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Arts Society partners with Chemainus Theatre on live streaming

Other projects in the works, with the hopes for some music outdoors this summer
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Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society’s Bev Knight and Bob Johns. (Photo by Craig Spence)

The Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society has money to spend. Now, it’s just matter of getting it dispersed to starving artists and help to satisfy the appetites of the public craving entertainment.

The CVCAS has received two installments of B.C. Arts Council Resilience Grants plus a recent $5,000 from the provincial Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport under project assistance for community arts festivals, administered by the B.C. Arts Council.

While restrictions on outdoor gatherings due to COVID remain in place, it’s not known when those guidelines could change depending on case numbers. In any event, CVCAS and other organizations will be prepared.

“We hope by August we’ll have some concerts going on,” said CVCAS president Bev Knight.

In the meantime, the group is maintaining an active role with artists.

“We’re doing some live streaming now working with the (Chemainus) Theatre,” Knight indicated. “Randy (Huber) and Mark (DuMez) are keen on us working together.”

Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley are booked to pre-record a performance on the Theatre stage to be streamed and made available by donation for public viewing on May 1. There are also plans in development to work with Chemainus Classical Concerts for professionally recorded music from St. Michael & All Angels Anglican Church, a popular venue shut down by COVID.

“We’re so excited to be able to be working with Classical Concerts and the Theatre Festival to make these music events possible,” stated Knight.

Art Interludes – musical, visual and literary clips – to be posted on social media is another project being undertaken. All kinds of performances will be featured from songs and dance to painting or poems.

The past year was obviously challenging for everyone in the arts, but groups like the CVCAS hope to make inroads toward a recovery as soon as it’s possible in 2021. Some small concerts were actually staged in the summer of 2020 with limited numbers and the hope is to provide the same again soon.

“We really, really want to have some live something at Waterwheel Park,” said Knight.

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Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society president Bev Knight. (Photo by Kathy Holmes)


Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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