The Northern Lights Youth Choir & Special Guests Present...
"Spring Sing!" - a delightful afternoon concert of choral, concert band and string ensemble music!
Sunday, May 12 @ 2:00pm at the North Peace Cultural Centre
Adults $15, Seniors (65+) $10, Youth (0-18) $5
Tickets online at npcc.bc.ca or call box office 250-785-1992

Preparations for the second annual Sand Sensations sand carving event are well underway and it promises to be even bigger and better than last year.  Six international carvers have been invited to participate and they will be hard at work at Peace Island Park from July 27th to August 2nd.  The sculptures they create are guaranteed to be truly spectacular and they will remain on diplay through the World Gold Panning Championships and throughout the rest of the summer.

This year, as well, there will be opportunities for local residents as well as visitors to the region to try their hand at carving with a carving workshop and a family competition. 

Planns for 2013 include:

Theme: “A Walk on the Wild Side”
Date: July 27-August 2, 2013
Place: Peace Island Park, Taylor, BC.

Invited Sculptors: David Ducharme and Peter Vogelaar of BC, Canada
Ray Villafane of AZ and Andy Bergholtz of CA, USA
Arianne van Rosmalen and Merielle Heessels of GL, Nethernlands

Activities: Pre-work July 17-26
Summer SAND STAGE Music and Mixes July 27-28 & August 1-2
Professional Guided Tips & Tricks Workshop July 26
Family Competition July 27
Profession Judging & Closing Ceremonies August 2

The generosity of the community made last year's success possible, and once again we are inviting local businesses and individuals to join us in putting on an event that will make the region proud and provide an outdoor activity that can be enjoyed by local residents and visitors of all ages.

SAND SENSATIONS SPONSOR PACKAGE

After months of hard work and practice, hundreds of performing artists are ready to take the stage at the North Peace Cultural Centre for the 2013 Peace River North Festival.  Professional adjudicators will be arriving in Fort St. John from Vancouver, Edmonton and Quesnel to evaluate, encourage and inspire the musicians, singers and dancers of all ages and levels; from children whose feet don't quite reach the floor when they sit at the piano, to dancers in their teens who are already seasoned veterans of many festivals. 

All sessions are open to the public we encourage Fort St. John to come out and support these young performers, see what kind of talent we have in our community and welcome visiting bands and dance troupes from Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson and Quesnel.   

Schedule                                                                                                                                                                         

 All packed up and nowhere to go. Stage North Theatre Society has scouted out suitable spaces for rent and discovered, as a non-profit organization, they cannot afford any of those available spaces.

As of March 30, Stage North no longer has a home to rehearse shows nor build sets. This could mean no season of productions for Stage North next year in the North Peace Cultural Centre. With no place to mount a production, which takes about 3 months preparation, Stage North will have no shows to perform.

The membership of the theatre society has been sorting and packing set pieces, costumes and tools since they were given 30 days to vacate the basement premises of the old COOP. The 30 days notice was no surprised since it was part and parcel of the affordable rental agreement. Previous to moving into the Coop about 4 years ago, Stage North found similar affordable arrangements with Tracker Contracting before they also opted to renovate their premises.

After nearly 15 years of development, Stage North is homeless. Packed into two C-cans with costumes stored in a dry temporary location, Stage North is searching for a heated space of about 2000 square feet with a washroom. Stage North President Oliver Hachmeister said that a shared space is possible. “Our rehearsals are in the evenings and on weekends since everyone is a volunteer with a career job elsewhere or is a student. However, sets are constructed early and they remain in place until we truck them to the Cultural Centre for performances.”

Stage North has few options. Finding affordable, suitable space is the best answer and an immediate solution. The problem is the affordability. Stage North’s fundraising capabilities are already stretched to the maximum and commercial rents in Fort St. John are not within Stage North’s range. Hachmeister said, “Stage North can afford about $25,000 per year to rent rehearsal space.” He explained that rehearsal space, the cost of each production and the fees for performance space are the major line items in the annual Stage North budget.

Another option is pursuing the construction of a permanent space which would involve the purchase of land and a long-term fundraising program plus sustainable funding for operation. Stage North is a volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to providing quality theatre for residents and visitors and mentoring youth in presentation and technical skills of production.

Without on-going support from the community, this major project is not possible.

A third option is to return to the days of producing plays with small casts in make-shift locations only when a space is available for rehearsals. Theatre in Fort St. John, as far back as the 1940’s, found nooks and crannies to rehearse and perform. The casts were small; there was no program of mentoring youth; and technical instruction was non-existent.

It has only been in the last 20 years since the North Peace Cultural Centre opened in 1992 that a proper theatre facility has been available for performances. Local theatre has taken huge strides with larger musical productions, youth theatre summer schools, acting workshops, and instruction in production and technical aspects of theatre. Stage North provides production support for other community organizations and costumes for schools shows, talent shows and more. The opportunities for honing personal presentation skills for the young and the not-so-young provide another benefit to the community.

Stage North pays $30-40,000 each year in performance fees to the North Peace Cultural Centre. This, along with all the other indirect economic benefits to Fort St. John, will be lost if Stage North cannot mount a season of shows.  

Stage North is open for suggestions and partnerships with other organizations in solving the problem of lack of space for non-profits in this community. Contact Oliver at 261-1639 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any possible solutions.

Entertainment of a homegrown nature attracted record crowds in 2012 at Fort St. John theatres, galleries, pubs and coffee houses. New creative opportunities are popping up everywhere. The Fort St. John Community Arts Council monitors the arts and cultural pulse of the city and reports that 2012 has been a banner year for new developments in the arts.

Music of all kinds appears to be flourishing throughout the community.  Rock, folk, country and classical music by local musicians have filled the seats at the North Peace Cultural Centre, Lido Theatre, pubs and coffee houses. Local stars such as Twin Peaks and Tom Cole have released new cd’s this year. Classical and instrumental artists are joining forces to form new groups.

A new community band called the Northern Winds started in September with 35-45 local volunteer players directed by Sabrina Bailey. They performed their first concert on Remembrance Day and again for the Christmas season to an appreciative crowds. The Northern Lights Youth Choir ramped up music education for a more intensive, developmental music program for children in Fort St. John when hometown Jen Giesbrecht returned to share her vocal and piano education and experience with Fort St. John children. And small orchestra ensembles are forming and making surprise appearances in the most unexpected places.

The Flying Colours painters forged a new direction with the purchase of printmaking equipment to teach local visual artists about this highly skilled art form. The new Fibre Art Academy now trains spinners and weavers in various fabric art skills. A new Arts Market Association offers the opportunities for local artists to sell their fine art creations. The Friendship Centre added more classes, exhibits, and sales of locally made Aboriginal Art which is in demand by visitors and residents alike.

Local fashion designs have been introduced in clothing, accessories and jewelry and one-of-a-kind fashion events. In February, Stage North celebrated fashion with recycled movie film in honour of the new digital format replacing the commercial celluloid. We can look forward to creative fashions made from recycled cd’s and dvd’s this coming February. New Aboriginal designs have surfaced and the very best opportunities to view First Nations traditional design is at the annual Pow-Wow in Taylor.

Art and Health is taking a front seat with the Community Arts Council in light of new findings that art therapy can be a healing technique as well as a prevention mechanism for mental health issues. The new regional hospital in Fort St. John has catalogued its art collection and, with the assistance of the Arts Council, is making policies concerning the displaying of art, receiving donations of art and keeping a permanent art collection for the hospital rooms and the extended care facilities.

The Arts Council’s first steps at forming a potential public art policy occurred this year when the Peace River Regional District requested help from the Fort St. John Arts Council to commission an art piece for the new hospital. On behalf of the PRRD, the Arts Council conducted the call for entry, adjudicated the 42 applications which came from throughout Western Canada, and recommended the winning artist. The selected work can be viewed at the top of the main staircase in the new hospital. The Arts Council will continue to work with partners who wish to see a Public Art process established in Fort St. John.

Theatre and comedy shows seem to be filling the calendars on the weekends. The Christmas classic, The Nutcracker, is appearing for the first time on the Fort St. John stage with 70 local dancers and actors. Studio2Stage hopes to make this show an annual event adding a new performance opportunity to the over 500 dance students in the community. Dance recitals already pack the crowds at NPCC and sell out 2 weeks in advance. Musical theatre has caught on in the city. Elementary, middle schools and high schools all do musical theatre each year. Legally Blonde by Stage North and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by NPSS were two of the latest shows this year. We can look forward to Anne of Green Gables by Dr. Kearney School in the new year.

When Slainte Irish Dance closed its doors this year, the Watt School of Irish Dance stepped up to take in the extra dance students who would have been left without Irish dance lessons. Irish dancers continue to compete nationally and internationally bring home awards of the highest calibre. Other local ethnic dance is gaining popularity in the community, not only as a performance art, but as a fitness art as well.

The Arts Council introduced the first Sand Sculpting Competition this summer at Peace Island Park in Taylor.  Thousands of residents and travellers enjoyed the sculptures of SAND Sensations BC. In fact, the sculptures were still standing when the first snow fell in October. Plans for the SAND SENSATIONS 2013 are already underway.

The arts community was disappointed with the demise of the Northern Groove magazine. Since May 2009, this local, monthly magazine has been a welcome addition to the arts scene in Fort St. John. However, stay tuned to the Northern Groove website for continued arts news. Keep watching The Seen and Around the Peace on Shaw TV and CJCD TV and keep listening to SunFM and Moose FM for the latest arts events. For more information stop into the Artspost (10320 94 Ave), call 250-787-2781 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Website: www fsjarts.org