Art
Barrie bylaw has change of heart over girl's Canadian flag chalk art – CTV News
BARRIE, ONT. —
A Barrie family is thankful for the community support after the City of Barrie apologized for issuing a bylaw warning demanding the removal of a Canadian flag painted on the end of their driveway on city property.
The city issued a statement on Friday. It reads in part, “The city issued a warning to the property owner (not the child), but after further investigation, it was determined that given the nature of the infraction, City Enforcement Services staff will revoke the warning.”
City staff said a complaint was called in about the chalk art painting, prompting a bylaw officer to investigate the claim.
The city’s change of heart has left 10-year-old Kayla van Kessel smiling.
The Barrie girl painted the Canadian flag on a chunk of grass at the end of their property to celebrate Canada Day.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Erin van Kessel said she was sitting outside her north-end Barrie home Thursday morning when a bylaw officer handed her a warning.
The Barrie resident was told she would have to remove chalk art of a Canadian flag drawn by her 10-year-old daughter to celebrate Canada Day.
“2004-142-2,” recited van Kessel, while looking over the document citing her infraction. The city’s bylaw for that particular code refers to the use of public property.
“No person shall throw, drop, place, or otherwise deposit garbage, paper, paper or plastic products, cans, rubbish, or other debris on any city property unless authorized by the city,” she read.
Van Kessel said large green plastic objects, which may have been children’s items left at the curb near the end of her driveway, did not belong to her.
The issue with the chalk art, however, has left her disappointed.
Van Kessel was told by the bylaw officer someone had complained about the chalk art spray painted on the lawn at the end of her driveway.
The chunk of grass, painted red and white, is city property.
“They couldn’t really say why. I mean, mostly because it is on city property, but really?” said van Kessel in response to the bylaw violation.
Van Kessel was told she had 24 hours to remove her daughter’s chalk painting from the lawn or face a potential fine.
Van Kessel said her daughter is distraught and doesn’t understand why it needs to be removed.
“Not too happy,” said van Kessel. “Because she did put a lot of work into it, and now we have to remove it. It’s a child doing something exciting when she’s been stuck in the house for four months, and no school, no friends, so what more is there to do?”
The City of Barrie confirmed a complaint was made, and a bylaw officer visited the home, providing the following statement to CTV News:
“The city’s enforcement services received and responded to a complaint about individuals painting on city property.
Bylaw officers are obligated to investigate and respond to all complaints received. While the homeowner advised that the paint was washable, the officer was unable to confirm if it was or not, which was why the property owner was warned that they had 24 hours to remove it from the city’s boulevard.
A warning was issued to the property owner, not the child.”
Van Kessel said she does intend to remove the artwork.
“I guess other people don’t appreciate it or look at it the same way we do,” she said.
“What can you do? I guess it’s the way of the world these days.”
Art
Couple transforms Interlake community into art hub, live music 'meeting place' – CBC.ca
A trio plays a cover of The Eagles hit Take it Easy as a dozen people settle in for an intimate open mic night inside Derrick McCandless and Dawn Mills’s cozy spot off highways 6 and 68 in Manitoba’s Interlake.
Strings of antique-style light bulbs cast a soft glow over the mandolin, banjo and dobro guitar that hang on a wall behind the band. An array of pottery shaped in-house by Mills dots the shelves behind the audience.
The Eriksdale Music & Custom Frame Shop is full of tchotchkes — like an Elvis Presley Boulevard street sign and vintage Orange Crush ad — that create the rustic country-living vibe the couple dreamt up before buying and transforming the vacant space over the past three years.
“I have met so many people in this community through them that I probably wouldn’t have … because of this hub,” says Mills’s cousin Dana-Jo Burdett.
Mills and McCandless are bringing people together in their rural community in more ways than one — though a return to Mills’s hometown wasn’t always in the cards.
The couple met in Winnipeg in 2011 while McCandless was playing a party at Mills’s cousin’s place. They had plans to settle in the Okanagan in McCandless’s home province of B.C. until he suffered a health scare. After that, they decided to head back to the Prairies.
WATCH | McCandless and Mills channel creative spirit into Eriksdale community:
It was the height of the pandemic in fall 2020 when the pair relocated to Eriksdale, about 130 km northwest of Winnipeg. They bought the old Big Al’s shop, once a local sharpening business that was sitting vacant.
“He was an icon in the community. He was a school teacher. He did a drama program here,” said Mills. “He brought a lot to the town.”
The building has become their own personal playground and live-in studio.
“It keeps evolving and we keep changing it and every room has to serve multi-function,” says Mills. “It’s a meeting place.”
While they love the quiet life of their community, they’re also a busy couple.
McCandless is a multi-instrumentalist with a former career in the Armed Forces that took him all over. Now, he’s a shop teacher in Ashern who sells and fixes instruments out of the music shop.
WATCH | McCandless plays an original song:
Mills helped found Stoneware Gallery in 1978 — the longest running pottery collective in Canada. She offers professional framing services and sells pottery creations that she throws in-studio.
They put on open mic nights and host a summer concert series on a stage next door they built together themselves. They’re trying to start up a musicians memorial park in Eriksdale too.
One of their bigger labours of love is in honour of McCandless’s good friends Roger Leonard Young, David Kim Russell and Tony “Leon” — or Lee — Oreniuk. All died within months of each other in 2020-2021.
“That was a heart-wrenching year,” McCandless says.
They channeled their grief into something good for the community and started the RogerKimLee Music Festival.
Friends from Winnipeg and the Interlake helped them put on a weekend of “lovely music, lovely food, lovely companionship” as a sort of heart-felt send off, said Mills.
That weekend it poured rain. Festival-goers ended up in soggy dog piles on the floor of the music shop to dry out while Mills and McCandless cooked them sausages and eggs to warm up.
“It was just a great weekend,” says McCandless. “At the end of that, that Sunday, we just said that’s it, we got to do this.”
Mills says the homey community spirit on display during that inaugural year is what the couple has been trying to “encourage in people getting together” ever since.
The festival has grown to include a makers’ market, car show, kids activities, workshops, camping, beer gardens, good food and live music.
This summer, Manitoba acts The Solutions, Sweet Alibi and The JD Edwards Band are on the lineup Aug. 16-18.
Burdett has been a part of the growth, helping with branding, social media and marketing. McCandless and Mills’s habit of bringing people together has also rubbed off on Burdett.
“There’s more of my people out here than I thought, and I am very grateful for that,” says Burdett.
Their efforts to breathe new artistic life into Eriksdale caught the attention of their local MLA.
“The response from family and friend and community has been outstanding,” Derek Johnston (Interlake-Gimli) said during question period at the Manitoba Legislature in March.
“The RogerKimLee Music Festival believes music to be a powerful force for positive social change.”
Dolly Lindell, who has lived in Eriksdale for about three decades, said the couple is adding something valuable that wasn’t quite there before.
“There’s a lot of people that we didn’t even know had musical talent and aspirations and this has definitely helped bring it out,” Lindell says from the audience as McCandless, Dave Greene and Mark Chuchie wrap their rendition of Take it Easy.
McCandless, 61, said there was a time in his youth where he dreamed of a becoming a folk music star. Now his musical ambitions have changed. He’s focused on using that part of himself to bring people together.
“I think it’s that gift that I was given that that needs to be shared,” he says. “I don’t think I could live without sharing it.”
WATCH | Trio plays song at Eriksdale music shop:
Art
Meet artist J-Positive and the family behind his art store – CBC.ca
- 1 day ago
- News
- Duration 4:42
Joel Jamensky’s sunny disposition explains why the artist with Down syndrome uses the name ‘J-positive’ for his online art business, started with the help of his parents two years ago. “There’s a lot more going on in [Joel’s] art than may be at first glance – just like him,” said his dad, Mark.
Art
Made Right Here: Woodworking art – CTV News Kitchener
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Made Right Here: Woodworking art CTV News Kitchener
Source link
-
Business20 hours ago
Honda to build electric vehicles and battery plant in Ontario, sources say – Global News
-
Science21 hours ago
Will We Know if TRAPPIST-1e has Life? – Universe Today
-
Health18 hours ago
See how chicken farmers are trying to stop the spread of bird flu – Fox 46 Charlotte
-
Health21 hours ago
Simcoe-Muskoka health unit urges residents to get immunized
-
Investment19 hours ago
Own a cottage or investment property? Here's how to navigate the new capital gains tax changes – The Globe and Mail
-
Science23 hours ago
Lyrid meteor shower 2024: How to see a stunning fireball tonight – BBC Science Focus
-
News16 hours ago
Freeland defends budget measures, as premiers push back on federal involvement – CBC News
-
News19 hours ago
‘A real letdown’: Disabled B.C. man reacts to federal disability benefit – Global News