The Joey Only Outlaw Band Rock the Sunset Theatre at ArtsWells 2006. _____________ ArtsWells Presents a Pre-Festival Showcase Monday, June 25 On Monday, June 25, ArtsWells will present a pre-festival showcase at Arts Space (above Books and Company at 1685 3rd Ave in Prince George) to feature a few of the amazing and talented musicians that will be presented at the 4Th annual ArtsWells Festival of all Things Art (August 3 - 6, 2007 in Wells, BC).  Brimming with the dynamic talent of over one hundred artists and performers, the ArtsWells Festival, is fast becoming BC’s largest multidisciplinary Indie arts festival.  Monday night's showcase will feature Vancouver's Joey Only Outlaw Band as well as PG locals The Cottonweeds and Dave Routley.  The Joey Only Outlaw Band has been ripping up stages across Western Canada for over a year, growing quickly in popularity.  Joey Only had already been traveling and singing folk music all over Canada when he decided to create the most intense country band in all of British Columbia.  Relentlessly touring, practicing and playing this is one band that is rising quickly.  The Cottonweeds are a roots music duo based in Prince George, BC, consisting of Raghu Lokanathan on banjo and vocals and Jeremy Stewart on guitar and vocals.  United by a love of American folk music, the pair have been performing to sold-out rooms in Prince George since they began playing together in winter 2005.  Both Lokanathan and Stewart are established solo artists in their own right, one or the other has performed at the Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Smithers folk festivals, to name a few.  As the Cottonweeds, they hope to have a great time sharing their favorite traditional songs—along with their quirky humor.   Prince George resident and singer songwriter Dave Routley’s sound is best described as a cross between Tracey Chapman and Jack Johnson.  His CD, entitled “Six” has been released several times over and his 2ND CD will be ready in time for the ArtsWells Festival.   The concert will take place at ArtSpace (above Books and Company at 1685 3rd Ave, Prince George).  Tickets are $10 and are available at Ruins (187 - 1600 15th Ave in Prince George) with all ages welcome.  You can also pick up your ArtsWells Festival Pass at the show for a  great deal of only $35 each (that's less than $9 a day!!).   For more information or tickets call Island Mountain Arts at 1-800-442-2787.  To view the full ArtsWells line up with links, please visit our website at www.artswells.com.      _________________________

Canadian Musician Geoff Berner __________ Geoff Berner & Rae Spoon at the Limelight Theatre On Thursday, August 2 at 7:30 pm, the ArtsWells Festival will present Geoff Berner and Rae Spoon at the Limelight Theatre (178 Oliver St) in Williams Lake, BC.  Geoff Berner has been described as "the avenging angel of Klezmer" by the Globe and mail.  His music is witty and sometimes heartbreaking, a unique mix of folk, punk and klezmer.  In spite (or perhaps because) of hit unorthodox approach, he's earning a living as a traveling, recording musician.  He's toured Europe 5 times, played over a dozen Canadian folk and jazz festivals, and will of course be a featured musician at the 4Th annual ArtsWells Festival of all Things Art. Rae Spoon, a faithful ArtsWells musician since the beginning is a young artist who proudly follows in the time-honored tradition of the singers he respects. Armed with influences such as Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams, he continues to mine the territory that lays between reverence for the greats and his own original perspective and voice.  Since emerging onto the Canadian roots scene in 2001, Rae has steadily built a following through grassroots methods and strong word of mouth buzz. He's performed at many high-profile Canadian festivals, including Dawson City, Vancouver, Regina, Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg and Edmonton Folk Festivals.   This is country/folk at it's best and a concert not to be missed!  Tickets are $15 and are available at About Face Photography or Red Shreds in William's Lake or by calling Island Mountain Arts at 1-800-442-2787.     __________________     About the ArtsWells Festival:  Covering 4 days and 5 stages (outdoor and indoor), ArtsWells is a multidisciplinary event featuring over 40 live musical acts, various performances, over 30 diverse workshops, the 8Th International One Minute Play Festival, visual arts displayed in an ArtWalk through the town of Wells, and kids activities.  Featured artists come from across the Cariboo region, BC & Canada.   ArtsWells weekend passes are $40 for Adults, $20 for Youth (ages 13 - 18), & kids12 and under are free.   To volunteer, submit a one minute play, or for more information contact artswellsfestival@imarts.com     _____________________________________________

Michael Kluckner's Watercolour Piece Entitled "Sienna" _________      In The Gallery: Michael Kluckner "In Search Of Patterned Landscapes"     The Island Mountain Arts Public Gallery is pleased to present the opening of  'In Search of Patterned Landscapes', an exhibition of artworks by British Columbian artist and historian, Michael Kluckner, at 7pm on Friday, June 22.  Kluckner will be in the gallery for an artist talk at 7pm on July 14, while he is in town to teach a 4-day watercolour workshop.   "Since the book Vanishing British Columbia was published in 2005, I've been trying to create a series of iconic, somewhat-abstracted-yet-more-or-less-representational landscapes of the different regions of the province" says Kluckner, of his ongoing project entitled 'In Search of Patterned Landscapes'.   In Vanishing British Columbia, Kluckner used small, traditional watercolours to capture colour and texture in the province's diverse regions and to illustrate the text in the book; with the paintings in this exhibition he chose to go an extra step toward something less site-specific and pictorial/painterly.  "What the grand Emily Carr landscapes from the 1930s did for the west-coast forests is what I would like to do for the rest of the province" explains Kluckner.  "In recent years I have imagined high ground and long views; from such heights and edges, the patterns on the land appear and the canvas becomes more of a surface and less of a window, more modern and less pictorial."   Michael Kluckner is an artist and author who has written more than a dozen books, illustrated with his own watercolours, on subjects including landscape, history, and the pleasures of small-scale farming.  Growing up in Vancouver, he became obsessed with the reckless destruction and indifference towards its old places and devoted years to heritage advocacy.  Two books, Vanishing Vancouver (1991) and Vancouver Remembered (2006), recorded that period of his life. His book Vanishing British Columbia (2005) explores the roadside memories of the province, including the abandoned buildings and disappearing towns that illustrate its layers of settlement and history.  His website, http://www.michaelkluckner.com/me.html, contains a large number of ongoing projects including travel sketches, failed books, blogs, woodcuts and cat drawings. Michael currently lives in Australia.   'In Search of Patterned Landscapes', in conjunction with Kluckner's 'Vanishing British Columbia' exhibition in Barkerville Historic Town, runs in the IMA Gallery until Tuesday, July 17.  Kluckner is also the instructor for IMA Summer School of the Arts course "The Traveler’s Watercolor Sketchbook", July 14 to July 17.  Please feel free to come by to view the artworks or to sign up for his course, the gallery is open 10am - 6pm everyday.   For more information about this exhibition or about the Island Mountain Arts Summer School of the Arts course please call 1-800-442-2787 or visit www.imarts.com.   __________________________

Summer Course Profile Video Production for Young People Instructor: Mark Vonesch Wednesday June 30th to Monday July 2nd , 2007   Regular Fee:  $335 Early Bird Fee: $299 (Extended Until June 30 for IMA members) This 3-day video-making program is an opportunity for young people to learn to create short films about their vision for a better world. It is a journey into the process of creative collaboration and an opportunity for youth to speak up about the change they want to see in their lives, their community and the world. Students will learn how to: use a video camera, set up lighting, compose a shot, create a plot around an issue of their choice and translate these skills into a film that expresses their unique perspectives.   Students are introduced to Final Cut Pro editing and work with a professional editor during the completion of their film. Youth leave the workshop with confidence in their filmmaking skills; excited about the film they created, and empowered to share themselves through film. Reel Youth facilitators are artists themselves. They are also professional facilitators, fluent in empowering youth through the arts. While all creative control is left with the young artists, the facilitators are there to provide expertise and support throughout the process.   The video shorts made during the course are hosted on ReelYouth.ca for the youth to distribute as they desire. They will be entered into the Reel Youth Film Festival; a youth juried film festival touring nationally in the fall of 2007.   Mark Vonesch is a filmmaker, a VJ, and a media based youth facilitator. He is the Founder and Director of Reel Youth and is the principle of Mobius Media. Mark is passionate about using the creation of media for both a creative outlet and a vehicle for positive change. Mark's workshops are based around supporting young people to make films about the issues they care about most.   Mark Vonesch began his filmmaking journey on a grassroots level. He picked up his first camera in a pawnshop in Saskatoon and learned how to use it by filming the culture around him. Entirely self taught, Mark’s first documentary, The Working Forest, provided insight into tree planting culture with an activist edge into British Columbia’s forest industry. As a film mentor, Mark has helped produce over 50 films with young people along the West Coast of BC. Under Mark’s direction, Reel Youth just completed 59 claymation films with youth groups throughout Vancouver, with more to come as Reel Youth takes the workshop on the road. Mark is passionate about empowering youth to use film as a medium for instigating positive social change in their communities.   _________________________

Canadian Author and IMA Instryctor Adam Schroeder. ________ A Week of Writing in Wells July 20 - 26 Publishing Your Writing Instructor: Adam Schroeder Friday July 20th, 2007     Regular Fee: $115 + GST Early Bird Fee: $95 + GST (Extended Until June 30 for IMA Members) In this course with renownded Canadain author Adam Schroeder discussion will focus on finishing your manuscript, knowing when it’s ready, and putting it into publishable form, as well as, researching agents and publishers, making submissions, the author/editor/publisher relationship, dealing with rejection, self discipline and keeping going. Adam will welcome general questions as well as those specific to your own projects. Writing Your Socks Off! Instructor: Adam Schroeder Saturday July 21st to Tuesday July 24th, 2007 Regular Fee: $425 + GST Early Bird Fee: $385 + GST (Extended Until June 30 for IMA Members) Set loose the stories you’ve been meaning to tell, in a relaxed and supportive environment.  This course is designed for students with some writing experience who wish to improve exisiting work, create a body of new material, or both.  Crafting of short fiction is emphasised though poetry and non-fiction are not ignored, as we’ll discover how all genres demand clarity, honesty and compelling imagery from a writer.  Though in-class exercises we’ll explore character, conflict, voice and plot, and discuss how to publish in literary journals and beyond.  Each student should bring a hard copy of 5-15 pages of material in any genre to workshop in class, as well as a notebook and pen—we’re going to do a lot of writing!   Adam Lewis Schroeder: Canadian fiction writer Adam Lewis Schroeder completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia in 1999. He has since traveled widely and published stories in more than a dozen journals and anthologies. In 2001 his short fiction collection Kingdom of Monkeys was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award as the year's best first collection by an English Canadian.  His novel Empress of Asia was published by Raincoast in 2006 and selected by the Globe & Mail  as one of the best books of the year; it will be published by St Martins Press in the United States in 2008.  Adam lives in Penticton, BC, with his wife and son.  In addition to teaching fiction and travel writing workshops at Okanagan College in Penticton and Britannia Community Centre in Vancouver, he has read at the Vancouver International Writers Festival, Victoria Literary Arts Festival, Toronto’s Harbourfront International Reading Series and the Centre Culturel Canadien in Paris.     Poetry Intensive Instructor: Laisha Rosnau Wednesday July 25 & Thursday July 26   Regular Fee: $190 + GST Early Bird Fee: $185 +GST (Extended Untill June 30 for IMA Members) This two day intensive poetry workshop will emphasize strengthening and expanding your poetic voice and taking your own poetry to the next level.  We will aim to build a supportive, enthusiastic, and exhilarating community in which we can feel confident to take risks, generate new work, and give and receive feedback. The first day of the workshop will focus on exploring form, concept, voice, and style through interactive instruction and discussion.  We will generate new work through writing exercises and assignments developed to explore different styles and techniques and to enable students to expand into new areas of the imagination.  The second day of the workshop will focus on participants’ poems.  In a supportive and open forum, the group will offer critical responses to each other’s work in a constructive and compassionate manner. The aim is to encourage a process of rethinking and revising that will help students to develop their reading and critiquing skills and to bring their own poems to the next level. Throughout the two days, the work of established contemporary poets will be used as examples.  We will also explore how to identify when our work is ready for publication, how to find poetry markets, and how to submit your work for publication. Please bring up to five poems.  (This is optional as you can also generate poems during the workshop.) Laisha Rosnau is an award-winning poet and novelist.  Her collection of poetry, Notes on Leaving (Nightwood Editions), won the Acorn-Plantos Award for Peoples’ Poetry in 2005.  A limited edition chapbook of her work, getaway girl (Greenboathouse Books), was published in 2002.  Her novel, The Sudden Weight of Snow, was published in 2002 by McClelland & Steward and was an honorable mention in the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award.  Laisha has taught both poetry and fiction workshops at UBC Writing Center, SFU Writers’ Studio, Vancouver Film School, The Yukon Young Writers’ Conference, and the Whistler Writers’ Conference. She holds an English degree from the University of Victoria and received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, where she was the Executive Editor of PRISM international.  Laisha has lived in several places in BC and the Yukon and has recently moved to Prince George, where she is writing her second novel and working on a new manuscript of poems.