Kings Arts scene - as of January 10

Reaching new audiences

Two Planks and a Passion, a theatre company based in Canning, has received $9,432 in provincial funding to reach out to international audiences.

Traditionally a touring company, Two Planks introduced a local outdoor summer theatre program last year in partnership with the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts. The funds will help brand a new program and create a database to manage out-of-province sales.

"Our new summer theatre program is different from anything we have done before," saysartistic director Ken Schwartz. "This funding will help us market this unique, site-specific experience to international audiences and bring new dollars into Nova Scotia."

The culture sector in Nova Scotia generates about $1.2 billion annually and creates 28,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Art classes

Starting January 10 at Harvest Gallery’s classroom, Wolfville, eight consecutive weeks of classes that cover mono printing, collagraph prints, woodblock prints, and mixed media prints get underway.

Thursday afternoon classes start at 1:30 p.m. with the same class repeated that evening at 7 p.m. Cost is $220 per student and covers all materials and equipment. Maximum 12 students per class. No previous art experience required. The instructor is Bob Hainstock. www.theprintmaker.ca). In July, Hainstock will offer at his studio a five-day series of classes on introductory printmaking techniques. Intermediate workshop starts Aug. 18. Class size is limited to 12 students. Call 582-3656 for information.

The Harvest Gallery is also hosting eight consecutive Monday evenings with art coach Paul Syme. Developing artists may benefit from one-on-one discussion, and through art projects no matter the level of his/ her previous experience. Class size is limited. Cost is $150, plus $25 supplies. Syme is a well known artist/ educator. www.paulsyme.ca)

A Healing Through Art course has started and will run on eight consecutive Tuesday evenings. Learn to discover, trust and develop your innate creative abilities with work in a variety of art materials and techniques. Class size is limited. Cost is $150, plus $25 materials. Instructors are Gudrun Mueller-Both and Janet Edwards,experienced artists and counselors.

After School Art For Children will run for eight weeks at 3:30 p.m. Each week, students will learn about a different artist and create artwork exploring the style and/ or techniques of the artist. Class size is limited. Cost is $120, plus $20 materials. Instructor is Terry Drahos, an educator and visual artist.

Call 542-7093 for further information or to register for any of these courses at the Harvest Gallery, Wolfville.

Sunday music

January 13, superb acoustics at the Grand Pre visitors’ centre will allow Celtic music to be heard without amplification.

Hosted by Duncan and Maggie Keppies and supported jointly by the Grand Pre National Historic Park, Les Amis de Grand Pre and Kings County Historical Society, the Celtic Airs concert is set for 3 p.m.

All donations will go to the Kings County Historical Society.

C.S.Lewis and ‘mere’ Christianity

Writer Mel Malton will be lecturing January 22 on “Mere Christianity and C.S. Lewis” at St. James Anglican Church in Kentville.

This lecture is part of a 1942 series of BBC radio broadcast talks by British theologian C.S. Lewis. It was meant, in his own words, “to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.”

Lewis, born in 1898, was for many years an atheist, and described his conversion to Christianity this way: “In 1929, I gave in and admitted that God was God… perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” It was this experience that helped him to understand not only apathy, but active unwillingness to accept religion, says Malton.

He was a writer gifted with an exceptionally brilliant and logical mind and a lucid, lively style. He was able, she notes, in his lectures, essays and books, to make religion truly accessible to ordinary people – at a time when real discussion about God and faith was confined to university lecture rooms and church council meetings.

His works are known to millions of readers all over the world and have enjoyed a recent revival with the re-issue of his more popular books, including The Chronicles of Narnia, a series for children; and The Screwtape Letters, a correspondence between two hard-working demons trying to win souls for the dark side. Lesser known, but enormously popular at the time, were the 1942 radio broadcasts Broadcast Talks, Christian Behaviour and Beyond Personality. These lectures were published together several years later, under the title Mere Christianity.

The lecture is set for 7 p.m.

Call to artists

The Annual Acadia Art show is in its 17th year and focuses on the arts in this community.

Acadia Art Gallery director Laurie Dalton says she and volunteers are looking for visual expressions that have been produced recently - paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, ceramic art, sculpture and video.

“In addition,” she says, “we’re also looking for individuals who might want to present a performance, play an instrument or present a poetry reading.”

Entry forms with submission guidelines are available at the Acadia University Art Gallery and on the gallery’s website.

Works may be submitted Jan. 11 to 17 during gallery hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Exhibition dates are Jan. 25 to March 28, with an opening reception Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.

On the screen

Fundy Film begins its Winter Edge Series with No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), who may have found a perfect match in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. Their faithful adaptation of McCarthy’s much-praised novel features a stellar cast (including a never-better Tommy Lee Jones), great cinematography and a gripping and tense story. This thriller might very well be the Coen brothers’ finest film. At the Al Whittle Theatre in Wolfville Jan. 13, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

For information, see www.fundyfilm.ca or call (902) 542-5157. Tickets ($8) are available 30 minutes prior to the film.

Arts series

January 19 at 8 p.m., Festival Theatre in Wolfville will have a Halifax dance troupe onstage.

Mocean (pronounced: motion) Dance seeks to bring audiences work that engages, provokes thought, involves the emotions, and enhances the appreciation of dance.

Their appearance is part of the Acadia Performing Arts Series.

Coming up

Until Jan. 9

Geri Nolan-Hilfiker photos Elements of Light, Acadia Art Gallery, Wolfville

Jan. 12

Daniel Heikalo concert, Garden Room, Irving Centre, Wolfville, 7 p.m.

Jan. 13

Celtic Airs, Grand Pre Visitors Centre, Grand Pre, 3 p.m.

Jan. 15

Anne Simpson reading, Vaughan Library, Acadia University, Wolfville, 7 p.m.

Jan. 15 – 20

Fallen Angels, Acadia Theatre Company, Wolfville, 8 p.m.

Jan. 16

Norman McLaren films, Fundy Film Society, Wolfville, 7 p.m.

Jan. 17

Tommy Hunter, Convocation Hall, Wolfville 7 p.m.

Jan. 19

Robert Lamar’s Theatre of the Mind hypnotist show, 7:30 p.m., at Central Kings. Tickets $10 at the school

Mocean Dance, Festival Theatre, Wolfville, 8 p.m.

Jan. 25

Open Acadia Art Show, Acadia Art Gallery, Wolfville, 7 p.m.

Jan. 19

Mocean Dance, Festival Theatre, Wolfville, 8 p.m.

Until Feb. 19

Senior Follies, CentreStage Theatre, Kentville, 678-8040