Many believe it is the very soul of the vibrant art culture that exists on the Sunshine Coast. Now in its twenty-third year, the Gibsons School of the Arts has given hundreds of aspiring artists the confidence to go forward in a direction they might have been afraid to follow.
Long-time board member Phyllis Surges believes the gradual expansion of the school, with its many workshops and influences, is one of the main reasons why the Sunshine Coast has more practising artists per capita than anywhere else in Canada. Marlene Lowden, a homegrown, well-known, and successful artist who will be instructing her first summer workshop at the school, says hundreds and hundreds of aspiring artists and professionals practise in home studios, basements, and garages along our Coast. Lowden, who has sold her paintings internationally and displayed her work in galleries across Canada, says the school has provided opportunities that never before existed for locals to immerse themselves in art in their own backyard.
The Art Crawl, which attracts thousands of locals and visiting art enthusiasts to the Sunshine Coast, began more than a decade after the school was established. With the exception of this past Covid year, the three-day October event has grown in stature every year. It now accommodates close to 150 artists who showcase various art styles in their home studios from Gibsons to Earls Cove. While the Crawl and the Gibsons School of the Arts are different programs, there is a definite positive connection between them. They energize and grow the art community, promoting its thriving culture here. Together, the school’s art classes and the Crawl bring several hundred thousand dollars of economic input to our Sunshine Coast communities as hundreds of visitors, students, and instructors seek accommodation and support the area’s dining establishments.
This summer’s art-course spaces are booking up at the Gibsons School of the Arts. Long-time board member and volunteer Donnie McAra remembers the earlier years when just about all of the instructors had to be recruited from afar. They came from Ontario, the US, and even New Zealand. This year, the expanded workshops have eight Canadian instructors, three from the Sunshine Coast, four from other parts of BC, and just one is from out of province. McAra says it is a credit to the success of the non-profit teaching programs and support they give our artists. About half of the expected 120 summer students will be from the Sunshine Coast; that means sixty people, and the family and friends who join them, will be staying on the Coast. The longer four-day programs will keep participants here for perhaps a week or more. The economic spinoffs are big.
The four-day teaching sessions are unique. Most art courses in other communities are a day, two at the most. The board’s president, Susan Rowan, says the longer sessions give students a much better understanding of their talents and encourage a desire to continue and grow in one or more disciplines, such as oil, acrylic, pastels, and watercolours.
The three local instructors are Marleen Vermeulen, Greta Guzek, and Marlene Lowden. Vermeulen was a student at the school about fifteen years ago. Since then her career has taken off and she is considered one of Canada’s top artists. Her work appears in galleries internationally, and her unique paintings have been sold around the world. Vermeulen says the classes are intense and meaningful, providing full engagement over the longer period. The artists make friendships and connections for life, and the programs are confidence builders, a necessary ingredient to foster growth within the art community.
Greta Guzek has been teaching the longest. An acclaimed artist herself, she says the summer courses taught in the rich natural environment of our Sunshine Coast have given aspiring artists a creative depth and vibrance that spills over into our community at large.
Eight workshops will be held in July and August, and everyone is hoping that with the vaccines, the Covid pandemic won’t get in the way. Spaces are still available. Go to the Gibsons School of the Arts website at gibsonsartschool.net for details.
