Sue Whittaker holds a regular class called Painting with Sue in the meeting room above the Osoyoos Art Gallery. (Richard McGuire photo)
The arts, in various forms, are important in the life of a community and in this community the Osoyoos and District Arts Council brings artist groups together.
Painters, potters, quilters, writers, photographers, wood carvers, theatrical people and music lovers are among those who are member groups on the arts council, said former Chair Sue Whittaker, who now does community outreach for the group.
Whittaker was replaced as chair of the organization by Tina Begg in June.
Whittaker spoke about the organization at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Osoyoos, where she made light of the lofty wording in the arts council’s constitution, bylaws and mandate.
“Mostly we like to think of ourselves as the other council, but so far we have resisted the temptation to establish a tax base,” she joked, also seeking a few laughs at the expense of Jim King, a newly elected town councillor, who is also a Rotarian.
King, she said, proved his skills as a painter by painting the trim in the Osoyoos Art Gallery.
In a later interview, Whittaker pointed to the role that the arts play in helping people to contemplate when they experience trauma, life-changing events or even just a little sadness.
Following the 9/11 tragedy in the United States, for example, many musicians donated time to play in churches and public places, she said.
“The arts get you way down deep and at your soul,” she said. “If you’ve got a death in your family or somebody is very sick, you’re not going to feel better by going out and buying something. A lot of people went to galleries and just stood and looked at beautiful paintings in the quiet. That’s what our soul needs.”
Whether it’s soothing classical music or jazz, the arts can help to take the busyness out of our lives and aid our contemplation, Whittaker said.
“In an art gallery if you’re going to see the paintings, you can stand by something and look at it. I feel like I could go into that painting and walk down the path and go behind a tree, go somewhere else. It’s a way of dealing with things from the soul. I’m not a religious person, but I feel I have an inner part of me that responds to these kinds of things.”
Art, however, doesn’t create itself in a vacuum. The arts council fosters it in Osoyoos by providing space for an art gallery to show the work of local artists. The building housing the gallery also provides studio space for the Osoyoos Potters downstairs and the painters from Artists on Main upstairs.
The building, which once housed the police station and still has dusty jail cells in the basement, also provides meeting space for artistic groups such as the Osoyoos Wood Carvers and the Osoyoos Photography Club.
Through an arrangement with the Town of Osoyoos, some of the arts activities such as children’s art classes have moved to the Sonora Community Centre, which offers better accessibility for those unable to manage the Osoyoos Arts Centre’s steep stairway.
The arts council holds monthly board meetings, except in summer, which members can attend.
The gallery has its own gallery committee, which is a committee of the arts council. Many local artists and art lovers donate their time as volunteers to help run the gallery.
The arts council also includes such member groups as the South Okanagan Concert Society and the Osoyoos Concert Series, which bring musicians for concerts in Oliver and Osoyoos respectively.
The South Okanagan Amateur Players (SOAP) is another member group that presents plays in both Osoyoos and Oliver.
Other member groups include the Osoyoos Quilters Guild, O’s Own Writers and Janet Marcotte Music.
The arts council also communicates to the community about arts events whether through its website, social media, the media or traditional posters.
For more information on the Osoyoos and District Arts Council, visit: www.osoyoosarts.com.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
