Ghost Tours of Vernon Presents: Blood, Gore and Guts!

This Halloween, terror, werewolves, madness and murder will be coming to the OUC Lecture Theatre on October 27th in the form of “Blood, Gore and Guts; olde fashioned stories and songs for adults and bloodthirsty children.”

Presented by Ghost Tours of Vernon it will pair its creator, Mr. Gabriel Newman, with actress Ms Christine Pilgrim and musician Ms Deborah Gabinet in this evening of ghoulish entertainment.

During the course of the evening stories and songs will be presented from various genres in a variety of styles. “It is kind of a retrospective on horror writing and presentation,” says Newman who indicates there are pieces by such notable macabre writers as Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, The Brothers Grimm and many others. “Because their styles are so different we thought we would also vary how we presented the pieces so we have everything from straight forward storytelling, to theatrical performance, to a classic radio play complete with sound effects as well as an assortment of ghoulish and occasionally campy songs,” grins Newman.

An indoor show is a bit of a deviation for Newman who usually does location specific shows such as last year’s “Rumour of a House” at the Caetani House as well as Christmas mummering around town and storytelling with Christine Pilgrim at Cenotaph Park. However Newman is best known for his outdoor walking tour Ghost Tours of Vernon which will also be running in October from the 22nd to the 25th. “For the past five years I have had requests to do an indoor show but I never felt like my tours would transfer well to an indoor location. After working with Christine Pilgrim and Deborah Gabinet with last year’s Christmas mummering I realized that we worked very well together and could complement each other’s skills into an entertaining and varied indoor Halloween show,” explains Newman.

The performance is sponsored by the Okanagan University College which delights Newman who says, “the lecture theatre is a great performance space, the seating and acoustics are such that it can fit a nice number of people in it yet still feel very intimate which is perfect for this kind of show.”

Tickets are available at The Bean Scene or at the door (cash only) and are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. For more information contact 260-8757.

Vernon Performing Arts Centre - The Coatcheck Gallery

When you come to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre, don’t miss the Coatcheck Gallery located on the lower floor.  Featuring exhibitions by local arts groups, the Coatcheck Gallery is open one hour before each show, and at intermission. The current exhibition features Mélange presented by the Okanagan Artists League.

Florence Biennale Invites NOAA Member Cherie Hanson

Kelowna artist Cherie Hanson is preparing for the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art from December 1st to 11th. Of the 750 artists from around the world who were invited in, she has been among the 15 selected to have a secondary showing at a Florence, Italy hotel. Two pieces entitled "Universal Wall" and "Pyramid" will hang in the Grand Hotel awarded "Top 75 Hotels in Europe” Condè Nast Traveller in 2005 and 2006 Gold List. Cherie is a resident artist in the Rotary Center for the Arts and a member of the North Okanagan Artists Alternative.

At the Rotary Centre for the Arts - 421 Cawston Avenue, Kelowna. Call 763-1875 for more information.

Okanagan Arts Awards

The new arts awards program for the Okanagan Valley, the Okanagan Arts Awards, is seeking a design for a three-dimensional sculpture that will be bronzed to be presented to each award recipient.  More information about the awards program can be found on the website at www.okanaganartsawards.com. Submissions for this Call are due by October 20, 2007.  They can be delivered, mailed or emailed to Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Office #8, Laurel Building, 1304 Ellis Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 1Z8  or to info@artsco.ca

Inquiries, contact 250-861-4123.

Strategies of the Millipede

An Exhibit of the work of the Z'otz* Collective and the three individual artists of the collective

October 12 to November 10

Three of Toronto's emerging artists have been collaborating for three years under the name Z'otz*. Nahum Flores, Erik Jerezeno and Ilyana Martinez createwatercolour and mixed media pieces that illustrate a provocativeyetplayful surrealist art. In consecutive years the collective haswonawards at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition: 2006 - HonourableMentionin watercolour; 2007 - Drawing Award. Last year the collective'sworkwas presented at the Toronto International Art Fair.

This exhibit demonstrates how the signature of each artist combines to create inventive images that capture the imagination of the viewer.Z'otz*is asummary of sorts. Ilyana's delicate balance of the manmade and the natural, Nahum's quiet environmental angst and Erik's illogical and disconcerting narrative all merge harmoniously to create theZ'otz*compositions.

Spence Gallery specializes in contemporary expressions of Caribbean, Latin and African culture.

SPENCE GALLERY
588 Markham Street, Toronto, ON M6G 2L8