book.

“Probably the best seller was The Subtle

Dumplin’

by Julie Murphy

Art of Not Giving a F*ck (by Mark Manson),” Books and Co. bookstore manager Kayli VanderMeer said. “It was a great read. This was one of the best books of the last year. In the last year or so, we sold 500 copies.”

Manson’s tough-talking, no-nonsense approach to a better life has made the book a New York Times bestseller.

Also one of the top sellers of 2017 was People of Prince George, by Kathy Nadalin. Nadalin, who writes the weekly Seniors Scene column in the Citizen Extra,

Uprooted

by Naomi Novik

launched her book detailing the lives of local residents in May this year. All proceeds from the sale of the book support an endowment fund at the Prince George Community Foundation.

The Salmon Run!, written and illustrated by local aboriginal author and artist Clayton Gauthier, follows the journey of a salmon as it makes its way upstream to spawn.

When it comes to what’s coming out this year, VanderMeer said the staff at Books and Co. have been talking about Entertainment Weekly’s article, The 50 most anticipated books of 2018, which can be found online at bit.ly/2CNZMoR. “I am particularly excited about How To Stop Time, by Matt Haig,” she said. “I was a big fan of his book The Humans.”

for additional inspiration:

VanderMeer’s top 10 list from 2017

The Lumberjanes graphic novel series

by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen and Noelle Stevenson

Looptail

by Bruce Poon Tip

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

by Mark Manson

Lagom

by Niki Brantmark

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

by Gail Honeyman

The Bear and the Nightingale

by Katherine Arden

The 5 Love Languages

by Gary Chapman

Reclaiming Conversation

by Sherry Turkle

Winter 2018

11

citizen scene

feature

crystal

BY FRANK PEEBLES

The world’s greatest creative minds in the acrobatics field decided to turn down the temperature at Cirque du Soleil headquarters on the outskirts of Montreal.

The thinking got so hot on the subject of cold new worlds that they got frozen out of the enormous facility. They had to take their brainstorm to a nearby rink.

Designing their new show left no choice but to take Cirque du Soleil writers and designers out of their comfort zone. They were taking acrobatics to a place that had never had it before - the ice. The palatial studio spaces that allow Cirque acrobats to train for their shows and develop their death-defying skills could still be used for the complex choreography of this shattering new show idea, but the coolest elements needed an arena.

For all the figure skating and ice dance that’s been accomplished over time, and with the evolution of Crashed Ice racing and technical advancements in speed skating, one thing the world had never seen is acroskating. That wasn’t even a fully authentic word until this show grew from theory to reality.

This whole new frozen genre of performance has another name, too. So, by way of introduction: world, meet Crystal.

Story continued on page 14

12

Winter 2018

Breaks the

with the evolution of Crashed Ice racing and technical advancements in speed skating, one thing the world had never seen is acroskating.

Winter 2018

13

A Cirque show isn’t a Cirque show if some of the characters aren’t spinning and gracefully tumbling more than 30 feet in the air at high speeds and with little chance of survival if the landings aren’t accomplished perfectly.

Story continued from page 12

Crystal is the name of a character, the young girl coming of age in the story the way acroskating is coming of age in the production.

Crystal falls through the ice while skating on her backyard lake, and as she sinks beneath the frigid waters she hallucinates scenes from her life.

Some are memories from the past interlaced with fantasies of a possible future. She sees visions of career, romance, domestic life, and even a mirror version of herself. These possible futures aren’t judgmental, but do present Crystal with choices. There are forces of dark and light, blaze versus bland, yin and yang. All the while, she is heroically processing life choices and at the same time the need to escape the icy water into which she has deeply dropped. Is it all a test? Is it all a dream? Is it all in vain?

All of it plays out in a blizzard of bright lights, pulsing music, and exaggerated human figures. Like all dreams, these people - herself included - are capable of surreal feats that defy gravity and space, and their appearances can be just as elastic as their mysterious abilities.

But Crystal’s hallucinations are the audience’s spectacle, all of it real life and in real time. Those hockey players really are rocketing 20 feet high in the air, propelled by their own muscle power and the physical science of ramp engineering.

But how? That is the question Crystal doesn’t ponder, because it’s her dream.

The audience, though, will at least subliminally and in all probability quite consciously wonder how these hockey players can power up on the sheet of ice, then transition to various ramps and platforms. Their blades still sleekly slide along. The answer is quite technical but can be summed up as “special plastic.”

It’s a sheet of hard polymer that mimics ice enough for the skaters to keep their dynamic motion going - up and up and up.

Another similar question that will come to the audience’s mind if they

14

Winter 2018

are paying attention even just a little is how anyone can flat-out run, change direction on the fly, hold position under pressure and other human motions when they are in common street shoes, but on ice?

Again, the answer has details that could fill a binder of engineering schematics, but it can be summed up as “special shoe soles.”

These plastics and shoes weren’t available in these applications when Cirque designers first began working on Crystal. The dreamers of the company - the creative storytellers - came up with the vision. The circus company’s next task was to find ways of achieving the dream in the tactile world. They needed to invent the shoes that would allow their actors and acrobats to move normally while on slippery ice. And they did.

A Cirque show isn’t a Cirque show if some of the characters aren’t spinning and gracefully tumbling more than 30 feet in the air at high speeds and with little chance of survival if the landings aren’t accomplished perfectly. In order to do such things on ice, entire acrobatic hardware categories had to be invented.

Swinging hinge-poles were designed and crafted especially for Crystal that allow skaters to be flung like catapult ammo through the abstract space of the lead character’s dreams, but of course that would have to be the actual air above the ice in front of the audience an audience that will likely be holding its collective breath as these artistic athletes set new height records for skaters.

Cirque has made an iconic career out of leaving no detail unfinished. What goes up must come down, so for all the epic leaps and dynamic dives of the airborne skaters, movement also had to be designed for when they were back down on the hard, cold truth of the earthbound world. That’s where figure skating choreographers and Crashed Ice coaches came in. Crystal is a story, a wordless play, so the dance forms of skating and the aggressive rush of racing on blades also have their places.

Cirque turned to one of the world’s best to handle the artistry of the on-ice movement.

Four-time world men’s figure skating champion Kurt Browning was called upon to help. His hall-of-fame skating abilities were always equalled by his showmanship, as the first competitor to ever verifiably land a quad toe-loop, as a television commentator and

got a practical sense of this city’s infrastructure host of TV show Battle Of The Blades, and as made in-house at the Cirque headquarters in capabilities, as well as the goods and services a choreographer to the stars (he has designed Montreal. The designs were sketched there, capacity and audience relationship. When skating programs for the likes of Patrick but the fabrics and their colours are also they completed the conceptualizing of Crystal proprietary creations. When you’re doing Chan, Pelletier & Salé, Tara Lipinski and things for the very first time in the world, and set to work on a slate of cities in which to many more). there is no catalogue or outlet store that can show it, one of the first to get a check mark It you are a fan of traditional figure skating was CN Centre. It was the first Canadian shows, said Browning, “that is a certain style satisfy such critical needs. location announced apart from the home of skating we have used to win competitions.

The costumes need to tell the story as much dates in Quebec.

It is very specific, very stylized, very confined.” as the music and choreography does. They Crystal will run in Prince George from April need to look striking for the audience, be a This goes off that script completely into visual representation of the character, serve 25-29. After the initial announcement, ticket moves that are illegal in competition and “a sales were so strong that another performance lot more dangerous.” It will be new for Cirque the athletic demands, conform to safety needs, and also be ready to swap as quick was added to accommodate the demand. fans and also new for skating fans, he said.

There are now eight showtimes to choose Every new Cirque show (they have 21 shows as a backstage wink. Because almost all of from. these athletes/actors portray more than one currently in action - on tour or installed at character, the costumes must be prepared to Crystal is a suitable show for all ages, and theatres in Riviera Maya, New York and adapt to those quick changes. in CN Centre there are no bad seats in the seven in Las Vegas) has its own ecosystem Touring shows must also have rigging that house. The ticket prices range from $59-165 of costumes, props, sets, makeup and other for adults, with discounted prices for children, effect pieces. They all have their peculiarities can change and adapt on the fly. Each host students, seniors and military. There is also a but only their production called O can rival building on their tours has its own set of discounted family pack option available. physical realities. Cirque came to Prince Crystal for being completely unto itself. O Tickets are available at the CN Centre box George with their show Dralion in 2015 and is famous for acrobatic use of water. Crystal office or buy online at froze that water and needed www.ticketsnorth.ca. to build clothing strong Cirque turned to one of the world’s best enough to withstand the rigors of ice, but also flexible to handle the artistry of the on-ice movement. enough to allow for full Four-time world men’s figure skating champion Photos courtesy of range of acrobatic motion.

Kurt Browning was called upon to help.

Cirque Du Soleil.

All of these costumes were

Winter 2018

15

citizen scene

events

After 10 years of absence from CN Centre, two of Canada’s biggest bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s are coming back.

Together.

BY FRANK PEEBLES

The Matthew Good Band crushed the charts with Hello Time Bomb, Apparitions, Symbolistic White Walls, Weapon, Load Me Up and more. The group earned themselves 14 Juno Award nominations and spun Good off into an acclaimed solo career that carried on to today. He has gone back to the band configuration for this powered up tour.

Headlining the night is none other than Our Lady Peace. They have sold millions, worldwide, and emerged as one of the definitive bands of that era, Canadian or otherwise. Their hit-list includes Naveed, Somewhere Out There, Whatever, Is Anybody Home?, One Man Army, Thief, Superman’s Dead, 4 a.m., and many others. They were applauded as consummate musicians, shone a bright light into the poetry community, and emphasized artistic collaborations.

The two acts have had heydays and hiatus periods, branched off into projects outside their regular spotlights, but have never ceased to pound out literate, thought-provoking, head-banging power rock. It’s no surprise to music critics that the two found themselves to be a fit for a modern day cross-Canada reminder tour.

Both acts will also ride a wave of new material that comes from equal parts brains and guts.

Our Lady Peace and the Matthew Good Band will return to CN Centre on March 28.

Order online at www.ticketsnorth.ca or charge by phone at 1-855925-6027 or buy in person at the box office at CN Centre.

Jerry Seinfeld Considered one of the funniest people in the world, Jerry Seinfeld will once again take to the CN Centre stage May 17 and tickets go on sale Friday.

A great story teller, Seinfeld’s style of observational comedy has mass audience appeal sure to evoke chuckles in everyone.

This is one stop on Seinfeld’s 2018 international tour.

Tickets available online at www.ticketsnorth.ca or by phone 1-855-925-6027.

16

Winter 2018

Johnny Reid never comes alone.

Big names join

Photo by James Doyle.

Johnny Reid

BY FRANK PEEBLES

Whenever the Scottish-Canadian country star tours the land, the concert is always an extravaganza of music and personality. Local audiences know this by now, from past appearances, so when he booked CN Centre for an appearance on his new Revival tour, it was only a matter of time before other names would emerge in support.

The first came quickly. Glass Tiger is a power-pop band that has won legions of fans since the ‘80s and their legacy is as glittery as their peak period on the charts. They will be along for the rockin’ Reid ride.

Jessica Mitchell will also get to perform her hit country stuff on the Revival junket.

Glass Tiger has some obvious commonalities with Reid. There’s the kilts, of course, since frontman Alan Frew is also a ScottishCanadian. And there’s the pop sensibility that have made both of them preeminent songwriters.

The commonality between Reid and Mitchell is the voice. He is called country’s Joe Cocker and she is known as country’s Adele for her powerful vocal delivery that seems to mail lyrics directly to your core.

“I’m thrilled to have Jessica join us,” said Reid. “She’s a great performer with great songs and a soulful voice. She’s the real deal and a perfect fit for Revival.”

Mitchell has been splitting her time between Toronto and Nashville, in recent years, as her career blossoms. She has already impressed the industry with sharply written songs like Grown Up Things, Working On The Whiskey, A Place Called Gone, and That Record Saved My Life, among others.

David Foster once surprised her with a duet on her song Buy You A Drink. She has toured with headliners like Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cochrane, Royal Wood, Terri Clark, Ron Sexsmith and was picked to sing Only Love Can Break Your Heart on behalf of Neil Young at the 2017 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

And true to that Adele comparison, she recently performed Skyfall for a Canadian Film Centre gala just to prove it was all true.

Mitchell earned a nomination at this year’s Canadian Country Music Awards in the Roots Artist Of The Year category. From that, and the rangy collection of artists she’s opened for, it’s apparent that Mitchell’s music style has a lot of colours outside the country lines.

It’s a flexibility that stands her in good stead and stands her in the same genre-bending camp as Johnny Reid.

Reid, Mitchell, Glass Tiger, Reid’s large touring band The Soul Providers and perhaps many more will be on the Prince George stage March 8. Tickets are available for the CN Centre show at www. ticketsnorth.ca or at the arena’s box office.

citizen scene

the arts

WIRE

BY FRANK PEEBLES

Down to the

Twists and turns. Every life has them.

They can weave one’s character into strong moral fiber; they can trip and entangle someone into a mire.

18

Winter 2018

The strongest twists and turns made be the human hand are construction of metal. Strands of wire hold together the mightiest of structures, and the daintiest of telecommunication systems. One line might easily break, but many woven together is another matter. Brian Boyer can’t stop his hands from crumpling and warping wire into new shapes, and he found his life reshaped by the same twisting. A man on the brink of ending his own life now finds himself excited to get up in the morning and reluctant to fall asleep at the end of the day because he has a compulsion to create.

Most of the time, the wire becomes trees. Gleaming silver, radiant red, glimmering green, whatever colour the wire happens to be, he warps and distorts it into art. It’s selling like stocks on Wall Street, buyers clamouring for it from local shops like Studio 2880, Two Rivers Gallery, 3 Sisters Rock ‘n’ Gems, and Ridge Side Art where he has been the featured guest this past week as a live in-studio artist.

He has been especially supported in his efforts by artistic allies John Westergard of Direct Art and Ridge Side Art’s Christina Watts.

Boyer said he’s used to the attention, despite the discomfort he feels from it. He has abiding anxieties, and he has an emotional personal history. As someone who considers his fixational artwork an extension of his inner self, that can be daunting.

“I call my art business Forrest Wire,” he said, letting the double entendre sink in. His wire figures are almost always trees - forest - and he uses the process to calm his frenetic mind - for rest. “It’s my zen.

It’s my quiet place. I can’t twist and talk at the same time. Normally I like to do it outside, but I get inundated with people coming up to me to talk and ask questions, and it’s very emotional for me to talk about.

I love telling my story, but it is exhausting.”

In short, he suffered routine violence and neglect as a child in Ontario at the hands of his parents. He became an alcohol and drug addict early. He qualified as a steelworker but he was essentially homeless most of his life. He suffered exposure, malnutrition, poverty, shame, and carried the weight of the compounding traumas his life exposed him to.

To make ends meet he became a thief and a drug dealer. He lived

for three years inside the shelter of some enormous twisted roots of a blue spruce in Victoria Park in Niagara Falls.

“It could be raining sideways but I would be bone dry inside,” he said. “It took me a long time to put it all together - my artwork, men and that tree. It was a person to me. It was my shelter, it was my depression, it was my protector, it was my exposure, I yelled at that tree, I cried in that tree. It was everything.

And now I have a thing for trees.”

After a turbulent relocation to the Okanagan, where local street people figured him to be a cop or an informant and put a bounty out on him - $50 in drugs to anyone who stabbed him - he decided to end it all.

He had the rocks picked out with which he would laden his clothes, then walk out into Okanagan Lake at the Penticton beach.

Fate jolted him out of that plan.

“I looked like a chewed up cat toy. I was a mess of a person,” he said. “I wasn’t sad about it. I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I just suddenly understood why people decided to end their own lives. I was there, in that place.

I had come to that conclusion.”

He spotted an electrical installation company’s compound. There was some loose wire on the property. He was well aware that some people steal wire to sell as scrap metal to spend on drugs, but he stole that wire that day with something else in mind. He bloodied his hands using a broken bottle to strip the rubber coating off, but he had an idea. He was going to twist that wire into a shape, a sculpture.

And someone came along who worked at the welfare office as he was working on that sculpture, and was fascinated, and said “you could sell that, you know?” The thrill of that epiphany surged through him like 1,000 volts. No, he didn’t know that at all. What?

He was going to the welfare office for a small emergency amount - $20 - planning to eat a last meal, smoke a last cigarette, and submerge in the lake. Now he saw a clear income stream, a distinct purpose for himself, and a flash of light in his life he had scarcely ever felt before.

He sat in front of a coffee shop near the beach and whipped up 17 tree sculptures. He sold 12 of them immediately.

“When I was in Grade 8, my teacher, Mr. Kasmir, pulled my pencil out of my hand, slammed it down on the desk, and shook my hand really hard. He said ‘you are the reason I do this job.’ I thought he was maybe being sarcastic, or just being funny, but part of me also knew he was giving me a really meaningful compliment. I just couldn’t allow myself to believe it. It took me my whole life to figure out what he meant.”

He’s just the epitome of what an artist is. People gravitate to him and they gravitate to his art.

He encountered almost instant success in the Okanagan with his creations. He didn’t sell them for much money, but the material was free because he was stealing it, the time commitment was free because he had no gainful employment or obligations, so any amount of money was a rare infusion.

He still had a boatload of baggage, however.

Setbacks abounded, but so did momentum.

He was hampered by drugs, alcohol, unemployment, malnutrition, infirm body, few positive people in his life, a lifetime of learned behaviour - most of it bad. But he also had determination and a new sense of purpose.

One of the Okanagan’s renowned names in the art world, Vaelei Walken-Brown, spotted his work. She offered Boyer space in her gallery to sell his art. It was a popular item, and it made Boyer into a commercial artist for the first time. He now had himself a profession.

Without entering those fatal waters, he had nonetheless been baptized by art.

About a year ago, he moved to Prince George. It’s where his girlfriend lived. He had turned his life around sufficiently enough that he could maintain a relationship and this is where she lived.

He doesn’t steal his wire anymore. He has a supply partnership with Primus, Norcap and Northern Electric to legitimately obtain the copper and aluminum he uses for his sculptures. He also collects wire from discarded tube televisions because the internal lines are festively coloured. He spots rocks, bits of driftwood, and other found objects that he intermingles into his wire creations. He paints them with epoxy, he even uses acid to create desired effects.

So complex are the items of Forrest Wire that even light and electricity are involved in some of the sculptures.

His industrial fingers were already trained

for that sort of trade, so he easily incorporated it into his wire windings, making ever more complex creations.

Some of them are simply sculptures for the sake of art. Others have double use like being a lamp or candle holder.

“I don’t know of anyone else out there who does this, other than him,” said Watts. “He has his whole life story wrapped up in his work. He’s just the epitome of what an artist is. People gravitate to him and they gravitate to his art. I tried to do it myself and wow, it’s so hard. He has skillmanship. See, he’s even inspiring new words.”

His piece sell for anywhere ranging between $75 to several hundred dollars. He laughed that “12 different times” he had been insistently given more money by the buyer than the sticker price. His prices may rise.

He does not do custom orders. He has had too many negative experiences when the work did not match the vision of the commissioner.

“I don’t really do people,” he said, meaning he’d rather spend his personal time with the impulses and creative cajoling of his own brain. It’s an organ rife with electrical circuitry. It’s just how he’s wired.

Photo left: Artist Brian Boyer twists wire on Tuesday at Groop Gallery. Boyer uses 100% recycled and ethically sourced wire to create sculptures and jewelry. Photo by James Doyle.

Winter 2018

19

april

events

your source for Local

march Current – April 1st

Fences Art Exhibition

Location: Two Rivers Gallery More info: tworiversgallery.ca Current – April 1st

Bad Magic Art Exhibition

Location: Two Rivers Gallery More info: tworiversgallery.ca Current – March 4th

Theatre Northwest presents

Hedda Noir

Theatre Northwest presents one of theatre history’s greatest plays Hedda noir, that tells the story of a beautiful daughter of the late General Gabler, who returns from her honeymoon to confront the boredom and banality of married life in a world where her strength as a woman is not socially acceptable.

Location: Theatre Northwest Tickets: theatrenorthwest.com March 1st - 3rd

Amy Hef Location: The Black Clover More info: theblackclover.com

March 2nd – 18th Miracle Theatre presents

Celebrating the people and businesses that have made an outstanding contribution towards health & wellness in our community.

Location: The Ramada Plaza Tickets: The Prince George Citizen

March 10th

Prince George Cougars vs. Victoria Royals

Mad Hatter’s Ball

March 2nd

World Day of Prayer

Worldwide movement of Christian women who come together to observe a common day of prayer each year.

Location: St. Michael’s and All Angels Anglican Church More info: 250-564-4511 March 3rd

PGSO presents

April 7th

Hosted by the Prince George Figure Skating Club. Family Dinner & Dance fundraiser. Location: Fore Bistro at the P.G. Golf & Curling Club.

More info: 250-563-4768 March 15th - 17th

Ty Marshall Live Music

Prince George Cougars vs. Portland Winterhawks Location: CN Centre Tickets at: ticketsnorth.ca

Jay Burns Live Music

Location: The Black Clover More info: theblackclover.com

Goin’ to the Moon

Offers families the opportunity to introduce their children to the wonder and fun of classical music, combined with engaging stories to make each concert a riveting and enjoyable experience for children.

Location: PG Playhouse Tickets: pgso.com

March 17th

April 12th – May 2nd

Prince George Cougars vs. Kamloops Blazers Location: CN Centre Tickets at: ticketsnorth.ca March 23rd

Nerf for Teens

Use your own Nerf launcher or borrow one of ours. Limited registration.

Location: Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library More info: 250-563-9251 ext. 108

March 8th & 9th

Blackberry Wood Live Music

Location: Nancy O’s More info: facebook.com/pg/ Nancyospg/events

A celebration of the accomplishments of working together in northern B.C. to provide enhanced and sustainable medical education, medical services and healthcare for us all.

Location: Prince George Civic Centre Tickets at: ewertlecture.com

PGSO presents

Enjoy listening to Kodaly’s Intermezzo from the Harry Janos Suite, Gounod’s Petite Symphony, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9.

Location: Vanier Hall Tickets: pgso.com March 6th & 7th

Dr. Bob Ewert Memorial Dinner and Lecture

April 7th

Location: The Black Clover More info: theblackclover.com

Folk Traditions

March 8th - 10th

Live Music

2018 Healthier You Awards

March 2nd & 3rd

Location: CN Centre Tickets at: ticketsnorth.ca

April 6th

March 28th

Our Lady Peace & Matthew Good Band Location: CN Centre Tickets: ticketsnorth.ca

Theatre Northwest presents

The Best Brothers

In this 2012 hysterical comedy by famed Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor two brothers reunite to gain a better understanding regarding their relationship with her, each other, and the family dog.

Location: Theatre Northwest Tickets: theatrenorthwest.com April 14th

PGSO presents

Canadian Contemplation and Russian Drama

Roydo: Tse’s Three Musings, Shostakovich: Festive Overture, Borodin: Polovtsian Dances, Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme.

Location: Vanier Hall Tickets: pgso.com

March 8th

What happens when a barbershop quartet loses a key member to a heart-stopping high B flat? The three surviving members suddenly find themselves scrambling to find a tenor before the national competition.

Location: Artspace (above Books and Company) Tickets at: Books & Company

20

Winter 2018

Johnny Reid

Location: CN Centre Tickets: ticketsnorth.ca March 10th

Dean Chandler Live Music

Location: The Black Clover More info: theblackclover.com

April 8th Doc Cinema: Planet of Snail

Explores how poet Young-Chan who is deaf and blind, experiences the world with help from his wife, Soon-Ha. Location: Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library More info: 250-563-9251 ext. 141

April 17th

The Illusionists

Location: CN Centre Tickets: ticketsnorth.ca

may

May 17th

May 12th

Chad Pad

Location: Nancy O’s More info: facebook.com/pg/ Nancyospg/events

May 6th

Dirty Dancing

April 19th

Emma Cook

Location: Nancy O’s More info: facebook.com/pg/ Nancyospg/events

April 21st

Location: CN Centre Tickets at: ticketsnorth.ca May 6th

Investors Group Walk for Alzheimer’s

Since 2003 in British Columbians have raised more than $6.5 million through this event to help support people living with dementia and their families.

Location: Carrie Jane Cray Park More info: alzheimer.ca May 11th - 13th

2018 Northern Fancon

Location: Northern Lights Estate Winery More information: northernlightswinery.ca

Northern BC’s very own comic con entertainment expo returns for three days of celebrity guests, cosplayers, artists, vendors, workshops, live interviews and more.

Location: CN Centre More info: fancon.ca

May 4th

April 25th - 29th

Cirque du Soleil

May 17th

Jerry Seinfeld

Location: CN Centre Tickets: ticketsnorth.ca

Live!

May 27th

Scotiabank MS Walk Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin Tickets at: ticketsnorth.ca

Join the 2018 Scotiabank MS walk and help raise funds to #endMS. Location: Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park More info: 1-800-268-7582

May 28th Learn to Fish

Hosted by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of .B.C., learn the basics of fishing including: fish identification, proper fish handling, tackle, rod rigging, casting, and hands-on fishing. This is a free program but registration is required.

Location: Shane Lake More info: 250-561-7600

Turn the page for more events!

Crystal

Location: CN Centre Tickets: ticketsnorth.ca April 26th

Poetry Series: Spring

Join local poets for a celebration of all things poetry during National Poetry Month!

Location: Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library More info: 250-563-9251 ext. 301 April 27th - 29th

2018 North Central Badminton Tournament

PGSO presents

Spring is in the Air

What is “new” about this series of chamber concerts is the style in which you can enjoy listening to an expanded core of musicians perhaps playing a little pops or jazz mixed in with beautiful classics.

Location: Ramada Plaza Hotel Tickets: pgso.com

Location: College of New Caledonia More information: northcourt.ca May 12th

PGSO presents

Potpourri of Classical Favourites April 29th

Annual Spring Clean-Up

Pick up litter in neighbourhood parks and school yards, along city streets and trails. Join other Prince George residents in making our city more beautiful.

More info: 250-561-7327

the Prince George Symphony Orchestra presents Potpourri of Classical Favourites to uniquely honour mothers.

Location: PG Playhouse Tickets: pgso.com March 17th

The Statistics

Location: Nancy O’s More info: facebook.com/pg/ Nancyospg/events Winter 2018

21

ongoing events 22

tuesday Two-Step Tuesdays

Location: Cowboy Ranch More info: cowboyranch.ca

wednesday Open Mic Night

Location: Nancy O’s Bring your instruments and forget your stage fright to show us what you’ve got!

More info: facebook.com/pg/Nancyospg

thursday Karaoke Thursdays Location: Cowboy Ranch More info: cowboyranch.ca

friday Open Mic Night

Location: Cafe Voltaire More info: facebook.com/pg/ booksandcompanyprincegeorge/events

Live Music

Location: Oakroom Grill More info: facebook.com/oakroomgrill

Winter 2018

Live Music

Location: Northern Lights Estate Winery More info: facebook.com/ northernlightswinery.ca

Comedy Show

Location: Sonar Comedy and Nightclub More info: sonarcomedyandnightclub. com

Friday Night Jazz

Location: Winston’s Resto-Bar More info: facebook.com/ winstonsrestobar

saturday Sicker than your Average Saturday The perfect blend of awesome house DJs and 50+ beer options!

Location: Nancy O’s More info: facebook.com/pg/ Nancyospg/events

Comedy Show

Location: Sonar Comedy and Nightclub More info: sonarcomedyandnightclub. com

Feature your

event Citizen Scene events pages are a FREE way to get your event published and in the hands of residents and visitors looking for something local to do.

Email your event to:

events@pgcitizen.ca Include: date, event name, brief description (25 words or less), location, contact and ticket information.

The Citizen Scene publishes quarterly April* events calendar features: May | June | July July* events calendar features: August | September | October October* events calendar features: November | December | January *Issue dates are subject to change, and the calendar for each issue may be adjusted depending on publishing dates. **Events may be edited or omitted depending on space and for good taste.