Murray Boal plays at the intimate setting of the Anglican Church Hall at the IMA Benefit Concert December 2. _____________________  IMA Benefit Concert a Huge Success! The Island Mountain Arts Benefit Concert, held on December 2 at the Anglican Church Hall in Quesnel, was a huge success! With 75 people in attendance it was a full house and we were able to raise around $2000 dollars! Hosted by the dynamic duo, Paul Crawford and Julie Fowler, the laughs (and prizes) were non-stop.  The musical portion of the night was outstanding, with performances in the first half by John Brisco accompanied on banjo by Lanny Dale; Tom Salley; and Mike Nelson with Linda Ritter and Shirley Ghostkeeper.  The second half of the night featured superb Cariboo musicians Yael Wand (promoting her soon to be released second album) and Murray Boal.  Thank you to all, with special thanks to John Brisco for doing an excellent job of providing the sound for the evening. Also, a huge thanks to the visual artists who donated to the live auction: Cariboo sculptor, Bert DeVink who donated two sculptures and Ladysmith painter, Claire Singleton who donated a painting from her time in Wells last summer when she was a participant in the Wells Artists’ Project. And last but not least, many thanks to local gold miner, Pete Wright who donated gold nuggets to be auctioned. Without all these great folks being involved, this night of music and laughs would not have been such a great success! For those of you who missed the event, come on out to Wells for New Year’s Eve at the Wells Community Hall, where you can catch performances by both Murray Boal and Yael Wand along with the great dance band, Mamaguroove. Paul Crawford and Julie Fowler will also be in attendance to host more “Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!”   ____________________________________________

Lindsay Read's painting 'Hurry Up and Wait' to be featured in the Wells Works show. __________________ ______________________  Up Coming Events at Island Mountain Arts ______________________ Wells Works & ArtsFest: Exhibit Opening and Coffee House - December 16 at 7:00 pm   Join us at the IMA  Gallery for the opening of our new exhibits Wells Works & ArtsFest.  The Wells Works portion of the show will feature arts and crafts by some of the talented artists living in Wells BC.  The exhibit will showcase works by some familiar names such as Joan Beck, Marie Nagel, Claire Kujundzic, Bill Horne and Tod Church as well as a few up and coming artists new to the area such as Jessica Demers, Ting Yuen, Paul Morel and Lindsay Read. ArtsFest is a collection of ten paintings and photographs selected from a four week juried exhibition of the work of emerging Central Interior regional artists.  Twenty-five works were selected for the original show and from these, ten were identified to form the current touring exhibit.  Some of the artists to be featured in the show include Joan Ramsey Harker, Lynn Box, David Marchant and Brenda Miller, just to name a few.   The exhibits will be in the IMA Public Gallery until February 7, 2007. ________________________  Kid's Crafts at the IMA Gallery:  December 17, 12pm to 3pm - By Donation Join us at the IMA Public Gallery, Sunday December 17 for a Kid's Christmas Craft Workshop with IMA staff member Jessica Demers.  The workshop will run from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm and is by donation. ___________________________ Annual General Meeting:  December 31 at 4pm - IMA Public Gallery Come out and support Island Mountain Arts by including this year's Annual General Meeting in your New Year's Eve plans.  The purchase of a membership allows you to vote at this short, informal meeting and is a great support to Island Mountain Arts.  Refreshments will be served. ___________________________

The Cariboo's favorite Dance and Funk band, Mamaguroove to perform at the New Year's Eve Dance. _____________________   New Year's Eve Dance: December 31 at 7:30 pm at the Historic Wells Community Hall Ring in the New Year in Wells with Northern BC's favourite funk and dance band, Mamaguroove.  Hosted by IMA and the Wells Historic Society (with the support of the BC Arts Council) this year's Dance is going to be a blast, with special guests including Cariboo favourites, Murray Boal and Yael Wand.  There will be tons of delicious finger foods and snacks as well as a no-host bar and party favours for all. Tickets for this event are by advanced sale only and are $25 for adults, $10 for youth (ages 13-18) and children under 12 are free.  Tickets are available at B&B Music and Eldorado Service Station in Quesnel, Studio 2880 in Prince George and at the Wells Service Station, and of course, from IMA by phone (1-800-442-2787) or email (info@imarts.com).  Most accommodations are filling up fast, but feel free to contact IMA for alternative options. ________________________________________________

We Have A Winner! Thank you so much to all of you who provided your priceless feedback to our ArtsWells survey.  All those who included their names at the end of the survey were entered into a draw and we are very happy to announce that the winner is Paula Scott of Quensel, BC.  Congratulations to Paula who has won herself two tickets to next year's ArtsWells Festival of All Things Art, an ArtsWells T-Shirt, a membership to Island Mountain Arts and a pack of our fabulous 'Nude BC Gold Rush History' Greeting Cards. _________________________________________   IMA School of the Arts 2007 Courses   We have been working hard at putting together our 2007 course schedule and are pleased to give you a preview of some of the courses we will be offering.  You can link to the full course description by clicking on the course name.    Please note that there will be more courses to  be confirmed and you can keep yourself updated by periodically checking in on our website.   Adult Courses:   March 24 - 25  (Date subject to change) Drum & Dance Weekend with Granville Johnson & Lisa Cassidy Poetry Intensive with Laisha Rosneau   July 14 - 17 Water Based Screen printing with Bill Horne Watercolour Sketchbook with Michael Kluckner Mixed Media Bricolage with Ken Flett   July 20 - 24 Portrait Drawing with Mariken Van Nimwegen  Writing with Adam Schroeder   July 21 - 29 Wells Artists Project with mentors Chris Cran & Michelle Forsyth   July 25 - 26 Poetry Intensive with Laisha Rosneau   July 31 - August 3 Slide & Finger Style Techniques for Acoustic  Guitar with Ken Hamm   August 14 - 18 Celtic Harp School   Children & Youth Courses:   June 29 - July 1 Youth Video / Claymation with Mark Vonesh   July 14 - 17 Visual Arts for Kids with Jessica Demers Ceramics for Kids with Lesley Lloyd   July 21 - 24 Kid's Creative Writing with Becky Citra Kid's Theater with Bas Rynsewyn   July 31 - August 1 Youth  Songwriting and Poetry in Rhythm with Corwin Fox, Sarah Metzner & Kia Kadiri _________________________________________

Celtic troubadours from far and wide find it impossible to resist the siren call of the sub alpine. ________________________  'Nude BC Gold Rush History Greeting Cards' Now Available at Local & Regional Merchants If you haven't had a chance to pick up Island Mountain Arts' new fundraiser yet, don't worry, they are now available at a merchant near you!  In Prince George, you can pick them up at Books & Company, the Studio 2880 Gift Shop and the Two Rivers Gallery Gift Shop.  In Wells you can get them at the IMA Gift Shop and at the new Wells General Store and in William's Lake they are available at the Gekko Tree Cafe and and the Station House Gallery Gift Shop. They are still available from Island Mountain Arts by phone (1-800-442-2787) or email (info@imarts.com) and are $12 for one package of 5 different designs or $20 for two packages.  So order your's today or get down to one of the fine merchants listed above to beat the Christmas rush! _____________________________________ Calling All Artists! IMA is now accepting submissions to our public Gallery for our 2007 and 2008 seasons.  The deadling for submissions is January 1, 2007, so don't delay!  For a link to our submissions form, click here. ____________________________________     IMA Public Gallery & Gift Shop Hours   As of December 18Th, the IMA Public Gallery & Gift Shop will be open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday from 12-5.      ________________________________________