Red Deerians of all ages are invited to attend the numerous community events taking place the weekend of Sept. 27 in honour of Alberta Culture Days.
Activities will take place across the City, including art shows, film screenings and theatre at Red Deer College’s City Centre Stage, an Aboriginal showcase at the Hub on Ross, a dance extravaganza at the Scott Block, and arts activities and displays around downtown, Pioneer’s Lodge, Sound House, Ten Thousand Villages and more.
This year, Red Deer was selected by the Province as one of five feature sites for the annual province-wide celebration of culture, and the Red Deer Arts Council received a grant of $20,000 to organize festivities.
The weekend of events is presented through a community partnership between the City of Red Deer, Red Deer College and the Red Deer Arts Council and its member organizations.
Other highlights include events on Red Deer Colleges’s Mainstage, City Centre Stage and in downtown Red Deer.
Alberta Culture Days return to Red Deer College with a number of events that celebrate culture and community.
On Sept. 27 on the Arts Centre mainstage, Tree House Youth Theatre presents I Met a Bully on the Hill. More than a thousand children from Red Deer elementary schools will be in attendance throughout the day for exclusive performances of the Tree House production.
Calgary pianist Allen Reiser performs on the Arts Centre mainstage that day as well, at 8 p.m. In cooperation with the Alberta Piano Teachers Association, Reiser will be presenting an all-Chopin recital. Audiences will enjoy what critics still call the ‘matchless genius’ of the Polish-born pianist and composer who wrote music and performed in the early 1800s.
Well-known throughout Western Canada, pianist Allen Reiser has been guest soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Calgary, Victoria and Montreal as well as with various other orchestras in Canada and in England.
Reiser will play from Chopin’s significant body of work. Tickets are available by visiting www.bkticketcentre.ca or by calling 403-755-6626.
On Sept. 28, starting at noon, members of the public are also invited to enjoy art work on display throughout the weekend at City Centre Stage.
The gallery will feature ‘Our Back Yard – the People and Landscapes of Central Alberta’, an art exhibition by Larry Reese. Art from RDC’s permanent collection will also be on display. Admission is free to the public.
There will also be a couple of film screenings – The Long Road and Mapping Creativity – 12:30 and 3 p.m. Both films, which have landed critical acclaim, were brought to the screen by local Red Deer College instructors as well.
Red Deer College’s Motion Picture Arts program presents two faculty films: Larry Reese’s Mapping Creativity and Lori Ravensborg’s The Long Road.
The Long Road tackles tough subject matter about the choices people have to face at the end of life and how those choices bring families together and pull them apart.
The story focuses on an Alberta farmer who tragically loses his wife of 41 years.
When the adult children reassemble at their family acreage, they bring not only their grief but their emotional baggage as well.
Ravensborg’s cast and crew consisted of long-time professionals in the industry like cinematographer Don Armstrong, actors John Treleaven and Kim Faires as well as production manager James Wilson. She also worked with newer professional actors Shannon Strumecki, Rob Hay, Tamara Werden and Rivera Reese.
Mapping Creativity explores the creative process through interviews with artists including Jazz great PJ Perry, blues impresario and radio host Holger Petersen and film legend Fil Fraser. Shaun Johnston of CBC’s Heartland, local painter David More and Jean Grand-Maitre, the artistic director of Alberta Ballet also share their insights on the creative process.
The film also follows Reese’s own creative journey as he produced three stunning paintings during that period as well. One of them, the beautifully-rendered Guardians of the Sleeping Duck, was mounted at RDC in the Centre for Visual Art last spring. The painting’s formation is the thread that runs through the documentary as well. The film offers viewers a fascinating look into the creative process from many differing perspectives.
Meanwhile, for a complete list of events, visit Red Deer Culture Days facebook page at www.facebook.com/reddeerartsdays, the Red Deer Events Calendar at www.reddeerevents.ca or Alberta Culture at culture.alberta.ca/culturedays.
-Weber
