The storyteller, LeVêKe.

The storyteller LeVêKe will present his show Le Souffle de la Vie (the breath of life) on Thursday, February 23 at 8 p.m. at the Empress Theatre located on Robinson Court in Moncton. Tickets are currently on sale at the cost of $14.50 plus applicable fees. Le Souffle de la Vie is intended for all audiences.

Le souffle de la vie

While the humans’ machines and saws are about to eliminate the forest around him, the giant maple tree (personified by LeVêKe) talks about earth and humanity’s story. Before his demise, the tree shares a story about the evolution of life on earth. The idea of this show was inspired by a wooden mask made by sculptor Paul Ouellette. LeVêKe had the idea of talking about the importance of forests in life.

The performance starts with the projection of OÏO by artist Simon Goulet. At the end of this short 7 minutes film, LeVêKe takes the stage for his theatrical performance. After the show, the audience is invited to take a closer look at Paul Ouellette’s artwork.

LeVêKe is a storyteller from Balmoral, NB. For more than 10 years, he has performed with innovative new ways of telling his stories. This storyteller has toured in Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, France and the USA.

This autodidact artist discovered the fabulous world of storytelling while meeting Father Germain Lemieux in Sudbury, Ontario. Lemieux published the impressing collection Les vieux m’ont conté, featuring stories from Ontario, Acadie, Gaspésie and Manitoba storytellers. LeVêKe’s process is inspired by various community and professional activities, as well as his involvement in the preservation of the environment.

With Le souffle de la vie, the artist takes the audience in his imaginary world filled with tales of environment, history and communication.

Box Office

Tickets for Le souffle de la vie at the Capitol Theatre are now on sale at the Capitol Theatre Box Office, l’Escaouette, Frank’s Music, Monument Lefebvre, Dieppe Arts and Culture Centre and l’Université de Moncton, at $14.50 plus applicable fees. Tickets are also available by phone at (506) 856-4379 or 1-800-567-1922, or online at www.capitol.nb.ca.

“Northrop Frye is Moncton’s most famous son, and we want to celebrate his amazing legacy with the entire community,” says Dawn Arnold, Chair of the Frye Festival. “Frye wrote a lot about how literature helps us to train our imaginations, develop critical thinking skills and the power of literature to create a tolerant and civil society. In 2012, the Frye Festival will continue to feed imaginations will all our regular Festival fare, but we are also thrilled to add exciting projects to our program, like public art, a 24-hour playwriting competition and much more.”

The Frye Festival is pleased to announce the support of Canadian Heritage, as part its Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program, for Frye’s centennial celebrations. The program is designed specifically to increase opportunities for local artists and artisans to be involved in their community and for local groups to commemorate their local history and heritage.

Bronze sculpture of Northrop Frye
The Frye Festival has commissioned three local artists to create a life-size bronze sculpture of Northrop Frye. The commission was awarded to Darren Byers of Byers Harrison Studios Inc. who will be collaborating with artists Fred Harrison and Janet Fotheringham. The three have partnered to create the artwork, which will feature Northrop Frye sitting on a park bench with a book open on his lap. The sculpture will be installed in front of the Moncton Public Library (Downing St. entrance), and the Festival’s hope is to unveil the sculpture in time for Frye’s birthday in July.

Janet Fotheringham has extensive experience in molding and casting and has been doing life sculpture since 1996. Darren Byers has worked as a furniture maker for over 25 years and as a sculptor for the last 18 years, producing commissions and private work throughout North America and Fred Harrison has worked on many murals throughout Canada. In April 2011 Darren and Fred completed “The Workers Memorial” in Saint John, a larger than life size bronze monument to honour anyone who has suffered physical or mental injuries or who has died while on the job in the greater Saint John area. This will be the first time that all three artists have collaborated.

24-hour playwriting competition
The Frye Festival is inviting amateur and established playwrights to take part in a unique 24-hour competition. From 4 pm on Friday, April 20 to 4 pm on Saturday, April 21, individuals will have the chance to prove their writing skills as they write a one-act play about Northrop Frye and/or his ideas. Participants will be fed, caffeinated and encouraged, and will participate in the official language of their choice in one of two categories: student and other. Four winners (one for each language and each category) will walk away with $500. Plays will be judged by Governor General award-winning playwrights Catherine Banks and Herménégilde Chiasson, along with local celebrity and playwright Marshall Button.

The model for the Festival’s 24-hour playwriting competition is based on an established model by the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre, which has been organizing their event for 15 years.

Special issues of ellipse magazine
A special issue of ellipse magazine will be published to mark the 100th anniversary of Frye’s birth. Under the direction of Jo-Anne Elder, ellipse is mandated with promoting literary translation and intercultural awareness. The Special Edition will feature new writing by authors from the Maritimes and across Canada, all of which will honour this great thinker. An official launch reception will be held on Saturday, April 28 at 4 pm at Moncton City Hall.

Frye Centennial Talk and Conversation between Frye and McLuhan
Professor Ian Balfour of York University will present an original talk on Northrop Frye, the man and the ideas. However, before his presentation, two local actors will present a short, hilarious conversation between Northrop Frye and his contemporary, Marshall McLuhan.

The Frye Festival is also planning many more events and community projects, which will be unveiled throughout the year.

About Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye was one of Canada’s most prominent and celebrated public thinkers and a pioneer in literary criticism. He wrote extensively about symbols in literature and about structure, and his theories attracted international attention. He was considered one of the greatest scholars and thinkers of the 20th century, hailed as the “modern Aristotle” and the “Einstein of the Humanities” after his death. He is also “one of the top dozen most-cited intellectual writers of all time,” with the likes of Plato and Shakespeare.

Frye was born on July 14, 1912 in Sherbrooke, Québec. He was seven years old when he moved with his family to Moncton, New Brunswick, where he developed many of the ideas that he would go on to explore the rest of his life. In 1929 Frye won a typing contest and left Moncton to study at the University of Toronto, where he remained as student and teacher most of the rest of his life. Over the course of his life he wrote more than 20 books, lectured at more than 100 universities around the world, received 39 honorary degrees, won the Governor General’s Award for Literature, was a Companion of the Order of Canada, had a postage stamp created in his image and in 2010 the Northrop Frye School in Moncton was named in his honour.

About the Frye Festival
The Frye Festival is Atlantic Canada’s largest literary happening and Canada’s only bilingual international literary Festival. The 13th edition of the Festival will take place from April 23 to 29, 2012 in the Greater Moncton area. The complete list of authors will be unveiled February 20, 2012. More information about the Festival and its mission is available at www.frye.ca.

Upcoming Events
Pop & Frye with George Elliott Clarke
Monday, March 19, 2012, Navigator’s Pub, Moncton

Pop & Frye with Herménégilde Chiasson (La vieille femme près de la voie ferrée)
Wednesday, March 29, 2012, Théatre l’Escaouette, Moncton

Wainio writes that her work “explores the role that painting may still play in opening up a discursive space around history, material culture, narrative, globalization and (what is evoked by) various historical forms of representation, both ‘high art’ and the vernacular.”

She completed her Master of Fine Arts at Concordia University in 1985 and has since produced a significant body of work based in an investigation of historical fairy tales. Wainio’s work has been widely exhibited in Canada, and internationally in the United States, China, Spain and the Venice Biennale. In addition to her artist talk, Wainio will visit the Mount Allison University Fine Arts Department to conduct studio visits as well as a group discussion.

Carol Wainio will present her work as part of the Visiting Artist Program, a series co-sponsored by Mount Allison’s Department of Fine Arts, The Owens Art Gallery, and Struts Gallery. Other artists in the series include Benny Nemerofsky-Ramsey, Sara Angelucci, the Fastwurms, Kevin Yates, Shary Boyle and Christine Fellows. The Visiting Artist Program is funded by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to the Department of Fine Arts at Mount Allison University.

For more information about Wainio’s visit, or the Visiting Artist Program, please contact Leah Garnett at (506) 364-2498. Additional information about Wainio and her work can be found on the following website http://www.carolwainio.com/index.php

Public art plays a vital role in creating a liveable and beautiful city, and it enhances the quality of life of all its citizens. While public art is not usually something that Frye Festival is involved in, Chair Dawn Arnold is excited about the project: “We have wanted to give Northrop Frye an enduring presence in our community for many years, and we are finally able to make that happen by commissioning a bronze sculpture to mark his centenary! Paying tribute to this great thinker celebrates the power of imagination and also raises awareness of the importance of literacy in our society today.”

The sculpture will feature Northrop Frye sitting on a park bench and reading a book. The Festival’s hope is to unveil the sculpture in time for Frye’s birthday in July 2012. The Festival is accepting submissions until December 21, 2011. Details are available at www.frye.ca.

The Frye Festival is also currently seeking partners – corporate and individual – for this project. An official fundraising campaign will be launched after Christmas. All donors will be recognized publicly, and anyone interested in helping out is asked to contact the Frye Festival’s headquarters at 506-859-4389 or info@frye.ca.

About Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye was one of Canada’s most prominent and celebrated public thinkers and a pioneer in literary criticism. He wrote extensively about symbols in literature and about structure, and his theories attracted international attention. He was considered one of the greatest scholars and thinkers of the 20th century, hailed as the “modern Aristotle” and the “Einstein of the Humanities” after his death. He is also “one of the top dozen most-cited intellectual writers of all time,” with the likes of Plato and Shakespeare.

Frye was born on July 14, 1912 in Sherbrooke, Québec. He was seven years old when he moved with his family to Moncton, New Brunswick, where he developed many of the ideas that he would go on to explore the rest of his life. In 1929 Frye won a typing contest and left Moncton to study at the University of Toronto, where he remained as student and teacher most of the rest of his life. Over the course of his life, he wrote more than 20 books, lectured at more than 100 universities around the world, received 39 honorary degrees, won the Governor General’s Award for Literature, was named Companion of the Order of Canada, had a postage stamp created in his image, and, in 2010, the Northrop Frye School in Moncton was named in his honour.

About the Frye Festival
The Frye Festival is Atlantic Canada’s largest literary happening and Canada’s only bilingual international literary Festival. The 13th edition of the Festival will take place from April 23 to 29, 2012 in the Greater Moncton area, and work is already underway to invite some of the best authors in the world to Moncton. More information about the Festival and its mission is available at www.frye.ca.

Blissfield Pool

Each year the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival brings the best in classical chamber music to Fredericton, performed by Canada’s most talented artists.

To support the Festival, a number of years ago Bruno Bobak generously donated the original and a limited edition of 100
prints of his work, “Blissfield Pool”. We are selling raffle tickets on one of the few remaining prints we have in our collection.

This is a gorgeous scene of a fishing pool in the Miramichi – a perfect gift for anglers, Miramichiers and all Bobak fans.
This is your chance to obtain a rare and lovely print for your collection or for a wonderful holiday gift. ONLY 100 tickets will be sold and are $5 each. Draw date is December 12 – lots of time for Christmas giving.

To see the print and to purchase your tickets, contact Maria at the Festival Office, Room 22 Memorial Hall, UNB: (506)458-7836.  (Note: office hours are typically Monday to Thursday 8am-4pm. It’s often best to call before dropping by).

We also sell these prints and have a few left – call us to find out about purchasing.

Summer Video Camp
Instructor: E. Hearte
cost: $40
dates: July 11 – 15
times: 9am – 12pm
ages: 10 – 13

This summer, Struts Gallery & Faucet Arts Centre is offering a video camp for youth aged 10 – 13. You will get a chance to learn about video from a professional filmmaker and video artist. You will write your own scripts and storyboards, shoot and edit your own videos, and record and mix your own sound. All on professional video equipment!

Call or email Elli at Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Arts Centre, (506) 536-1211 production@strutsgallery.ca

Little Armadillo Screen Printing
Learn how to silkscreen the Little Armadillo way! Silk-screening is a method of applying text or images to fabric or paper and is a commonly used technique when making your own t-shirts. It is easy and fun and makes great wearable artwork.

LOCATION: The Little Armadillo Printshop
COST: $20/day All ages
DATE: July 11th and 12th 2011
TIME: 1-4pm

Struts Kite Building Workshop
Lets go fly a kite! Knowing how to build your own kite out of recycled materials is very important since we live in one of the windiest locations in the world. Come down to the little Armadillo to learn how to make your own using materials found around the house.

LOCATION: The Little Armadillo Printshop
COST: $10 All ages
DATE: July 13th 2011
TIME: 1-4pm

Ok.Quoi?! Stop Motion Animation Circus
Have you ever wanted to create your own circus? Want to bring your own characters and creatures to life? If so, then sign-up for this summer’s Stop Motion Animation Circus with local artist Graeme Patterson.

LOCATION: The Little Armadillo Printshop
COST: $50 Ages 8-14
DATE: July 18th-22nd 2011
TIME: 1-4pm

Ok.Quoi?!/Sappyfest Kids Power Jam
This summer, Sappyfest and the Ok.Quoi Arts festival are offering an indie rock workshop for students aged 6 to 14. Students will work with professional musicians to make their own instruments, design t-shirts and album artwork, record an album and perform their songs on the Sappyfest mainstage tent on Bridge Street.

LOCATION: The Little Armadillo Printshop
COST: $50 Ages 6-14
DATE: July 25th-29th 2011
TIME: 9-12am

For more information on any of these events please contact Andrew Maize, Festival Programmer, Ok.Quoi?! Arts Festival, festival@strutsgallery.ca

Seven Lorne Street
Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Arts Centre
http://strutsgallery.ca
506-536-1211

Mayor George LeBlanc chats with Northrop Frye at the site of the future public art display.

The Frye Festival needs your help to win $25,000 to create a bronze life-sized sculpture of Northrop Frye sitting on a park bench reading a book outside the Moncton Public Library. As part of a national competition presented by Pepsi Canada, the Festival has submitted a proposal to win the funds to create an enduring reminder of our community’s most famous son.

Vote to Refresh Moncton! Beginning on Thursday, July 1^st and running until Tuesday, August 31, 2010, everyone is invited to visit the website www.refresheverything.ca daily and vote for “Feed your imagination” in the Arts and Culture section. The winner will be chosen exclusively on the number of votes it receives, so vote daily and get your friends and family to do the same!

Public art plays a vital role in creating a liveable and beautiful city and enhances the quality of life of all its citizens. That is why Mayor George LeBlanc is all over this project: “The City of Moncton believes whole-heartedly in the value and importance of public art. A sculpture like this one would celebrate our most famous son’s legacy while helping to create a more visually rich downtown core.”

The Frye Festival, Canada’s only bilingual international literary festival, exists to “feed the imaginations” of all members of our community. While public art is not usually something that the Festival is involved in, Chair Dawn Arnold is excited about the project. “We have often thought about how nice it would be to give Northrop Frye an enduring presence somewhere in our city, and what could be more perfect than outside the Moncton Public Library? When Northrop Frye lived in Moncton from 1919 to 1929, books were scarce. For me, paying tribute to this great thinker and giving him a place of honour in our community also raises awareness of the importance of literacy in our society today. What a great opportunity for all of us to be involved and engaged in creating a more beautiful downtown and celebrating imaginations. Vote every day — every vote counts!”

People from across Canada will be participating in the voting process and competition will be tight. By registering and logging on to the web site, each person can vote for “Feed your imagination” daily. The contest is being presented by Pepsi Canada, who will distribute $1,000,000 over one year.

If the Festival is successful in winning the money, they will mount a national competition to find a sculptor to create the art. The goal will be to have Margaret Atwood, Canada’s most famous living writer and a former student of Northrop Frye’s, unveil the sculpture during the 2011 Frye Festival (April 25-May 1, 2011).

Nova Scotia College of Art & Design

The NSCAD feminist collective is seeking work by artists and writers across Canada (women, men, transfolk, radical feminists, closet feminists) in any media (time-based, new media, old media, print media, flat media, mass media, essays, rants, poems) addressing the title Feminism: Now. This juried show will take place December 1st to 12th 2009, concurrent with the 20th anniversary of the École Polytechnique Massacre (December 6th). Written/textual  works will be considered for a zine to accompany the show.

The deadline to receive submissions is November 6, 2009.  Application forms and information about the Acquisitions Program are available athttp://www.gnb.ca/0131/art_bank-e.asp#1 or by email to Caroline.walker@gnb.ca.