Monthly Message from the Chair
Joan Richoz, Chair, Whistler Arts Council
Leanna Rathkelly, the Chair of WAC since last June, has moved to Victoria and resigned from her position. I will be the interim Chair until our Annual General Meeting in May. Leanna lived in Whistler for 26 years and was involved with the arts council for most of those years. She worked for the Whistler Question as a reporter / photographer and eventually started her own very successful photography company. She combines creativity and a smart business sense and her contributions to the community have been greatly appreciated. The Board and staff of WAC wish her continued success in her new home.
2012 is a milestone for the Whistler Arts Council. We are celebrating 30 years of providing quality programming and events in the community. I became involved in 1983 when the first Children’s Art Festival was created to provide fine arts instruction to school-aged children. The organization has grown tremendously since then, all the while maintaining our purpose of building and integrating the arts into the fabric of the community. Programs such as the Performance Series, Bizarre Bazaar, and student art awards have been offered for over 25 years. From a board of volunteers who organized all the events with very limited funding we have grown to become the leading arts organization in Whistler, operating Millennium Place with a staff of ten and a half million dollar budget. I am proud to be part of such an innovative, responsible and hard-working organization and enjoy working with the other board members and the staff.
Our staff is busy preparing for the summer programs including ArtWalk, Whistler Art Workshops on the Lake, and the Whistler Children's Art Festival. In the meantime, there is lots of activity at Millennium Place with monthly films and Life Drawing/figurative drawing – a new 8-week session starts March 2.
We are also creating some new programs for young people including March Break programming (daily crafts for kids from March 19 - 23 inclusive; 10:00am - 12:15pm Monday - Friday)
We are proud to showcase the work of Lani Imre in the Scotia Creek Gallery from February 1 - March 1. Lani was the recipient of the Whistler Arts Council’s 2011 Artist Award of Excellence.
We will also be introducing new programs for adults including Spanish classes and after-work dance classes. Please visit artswhistler.com for the new schedule coming very soon.