Visit The ACT this weekend for a nation-wide celebration of Canada Culture Days.
The theatre in downtown Maple Ridge will be hosting an open house on Saturday with a variety of family-friendly activities and displays. Groups involved this year include the Maple Ridge Music Society, the Garibaldi Art Club, Lynton Studio, Art in the Swamp, Clear Focus Camera Club, the Maple Ridge Lapidary Club, the Holy Wow Poets and others.
The Emerald Pig Theatrical group will be doing face painting and other activities, including trading artists cards with Maple Ridge artist-in-residence Kjaer Pedersen, a felted-bead-making demonstration and workshop by the Whonnock Weavers. Visitors will be able to learn what goes on behind the scenes during backstage tours provided by The ACT’s production department at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
A special feature will be the Tree of Creativity, created by Maple Ridge artist Lisa Lake.
Visitors will be able to add their “What you love about the Arts” leaf to this collaborative art project that will be on display at The ACT for the month of October.
Culture Days is a collaborative volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.
The first annual Culture Days event was held in September 2010 in more than 700 Canadian cities and towns.
The 2011 Culture Days weekend will take place Sept. 30 to Oct. 2. Annual, Canada-wide Culture Days events feature free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind the scenes,” to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers at work in their community.
• The Culture Days celebration at the ACT takes place from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1. For information on events in other communities, visit the Culture Days website.