Clowning Around with Dianna David

ArtStarts recently hosted the incredibly talented and mad-cap clowning, miming and dancing antics of Dianna David in its downtown gallery as part of ArtStarts on Saturdays.

Big Sisters back at ArtStarts for Art Crawl 2010

ArtStarts had the pleasure of welcoming the Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland back to the gallery as part of their annual Art Crawl.

At the Michael J. Fox Theatre with Burnaby Students

We’re just back from a wonderful presentation by Ballet Victoria to an audience made up of grades 4-7 from the Burnaby school district, at the Michael J. Fox Theatre. This presentation was the second in a series of four that is being presented by the Burnaby Young People’s Concert Series.  

Art-Making Underway at Windemere Secondary School

We recently visited Windemere Secondary School in Vancouver, where on that particular day, Grade 8 students were learning stenciling techniques with Vancouver artist and muralist, Indigo.

Over $11,000 awarded through the Cherniavsky "Mr. Music" Fund

ArtStarts in Schools has just mailed the first round of cheques to schools on behalf of the Cherniavsky’s ‘‘Mr. Music’’ Fund. This annual program offers grants to schools to assist in purchasing tickets for students to attend a wide range of live performances in classical and traditional music, opera, or dance. This year, a total of $11,231 will reach students in 56 rural and urban communities, giving almost 4,500 lucky students the opportunity to discover and enjoy the classics.

Racism. Stop It! Free Filmmaking Workshop

Considering taking part in the Racism. Stop It! National Video Competition? Take advantage of this free workshop being offered by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

How to Produce an Award-Winning Public Service Announcement
For youth between the ages of 12 and 20.
Wednesday, November 24, 4pm – 8pm
ArtStarts in School, 808 Richard Street, Vancouver, BC
Registration Deadline: Friday November 19, 2010

Singing and Dancing with Will Stroet

This Haloween weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting a crowd of little monsters, dinosaurs, giraffes, bumble bees plus their mums and dads at our most recent ArtStarts on Saturdays workshop with Will Stroet!

The Cheques Are In The Mail!

$44,740 has just been awarded to 28 artist residency projects through our Artists in Education 2 Grant. That means that over 3440 students in 19 BC communities will have their learning enriched this school year, as professional artists engage with them through hands-on art projects in the classroom.

Now Available: BC Curriculum for Arts Education K to 7

The new Arts Education K to 7 2010 Curricula for Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts is now available on the BC curriculum website and through Crown Publications.

For more information about the new Arts Education curriculum, visit our post New BC Arts Education Curriculum Announced or the Ministry of Education website.

Gallery Tour - Grade 6's Hearing Voices

Grade six students from Clinton Elementary School in Burnaby were recently given a tour of our exhibition Hear Our Voices. Conversation and questions arose amongst the students as they looked at, read and interacted with the richly diverse collection of work on display. When asked for their thoughts on the show, one enthusiastic student declared, "I love it! Beautiful artwork!".

Hoop Dancing with Teddy Anderson

In honour of Culture Days and the opening of our new exhibition, ArtStarts showcased two interactive workshops by traditional First Nations Hoop Dancer Teddy Anderson as part of our ArtStarts on Saturdays series. Teddy's moves, which sometimes had him spinning up to 20 hoops at one time, captivated the audience.

Hear Our Voices

Our current exhibition, Hear Our Voices, is named after a collection of colourful stories written by First Nations students from Balmoral and Carson Graham Secondary Schools. Under the guidance of author-in-residence, Sylvia Olsen, thirty-six students crafted fictional and true stories, honing their evolving skills at story telling and writing. 

ArtStarts Performer, Max-i-mime, Joins Cast of Cirque Du Soleil

ArtStarts would like to congratulate mime artist, Max Fomitchev on his new position as a performer in the Cirque du Soleil show, Alegria! Max will be touring across Canada and the United States in the prestigious production, performing as the lead clown. Max has performed for hundreds of school shows under his moniker, Max-i-mime.

Taking it to the Street- Public Art in the Curriculum

Taking it to the Street is a cross-curricular, multi-grade, inquiry-based project that takes students to experience the Vancouver Biennale International Public Art installations.

CTF to Launch Imagineaction Initiative

On September 1 the Canadian Teachers’ Federation will launch a new initiative – Imagineaction – a student-driven social action program for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

New BC Arts Education Curriculum Announced

The British Columbia Ministry of Education recently announced the implementation of a new Arts Education curriculum for students from kindergarten to Grade 7.  The new curricula has been designed to allow flexibility in organizing and implementing programs to best meet the needs of students, teachers, and communities.

ArtStarts Founding Executive Director Leaving

Executive Director Wendy Newman is leaving ArtStarts in Schools December 31, 2010 after serving 15 years as the organization's founding Executive Director.

Wild Things, Wild Play with Kathryn Ricketts

Roaring, stomping, clapping, dancing. Kids and parents had lots of fun acting like monsters at our latest ArtStarts on Saturdays workshop! Kathryn Ricketts stopped by the gallery space on June 26th to lead two interactive storytelling workshops based on Maurice Sendak's classic tale, Where the Wild Things Are.

Thinking About a Career in the Arts?

The Cultural Human Resources Council has just released an updated and interactive online versions of their popular Careers in Culture guides.

Honour Scroll Project Unveiled

Students, teachers and members of the community gathered at Britannia Secondary on Friday, June 11th for the unveiling of the Honour Scroll project, which included scrolls made by students in collaboration with artist Susan McCallum.

Artist Spotlight: Norman Foote

Norman Foote is an internationally acclaimed performer known for his humorous live shows, outrageous props, and intelligent songwriting. Foote was the recent winner of the 2010 Juno Award for Best Children’s Album with his new CD, Love My New Shirt.

Taiko Drumming with Bonnie Soon

Bonnie Soon stopped by the Artstarts gallery on Saturday to lead two lively Taiko drumming workshops. Using garbage can as drums, kids and parents learned the basic stance and movements involved in Taiko drumming, and also did some fun vocal shouts!

Safe Amp at ArtStarts

Last month the ArtStarts Gallery was host to a special fundraising event for The Safe Amplification Site Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing a permanent all-ages space for music and other arts events in Vancouver.

Gallery Tours!

Students from Hammond Elementary in Maple Ridge recently visited the ArtStarts Gallery for a tour of our current exhibition, Welcome to Our World.

Keeping Vancouver Spectacular

ArtStarts thanks the Keep Vancouver Spectacular program, a project of the City of Vancouver and Tourism Vancouver, for making sure our neighbourhood looks great!

Arts & Culture Week at Dasmesh School

The 11th annual BC Arts & Culture Week wrapped up on April 24th. Many schools and arts councils around the province took part. From the Arty Awards in Abbotsford to a school tour of the north by Vancouver dance company Joe Ink, citizens and students across BC got engaged in arts activities that connected them with their local communities.

Instrument Fun with The Kerplunks

Award-winning band The Kerplunks visited ArtStarts today to deliver a fun-filled musical performance. The 4 talented members taught the audience about a variety of instruments, including bass, guitar, trumpet, trombone, banjo, drums, and even kazoo!

Sudnya Mulye at the ArtStarts Gallery

Sudnya Mulye visited the ArtStarts Gallery on Saturday for a workshop on Indian Dance. Kids and parents learned about the classical dance style Bharata Natyam, exploring Indian culture and tradition through this expressive medium.

Schools Across BC prepare for Arts & Culture Week

Schools across BC are preparing to celebrate BC Arts & Culture Week. During the week of April 18-24, hundreds of schools and community arts organizations will host events, from Arts Galas to theatrical performances.

Artist spotlight: Julian Lawrence

Students from Windemere Secondary school, who came in for a tour of our current exhibition, Welcome to Our World, recently left ArtStarts some very original thank-you gifts!

Portraits of Resilience on display at ArtStarts Gallery

The Many Strong Voices Programme (MSV) was created in 2005 to bring together indigenous peoples, community organizations, policy makers, NGOs, and researchers from the Arctic and Small Island Developing States. One of its key goals is to make sure the voices of people in these vulnerable regions are heard.

Drumming with Milton Randall

Saturday marked another action-packed ArtStarts on Saturdays workshop. Milton Randall dropped by to teach kids & parents about the language of drumming. Participants got a workout and practiced their counting skills as they banged on their individual drums.

Code Live

CODE Live Opens February 4th! -- 18 days of interactive art and cutting edge music. All part of CODE, the Cultural Olympiad’s digital

Sing-along with Bobs & Lolo

After a month in hiatus, the ArtStarts on Saturdays series is off to a great start in 2010. In record breaking numbers, families poured into the ArtStarts gallery for a performance by popular local artists, Bobs and Lolo. Kids sang and danced to a number of songs, using movement and imagination to celebrate the natural world.

Welcome To Our World

This afternoon ArtStarts celebrated the opening of our newest gallery exhibition: Welcome To Our World. It was a busy day, as young artists, friends, teachers and mentors came to see the display of creative work by students from Port Moody to Greenland.