The Magazine of
Culture and Community

Summer 2007

An Ongoing Series of Free Lectures and Presentations that Celebrate the Creative Okanagan

Okanagan Institute

4:30pm Thursdays
at Hanna's Lounge

Click here for schedule
and information.

Arts Council of the
Central Okanagan
8-1304 Ellis Street
Kelowna BC Canada V1Y 1Z8
Email: Click Here.
Elke Lange, Executive Director
Wendy McCracken, Coordinator

Copublished by
Wheat King Publishing
Jeff Pexa, President
Telephone: 250.491.0169

Produced in association with
Okanagan Bookworks

Okanagan Arts, Summer 2007

EDITORIAL:

Discerning the Creative Spirit

Welcome back, readers, and welcome to visitors and friends of the arts who are new to our efforts. As you will see in these pages, we've again managed to compile an eclectic mix of voices and disciplines to continue our celebration of the burgeoning arts scene in the Okanagan. In this issue we focus on a few items that we couldn't manage to include in our first. We give deserved coverage to the vibrant music scene, and admire the work of select jewellery and jade artists.

Our writers also continue their exploration of the creative community through the ideas and images that inspire, comfort and inform us. We showcase the work of several dedicated visual artists, we give voice and space to the distinctive and unique culture of our communities, and we continue our definition of what it means to be creative.

We realize that there are still a number of arts disciplines not heard from, and we are developing coverage for appearance in future issues. Those who pay attention to such things will notice some changes from our pilot issue:

Directory: Rather than provide the complete list, which has expanded to more than twice the size in the few short months, we've only presented a brief selection. We encourage you to use the complete, searchable and up-to-date version on our website.

Agenda: We present the briefest of listings showing the plethora of arts events that are taking place through the summer. Again, we encourge you to keep up-to-date on our website. Some things remain the same. We continue to be amazed at the generosity that the arts and business communities have shown to our efforts, and appreciate the support of our writers, readers and advertisers.

Robert MacDonald
Publisher, Editor, Designer

"One ought, every day at least,
to hear a little song,
read a good poem, see a fine picture,
and if it were possible,
to speak a few reasonable words."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Cover Image by Carolina Sanchez de Bustamante

The Indispensable Sun, in this age of energy intensive life, we will learn again to revere its power that sustain us. Media: ceramic and metal mural, 24 x 36 inches.

Maria Carolina Sanchez de Bustamante brings a rich heritage of traditional Southamerican ceramics and textile skills, which she combines with a more contemporary, sculptural sensibility. Her imagery moves from representational themes dealing with the enviroment and politics to non-objective subjects interwoven with a wealth of color and style. Originally from Argentina, she has lived in Vernon since 1989. In 1994, she opened Ashpa Naira art studio for architectural ceramics and textile art. In 2007, Ashpa Naira Art Gallery & Studio was launched, which showcases her work and that of other artists, featuring painting, sculpture, textile and ceramics.

"If I may reflect upon the message of my work, I should say that each work is a personal interior exploration. Moved by the necessity of creating an original art form in conjunction with my Southamerican identity, I express myself through textile and ceramic art within an ethnological connotation. It is my intention to open path with the possibility to connect then to joyful discoveries. My art is a constant search as a human being."