Dear Readers, Interdisciplinarity and co-creation are two philosophies we employ in programming the Kerrisdale Contemporary Arts Lab (K-CAL) series, which began working on art-based community development at the beginning of 2018. Setting the “art for its own sake” versus “art for social value” argument aside, I hope our effort and work will support individual creativity, connect people across cultural boundaries, and build the community centre’s capacities to innovate and express ideas.    What is the goal of the K-CAL initiative? Although my view may not be entirely representative of our board, I believe a community centre should nurture the arts in the communit not only for the sake of fostering creativity, but to spur synergies with its other activities in community development. Focussing only on a centre’s financial bottom-line can be short-sighted and detrimental to our cultural resources. Speaking of synergies, the latest K-CAL workshop, titled, “Synergy“, led by artist Judith M Atkinson, was an interesting experiment. “Loosen up, everyone! Let the free flow of expression keep going!” said Judith, during her provocative drawing workshop that successfully invited the participants tap into their creative potential. With some rhythmic background music and various drawing resources, including Chinese ink and tree twigs, all participants produced rather surprising artwork inspired by an installation (the point of departure), honeysuckle vines harvested from a community garden and dried by Judith.  I was personally amazed by how effective the music was in helping me loosen up. The most amazing surprise of all was the transformation of all participants. One particular participant drew figuratively at the beginning but became an abstract expressionist toward the end. Judith’s masterful and supportive critiquing, as well as the relationship building within the group, helped drive these transformations. The “Synergy” workshop was a successful affirmation of the K-CAL...

By Eileen Chen Photo courtesy of Eileen Chen, Kevin Wong *Permission to reprint granted by the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society   “The location is the KCC Senior Centre, and you will probably hear our laughs when you come in,” said the founder of Kerrisdale Community Centre’s language exchange group, Kevin Wong, in his email to me. Sure enough, after my initial mistake of barging in on a group of pool-playing friends, I did find the small group through the sound of their laughter. There were about 8-10 people occupying one table in the lounge area. An elegant white lady, who later introduced herself as Paula, was reading a story about a little horse crossing a river in Mandarin. The little horse is told by an ox that the water is shallow but warned by a squirrel that it’s deep, and only discovers that the water is just shallow enough for it to cross when it steps into it himself. Paula’s accent was imperfect, yet oddly musical. Other Mandarin speakers at the table corrected her from time to time, and she enthusiastically translated the fable into English as she read along. As I learned later, the merry group meets every Monday to study English and Mandarin together. The learning methods range from reading stories to learning vocabulary and carrying out casual conversations, and members both strive to learn one language and offer their knowledge of the other in the same session. Some members find themselves learning both Mandarin and English. Kevin was originally open to having an exchange group for more than just two languages, but decided that focusing on English and Mandarin would be the most effective. The group has existed for a year in this form, and although some members come and go,...

By: Chloe Price Photo courtesy of: Chris Gatchalian *Permission to reprint granted by the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society The relationship between politics and art has been a constant subject of debate, and we live in a time when this conversation is more relevant than ever before. With the birth of social media we have seen the advent of callout-culture, and a new method of holding individuals accountable for their words and actions. Additionally, the political polarization of Western society is peaking at the current moment, and the Internet serves as a limitless digital soapbox for people to present and argue about their vastly differing perspectives and outlooks on life. These factors have helped create a culture in which few works of art are exempt from being viewed through a political lens. When we sit down to speak, local writer Chris Gatchalian explains to me his own evolving view on the matter. “When I was younger, I used to think of art and literature as being these universal things that were apolitical, but I don’t subscribe to that belief anymore. I still believe art is transcendent, and I don’t want to get too spiritual, but it is connected to the Divine, I think, but I don’t think that precludes it from being political. To ignore politics is to ignore what’s going on in the world, and I don’t think art should ignore what’s going on in the world.” Gatchalian has just finished his residency at Vancouver’s Historic Joy Kogawa House. The building was once inhabited by renowned Canadian writer Joy Kogawa, who is perhaps best known for her book Obasan, which centered on the government’s persecution and internment of the Japanese in Canada during the Second World War. Kogawa and her family were sent to an internment camp in 1942, and today her childhood...

On April 8th, 2018, the Kerrisdale Community Centre held their 4th annual Sakura Walk,  a local tree history and identification series lead by professional forester Robin Clark. The participants left the community centre at 10 A.M. to follow a trail of trees that outline the parameter of the block inhabited by the Kerrisdale Community Centre. Robin classified various tree and shrub species found in our local Kerrisdale community, from oaks, to maples, and even some trees that were initially unidentifiable, which left us with the interesting project of distinguishing these trees after the walk. After our walk, we met back at the community centre for tea and snacks to discuss our findings and further questions we had about the trees. We learned a number of ways of identifying local trees, such as leaf and stem placement, leaf shape, and any identifiable berries or flowers budding on the branches. Participants were particularly interested in grafting, which Robin pointed to on a few trees we encountered on our walk. Other areas of interest for participants were how to identify the male and female parts of trees, and the mystery trees we found along the walk. Robin’s help with identifying and mapping these trees along our route showed participants how connected our lives are with the lives of local trees. Trees are an integral and beautiful part of our Vancouver landscape, and we are thankful to have someone like Robin to show us the unique and distinguished nature of local trees! (text: Grace McRae, Vancouver Arts Colloquium...

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