May 14, 2012

Celebrating BC Arts and Culture Week 2012

This Spring we celebrated BC Arts and Culture Week by hosting an event called "A&C Playground". With "playground" as our theme, our mission was to invite people to be carefree and have fun like we all did when we were young — and to bring that sense of play back into our daily lives.

Another day at the office... Volunteer Anna Creasy wrangles the helium balloons.

I HEART ART!

Talented students from Burnaby School District's Music Technology Program perform for passers-by.

Guests were greeted at the door by a cloud of red balloons hovering above some vintage typewriters. They were asked to have a seat, take a manila tag and type out a personal answer to the question,"What do you miss about being a kid?" The tags were then tied to the balloons and sent up, up and away to be shared with others.

I miss creating an adventure out of every day experiences, running around barefoot. Everything seeming so big and full of  infinite possibilities.

Having Indiana Jones as my future career of choice.

Being fearless.The pure joy fruit roll ups gave me.

Being able to squeeze into small spaces.

I miss painting and drawing secretly on the back of books.

Being with my dad and going camping with my family in the big army tent.

Endless summer... spent in the forest, in my treehouse and in the backyard.

Being carried, shoulder rides.

The freedom to care less about what other people think about me and be uninhibited.

I miss recess and taking peanut butter and jam sandwiches in my lunch.

Playtime… hanging out, leisure in the sun, open road ahead.

Getting away with large scale mishief. Now it has to be smalltime, mostly.

The answers we received were really charming and resonated with everyone who read them. Fortunately, the nostalgia didn't have a bittersweet taste, as this crowd was full of a sense fun and play, even as adults.

Film students from Arts Institute capture the fun, while a talented student from Burnaby School District's Music Technology Program performs

While happily snacking on kettle corn, licorice and cookies, and sipping on ice cream floats, we sat back to enjoy a performance by Mind of a Snail. This group is truly one-of-a-kind: they use an overhead projector to create mesmerizing stories projected onto a screen. The results are strange and wonderful.

Mind of a Snail, and Maggie Winston of Lost and Found Puppet Company

After the show, Maggie Winston of Lost and Found Puppet Company engaged the crowd with her puppetry skills and got daring souls to dive into her tickle trunk and dress up. Some of the results were captured in our photobooth, where people were also finishing the sentence, “Through Arts and Culture I...”

Check out more photos in this series on Facebook.

At the event, we also had the opportunity to present Vancouver Biennale with this year's Arts Champion in Education Award and publicly acknowledge the fantastic work they’ve done to enhance arts and culture in the community.

The Vancouver Biennale Team

All in all, it was a magical night full of fun and creativity. And we hope it inspired a few people to reintroduce a little more playfulness into their day-to-day.

You can see more photos from the event on Facebook.