The Rollin Art Centre has a number of artistic spring workshops scheduled for the next few months. Register at the Rollin Art Centre by calling 250-724-3412. Numbers are limited, so register today.
– Introduction to Fibre Arts (April 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at North Island College) — Beginners to advanced artists are welcome as we discover and work with different techniques in the fibre arts. Workshop fee is $125 and supply fee is $40, to be paid to the instructor.
– Shibori and Indigo Dyeing (April 12 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at North Island College) — Using kimono cotton and indigo, we will design and dye a wall hanging, as well as several sample pieces, using Shibori techniques.Workshop fee is $95 and supply fee is $50, to be paid to the instructor.
– Two-day Batik Workshop (April 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and April 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at North Island College) — Batik is a centuries-old method of using wax as a resist to create patterns and then layer dye. Create several samples and one major piece that can be used as a wall hanging or a pillow front cover. Workshop fee is $175 and supply fee is $50, to be paid to the instructor.
– Two-day Silk Painting Workshop (April 25 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and April 26 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at North Island College) — A simple introduction to silk painting, followed by building our stretcher frames for our silk scarf. This class is designed for beginners to advanced. Workshop fee is $175 and supply fee is $50, to be paid to the instructor.
– Two-day Watercolour Workshop (June 1 and 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rollin Art Centre) — Learn the basics of colour theory and pigments from accomplished artist Ionne McCauley. Workshop fee is $150 and supply fee is $20, to be paid to the instructor.
CURRENT ART EXHIBIT
The current art exhibit at the Rollin Art Centre features local fibre artist Ruth Jeffery. The exhibit, titled, “Under Over and Beyond,” is a collection of woven wall hangings and emu egg creations.
The exhibit runs March 30 to April 22. Join us in the gallery for refreshments on Saturday, April 2 from 1-3 p.m. to meet Ruth and be inspired.
SPRING EXHIBIT
The Rollin Art Centre will be holding a unique spring-inspired art exhibit from May 25 to June 18 and we are inviting all local artists to submit up to three pieces (size depending) that depicts their own rendition of spring. All mediums are welcome.
The exhibit is titled “SPRING -Seasonal Imagery” and will reflect the gentle changes of the season, creating a unique mood and feeling associated with spring based on your interpersonal reflections.
Application forms are available at the Rollin Art Centre. The fee is $10 per submission. The deadline is April 30.
DONATIONS WANTED
The Rollin Art Centre is accepting all your gently used books and puzzles for our annual Giant Book Sale taking place May 6 and 7 at the Alberni Athletic Hall.
We are very grateful for all your books, but cannot take any textbooks, magazines, National Geographic, encyclopedias or Reader’s Digest. Please do not donate old and torn books.
Drop off your donations at the Rollin Art Centre, inside the main door just under the staircase in the big wooden box. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. We are located at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Argyle Street.
LOOKING FOR ARTISTS
Our annual Solstice Arts Festival is back, after two years of hiatus due to COVID-19.
Join us Saturday, June 18 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rollin Art Centre. Spaces are available for artists and artisans on our terrace or in our two gardens. There is lots of room to spread out and is a picture-perfect spot to set up an easel or demos of the artwork you create. Let’s make this a huge community event, enticing everyone to come out to our free annual arts festival.
If you are interested in displaying at this year’s event, call the Rollin Art Centre at 250-724-3412 for more info. Spaces are $25 for the day.
SUMMER TEAS
Teas on the Terrace are back at the Rollin Art Centre this summer. Join us on the terrace, under the canopy of the trees, sipping tea, listening to local musicians and sampling a selection of scrumptious snacks or decadent strawberry shortcake.
The first show of the season will take place on July 7, with a musical guest to be announced.
Tickets are now on sale. Strawberry Teas are $20 and High Teas (served on a two-tiered plate) are $25.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
April 8 – Intro to Fibre Arts Workshop
April 12 – Shibori and Indigo Dyeing Workshop
April 18-19 – Two-day Batik Workshop
April 25-26 – Two-day Silk Painting Workshop
April 27 to May 20 – New Exhibit – Early Childhood Educators of B.C.’s Port Alberni Branch – “Moments in Time” – A collaboration of children’s art.
May 25 to June 18 – Open art exhibit inspired by spring – artists must register.
June 1-2 – Watercolour Workshop
June 18 – Solstice Arts Festival – Spaces available for artisans
June 22 to July 22 – “Women’s Work” group exhibit – featuring Sue Thomas, Jillian Mayne, Colleen Clancy, and Ann McIvor.
July and August – Teas on the Terrace – Tickets available now.
Melissa Martin is the Arts Administrator for the Community Arts Council, at the Rollin Art Centre and writes for the Alberni Valley News. Call 250-724-3412. Email: communityarts@shawcable.com.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
