A quick run through some events happening this week in the world of art, music and community.
Tuesday
NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival: Enjoy three one-act plays by emerging New Brunswick playwrights. The evening’s line up of Myrtle (Axel Kelly Spurles), Samantics (Alex Dawson) and Every Apple in the Orchard (Noah Deas) will begin at 7:30 p.m. Limited seating is available at the Open Space Theatre (55 Whiting Rd) and all readings will be streamed online. Full details can be found at nbacts.com
Wednesday
NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival: Enjoy five short plays by emerging New Brunswick playwrights. The evening’s performances will take place in Barracks Square beginning at 7:30 p.m. Limited seating will be provided or bring your own lawn chair. These performances are presented at no charge. Full details can be found at nbacts.com
Chillteens + DenMother at The Cap Patio. More live music coming up on The Cap patio this week. See Chillteens and DenMother this week. Full details.
Film Workshop (online): Beating the Screenwriting Block. This workshop will look at tools and techniques you can use to become (or remain) productive and creative screenwriters. We will explore the concept of SMART goal-setting, stream-of-consciousness writing techniques, the use of “beat sheets” to structure your work, and when and how to edit your drafts. 7-8 p.m. Learn more.
Thursday
NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival: Enjoy two short plays by emerging New Brunswick playwrights. The evening’s line up of Out of Water (Madeline Savoie) and The Kelpie (Alex Rioux) will begin at 7:30 p.m. Limited seating is available at the Open Space Theatre (55 Whiting Rd) and all readings will be streamed online. Full details can be found at nbacts.com
New Work at CreatedHere Gallery. This exhibition celebrates the contributors from Psyche (the spring issue of CreatedHere). Enjoy work from 15 artists. Copies of the magazine will be on hand for you to take home to learn more about your favourite artwork from the show. 4:30 p.m. Learn more.
Friday
NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival: Enjoy five short plays by emerging New Brunswick playwrights (final performance). The evening’s performances will take place in Barracks Square beginning at 7:30 p.m. Limited seating will be provided or bring your own lawn chair. These performances are presented at no charge. Full details can be found at nbacts.com
Saturday
NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival: A theatre doubleheader! Enjoy two short plays by emerging New Brunswick playwrights with an afternoon lineup that includes Wrack and Ruin (Meg Edwards) and Everything is Here (Devin Rockwell) will begin at 2:00 p.m. Limited seating is available at the Open Space Theatre (55 Whiting Rd) and all readings will be streamed online.
The festival concludes with the final performance of Space Girl (Jean-Michel Cliche) at 7:30 p.m. (online only). Full details can be found at nbacts.com
New Brunswick Day Gin and Jazz at the Hilton Garden. Come see BRIDGE on the patio of Southside Shake at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Fredericton. Show goes from 7-9. Lots of great drinks and food to go with your jazz. 7 p.m. Learn more.
Sunday
Mike Bravener’s Depends Upon the Pay Launch Party at Kings Landing. Kick loose and celebrate Bravener’s album launch and his efforts to preserve New Brunswick’s musical heritage. The King’s Head Inn’s takeout and pub will be open for food and drink during the event. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Learn more.
Ongoing:
Fredericton Summer Artist in Residence Program. Odell Park and the Fredericton Botanic Garden are venues for artists in residence creating new works and demonstrating their techniques. The public is invited to interact with the artists to learn about their work, while maintaining appropriate distancing guidelines. Visitors to Odell Park and the Fredericton Botanic Garden will see a range of traditional and innovative artistic practices including fibre and textile arts, photography, weaving, writing, music, movement, painting, as well as digital painting. Artists may choose to set up wherever they fancy and can be identified by the artist in residence lawn sign.
This week’s artists are Ralph Simpson (Odell Park) and Kirsten Stackhouse (Fredericton Botanic Gardens).
Summer Programs at the TNB Theatre School. The TNB Theatre School has announced plans for limited summer programming, beginning at the end of June and running through until August. The programs offered this summer include Junior Acting, Junior Musical Theatre, Intermediate Musical Theatre, Intermediate Senior Acting and Intermediate Senior Acting for the Camera with returning instructors Arianna Martinez and Gordon Mihan. Learn more.
Gallery on Queen Community Support Initiative. The Gallery on Queen Community Support Initiative is a campaign designed to give back to our local community. We are calling on you, the public, and friends of Gallery on Queen. Selected artwork from our artists will be sold with 100% of the funds raised being given to Black Lives Matter Fredericton and Gignoo Transition House. All proceeds will be split 50/50 to these two organizations. Learn more.
Gallery on Queen presents a Roger Simon Exhibition. In collaboration with the family of Roger Simon, Gallery On Queen is honoured to present an exhibition of works by the late artist. The work will be displayed at the gallery and available for viewing, while following Covid-19 safety protocols, and will also be available for viewing online.
Roger Simon was a Mi’kmaq artist from Big Cove Reserve. He studied at the George Brown College in Toronto, and continued at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in Fredericton. His work combined traditional and contemporary ideas where he painted the faces of people from Big Cove and other reserves that impressed him. His ideas stemmed from Mi’kmaq legends and stories from the Elders, and he interpreted ideas from his culture in new ways. His inspiration came from the beauty of his people.
Simon’s painting style was unique and his paintings are greatly appreciated by both the First Nations’ and non-aboriginal communities. In 1995, one of his paintings, “The First Car on the Rez” (oil on paper, 1993), was selected by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s Fine Art program for a permanent exhibition of First Nations’ art for the Canadian Embassy in Moscow, Russia.
Weathergrams for Good: Temporary Public Art Installation in Phoenix Square to Inspire Kindness. A temporary public art installation, Weathergrams for Good, will be on display until mid-fall. The installation, by Fredericton artist Katrina Slade, involves hundreds of colourful strips of paper featuring loving-kindness mantras. The project was inspired by a special family friend who taught her about Weathergrams and gave her a Lloyd J Reynolds book on the tradition.
Reynolds developed the Weathergram, short poems written in italic script on a strip of a brown grocery bag, as a way for students to make beautiful things simply and share their calligraphy with others. The western world approach is based on the Japanese Tanzaku, where people write their wishes on colourful paper strips that are then tied on trees during the Tanabata Festival.
Rather than short poems, Slade’s take on the tradition includes bilingual loving-kindness mantras displayed in calligraphy on eye- catching colourful paper. She commissioned Haley Bungay, a local hand-lettering artist, to write out each phrase. The calligraphy was digitized and turned into a stamp, which allowed Slade to produce high-volume Weathergrams. The artist’s website, www.weathergramsforgood.com, includes links to resources about kindness meditation and instructions for creating personal Weathergrams from paper bags or other durable paper sources.
Fredericton al Fresco Now in Operation. A partnership between the City of Fredericton, Downtown Fredericton and Business Fredericton North Inc. and part of the #SupportFredLocal initiative, Fredericton al Fresco launched on June 4. In support of local artists, the City will offer cultural initiatives as part of the Fredericton al Fresco effort, including low-key musical performances by local musicians beginning next week. A local art installation in Phoenix Square mid-June will also add a sense of Fredericton’s cultural flair to the dining area. More information, including how COVID-19 physical distancing measures will be carried out during Fredericton al fresco can be found HERE.
The Calithumpians’ Act Now Drama Camps. Act Now and sign up for the Calithumpians’ Act Now Drama Camps. Registration for the 2020 summer season is now open. It’s a fun week of singing, dancing, and theatre for youth ages 6 to 14. Your child will have the opportunity to experience the creative process of writing and performing their own play under the guidance of the Calithumpians. Camps run through July to Labour Day weekend. Learn more.
Gallery 78 presents Treasures II & Retrospective. Revisit glorious secondary market works, including new watercolour flowers, by Molly Lamb Bobak and Bruno Bobak in Treasures II, and a reprise of Marjory Donaldson’s Retrospective, which were on display during the lockdown in March. Enjoy a plethora of new work as well by Raymond Martin, Joseph Plaskett, Paul Miller, and ceramics by Tomo Ingalls and Tom Smith secondary market pieces. Visit in person on line at gallery78.com
Pigment of Your Imagination: Virtual Exhibition of Second Year NBCCD Photography Students. The photography department of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design would like to invite you to view the online virtual exhibition Pigment of Your Imagination, featuring the work of second year photography students Blake Baxter, Kayla Dormer, Gabrielle Gionet, Korry Hill, and Katherine Murray. View this Exhibition.
This Week in Fredericton is created in part with notes from the Fredericton Arts Alliance‘s weekly newsletter as well as Music Runs Through It‘s weekly Fredericton music update. We encourage you to visit both these valuable community resources for more detailed information on these and other events happening This Week in Fredericton.
