Salmon Arm Art Gallery presents Puppets, Peonies and Community Plays: The Art of Engagement by Cathy Stubington.
Stubington is well-known for creating collaborative and elaborate artworks for performing arts events.
She brings all ages and abilities together to celebrate agriculture, natural resources and cultural identities.
Music, costumes, puppets and people come together to create spectacles that have enriched the lives of all who experience them.
“Stubington’s ability to bring the community together is extraordinary, and doing it through art is even more memorable,” says director/curator Tracey Kutschker. “The Salmon Arm Art Gallery tells the story of Cathy’s artistic process through this exhibition, and walks viewers through the last 15 years of Runaway Moon’s most spectacular productions.”
Runaway Moon Theatre is located at the Curly Willow Farm in Grindrod, where Stubington is artistic director.
Runaway Moon productions are marked by magic, inventiveness and striking visuals.
Puppet shows combine different sizes of puppets with live actors on the same stage to explore the dramatic (and comedic) possibilities of scale differences.
The line between “real” and imaginary is easily blurred when person and puppet interact, and with the addition of the simple magic that brings an inanimate object to life, the offerings remind the audience that the possibilities for transformation are all around us.
The Artist Trading Card Make and Trade session takes place from 3 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 10; the Artist Talk and Open Workshop runs from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, March 19; and an Art Immersion day for kids ages nine to 15 rolls out Monday, March 23. Registration forms for the Art Immersion are available at the gallery.
The installation of nine Runaway Moon productions opens on Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m. and the exhibition continues to March 28.
Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Family Saturdays happens each Saturday for families to drop in and make some art together. This month participants will create crazy finger puppets.