Wasagaming ready to celebrate Pride
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2019 (2393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WASAGAMING — Wasagaming Community Arts will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its allies with host Riding Mountain National Park for the first time this weekend.
The Pride weekend will be exciting and feature fun activities for the entire family, Wasagaming Community Arts president Judy Dandridge said.
Community Arts art gallery will be hosting a special exhibition that debuts on Friday featuring the works of LGBTQ+ community members or allies artists Becky Chin, Marin Curtis, Tye Dandridge-Evancio and Blaire Trenaman. The exhibit boasts a selection of styles ranging from pottery and ceramic pieces, to photography, to pencil pieces and acrylic paintings and more.
“It’s a huge variety,” Dandridge said.
The exhibition opens on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. and some of the artists will be on hand to meet with visitors to the gallery.
“The artists themselves can share some of the impetus for the piece and how they chose and used the medium that completed their piece,” Dandridge said. “They can share that with people (at the opening).”
It is always an amazing opportunity to meet the artists, he said, because they can provide insight into the process behind a piece, as well as letting people see the face behind a project.
On Saturday Wasagaming Community Arts will be hosting the age-friendly activity wordles art in front of the gallery at 1:30 p.m. as part of the Pride festivities. Wordles combine a canvas with words to create artistic works. The Community Arts wordles project will use affirmative words that support the LGBTQ+ community. Chalk will be available to leave well wishes on the sidewalk in front of the gallery.
“There’s a whole host of activities that will be happening in the park,” Dandridge said.
The projects at Community Arts are one of many ways Pride will be celebrated in Riding Mountain over the weekend.
Riding Mountain National Park has been hosting Pride celebrations for the past two years and working with community organizations that include the Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC) Brandon, Queer People of Colour (QPOC) Winnipeg, and Like That! Sunshine Bunch from Sunshine House to ensure the event is a success.
The festivities kick off Friday evening with a Drag Queen Happy Hour at the Foxtail Cafe in Onanole from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. followed by Pride Karaoke at the Wigwam in Wasagaming at 9:30 p.m.
On Saturday the Sunshine Bunch and DJ Mama Cutsworth will be hosting a family street dance party from 1 to 4 p.m. in front of the Visitor Centre in Wasagaming, followed by a Pride pop up bar at the Lakehouse in Wasagaming and a Queer Bingo at Poor Michaels in Onanole at 7 p.m. The night ends with a Pride Social at the Wigwam at 10 p.m.
This marks the first time Community Arts has joined in on the Riding Mountain National Park Pride weekend festivities.
Wasagaming Community Arts were inspired to pursue the partnership because the board has been working over the last three years to engage with the community and share art with the public, Dandridge said. These steps to promote art and encourage engagement with the public is part of building up the hype of Wasagaming Community Arts, she added.
It is a special year for the organization as it is celebrating its 40th year of incorporation and will be celebrating its 50th birthday and Manitoba’s 150th anniversary in 2020.
“Next year will be a really big celebratory year in terms of art, activities and exhibitions for us,” Dandridge said.
The group is working at getting back to their roots, she said, citing a return of the Fibre and Fire retreat and Rawhide and Jellyrolls events planned for next summer.
Organizers have been actively looking to borrow from the success of the past combined with new ideas to draw visitors to the gallery.
Wasagaming Community Arts have re-fired up their kiln as part of this build-up and refurbished the pottery classroom with three pottery wheels at the back of the building.
They are already finding success, Dandridge said.
As of Aug. 24, Community Arts has had 7,673 throughout the summer, a marked increase over last year when there was free admission to the park.
The challenge now is to keep the momentum going and centre growing, she said.
“We’re continuing to change things to try and keep it fresh.”
» ckemp@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp