The fourth of five planned installations along the public Art Path established by the Town of Gibsons was inaugurated last week at the bottom of the Inglis Trail and Stewart Road.
Boat Pose Yoga Bear is a cold bronze version of one of Karin Taylor’s wood cellulose yoga bear statues. The unveiling was attended by Irina Fox and Diane Henley of the Sunshine Coast Bear Alliance. The group aims to educate the public about how to coexist peacefully with local bears.
Taylor has lived on the Sunshine Coast for five years. Originally from Holland, she lived for several years in Indonesia where she was the resident artist at the Jakarta Zoo. Over her four-decade art career, she has specialized in watercolours, acrylics, three-dimensional works of turkey feathers, and sculptures — including her popular series of bears in a variety of yoga poses.
“With my art, my aim to achieve is to make people happy looking at them,” Taylor said. “And hopefully in return, they’ll understand that bears aren’t actually that evil at all. They’re really quite happy to live with us, and generally not aggressive at all. I’ve always been interested in wildlife. Art-wise, bears have always been my fallback.”
The launch of Taylor’s outdoor artwork was followed by reports that a mother bear and three cubs were sighted in Langdale.
For more information about the Sunshine Coast Bear Alliance, browse to scbearalliance.com. Karin Taylor maintains a well-illustrated website at karintaylorart.com.
One Flower One Leaf blossoms
The sixth anniversary celebration of the One Flower One Leaf gallery in Lower Gibsons will be heralded by music and a public reception on Saturday, March 18.
Roberts Creek singer-songwriter Graham Walker will perform at the gallery from 2 to 3:30 p.m. One Flower One Leaf owner Grace Unopia has announced that a special reception will follow at 7 p.m.
Unopia invited all members of the community to celebrate the impact of her bustling downtown gallery. Details are available at onefloweroneleaf.com.
Buzz-worthy film screening
The Sunshine Coast Film Society will screen Hive (rated 18+) on Monday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gibsons Heritage Playhouse and Saturday, March 25 at 2 p.m. at the Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt.
Hive is a searing drama from the Balkans, based on the true story of Fahrije Hoti, whose husband disappeared in the Kosovo War. With other war widows, she forms a collective that makes ajvar, a popular Balkan condiment that they sell to provide for their families. A deeply patriarchal society combats her every move.
The film premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and became the first film in Sundance history to win all three of the festival’s main awards.
The box office opens half an hour before screenings at both theatres. Membership is required to attend SCFS screenings. Memberships and tickets can be purchased with cash at the door and online in advance at scfs.ca.
Gumshoe author surfaces in Sechelt
On Saturday, March 25, the Sunshine Coast Arts Council’s Literary Reading Series will feature Sam Wiebe in its last live reading of the season.
Wiebe is the creator of the highly-acclaimed Wakeland detective novels. He will read from his fourth and latest in the series, Sunset & Jericho.
Wiebe’s novels are rich in texture and strong on social commentary. Regarded as one of Canada’s premier detective writers, Wiebe’s book The Last of the Independents won the Kobo Emerging Writer and Arthur Ellis Award. He is also a former Vancouver Public Library Writer in Residence.
Wiebe will be reading at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre at the corner of Trail and Medusa. The reading starts at 7 p.m.; admission is by donation. For further info, browse to sunshinecoastartscouncil.com/literary-reading-series.
