Requiem for a Glacier – Paul Walde
Exhibition: January 4 – February 8, 2014
Gallery hour: Wednesday to Saturday from 1-5pm
Opening: Friday, January 3 from 7-9pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, January 4 at 4pm

In this era of environmental transformation, most people now understand that the ravages of global warming pose a real threat to the future of our planet. The sound and video installation Requiem for a Glacier by artist Paul Walde explores the boundaries of a growing national and international movement of art practices produced with consideration for the wider impact of the work and its reception in relationship to its environment, where a representation of nature has been replaced by direct intervention. Because of the physical demands required to access the site-specific glacier location and because of the sheer number of volunteers who participated, this project exemplifies to what extremes a community’s engagement with an issue can lead them and how powerful unified creative expression can be.

Requiem for a Glacier prematurely memorializes BC’s Jumbo Glacier area, an ancient feature of the landscape leftover from the last ice age, now under immediate threat from global warming and resort development. The coordination of the project was lead by local curator, Kiara Lynch and involved the collaboration of roughly 100 people: a team of mountaineers, a 30 piece choir, a 40 piece orchestra, conductor, soloists, film crew, sound recording crew, sherpas, and drivers. According to Walde, “the sheer number of people involved and the political motivation of the collaborators has given the work a dimension of social practice which is entirely new for (his) practice.”

Requiem for a Glacier is a “total work of art” in that it depended on the interconnection of audio, visual and performing arts mediums with scientific fact and community engagement to bring it to fruition. By combining cerebral information with emotional experience this work provides an original platform for engaging with our environment. Information such as temperature records for the area, the name Jumbo, and a Latin translation of the BC government’s press release for the announcement of a year-round resort community at the site in the middle of a nature conservancy, were converted by Walde into music notation and a libretto. It is because of this interconnectedness of science with creativity that works like Requiem for a Glacier not only show us but can make us feel the issues we are dealing with as a society.

The exhibition opens at the Oxygen Art Centre (320 Vernon Street – alley) on Friday, January 3^rd from 7 – 9pm followed by on artist talk on Saturday, January 4^th at 4pm. The exhibition runs until February 8^th.  Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 1-5pm

Oxygen Art Centre gratefully acknowledges the support of Columbia Basin Trust, British Columbia Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of British Columbia.  As well as the creative partnership with The Langham Cultural Centre and business sponsorship from PK Sound, Big Cranium and Business for the Arts, and the generous support from individuals within the community.

Articles and Press:
Canadian Art (online)  - http://www.canadianart.ca/reviews/2014/01/22/paul-walde-requiem-for-a-glacier/

Galleries West  – http://www.gallerieswest.ca/art-reviews/exhibition-reviews/paul-walde%3A-%22requiem-for-a-glacier%2C%22-langham-cultural-centre/

Articulate Magazine- http://www.wkartscouncil.com/articulate/Articulate%20Summer%202013%20web.pdf

CBC’s North by NorthWest - http://www.cbc.ca/nxnw/featured-story/2014/01/25/requiem-for-a-glacier/

Vancouver Sun – http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Orchestra+plays+glacier+sorrow/8718868/story.html

CBC (online)- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/07/29/bc-orchestra-glacier-global-warming.html

The Nelson Star  - http://www.nelsonstar.com/entertainment/238513511.html

Classical Lite – http://www.classicalite.com/articles/2200/20130730/canadian-musicians-protest-perform-paul-wades-requiem-glacier-atop-b.htm

Requiem for a Glacier – Paul Walde
Exhibition: January 4 – February 8, 2014
Gallery hour: Wednesday to Saturday from 1-5pm
Opening: Friday, January 3 from 7-9pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, January 4 at 4pm

In this era of environmental transformation, most people now understand that the ravages of global warming pose a real threat to the future of our planet. The sound and video installation Requiem for a Glacier by artist Paul Walde explores the boundaries of a growing national and international movement of art practices produced with consideration for the wider impact of the work and its reception in relationship to its environment, where a representation of nature has been replaced by direct intervention. Because of the physical demands required to access the site-specific glacier location and because of the sheer number of volunteers who participated, this project exemplifies to what extremes a community’s engagement with an issue can lead them and how powerful unified creative expression can be.

Requiem for a Glacier prematurely memorializes BC’s Jumbo Glacier area, an ancient feature of the landscape leftover from the last ice age, now under immediate threat from global warming and resort development. The coordination of the project was lead by local curator, Kiara Lynch and involved the collaboration of roughly 100 people: a team of mountaineers, a 30 piece choir, a 40 piece orchestra, conductor, soloists, film crew, sound recording crew, sherpas, and drivers. According to Walde, “the sheer number of people involved and the political motivation of the collaborators has given the work a dimension of social practice which is entirely new for (his) practice.”

Requiem for a Glacier is a “total work of art” in that it depended on the interconnection of audio, visual and performing arts mediums with scientific fact and community engagement to bring it to fruition. By combining cerebral information with emotional experience this work provides an original platform for engaging with our environment. Information such as temperature records for the area, the name Jumbo, and a Latin translation of the BC government’s press release for the announcement of a year-round resort community at the site in the middle of a nature conservancy, were converted by Walde into music notation and a libretto. It is because of this interconnectedness of science with creativity that works like Requiem for a Glacier not only show us but can make us feel the issues we are dealing with as a society.

The exhibition opens at the Oxygen Art Centre (320 Vernon Street – alley) on Friday, January 3^rd from 7 – 9pm followed by on artist talk on Saturday, January 4^th at 4pm. The exhibition runs until February 8^th.  Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 1-5pm

Oxygen Art Centre gratefully acknowledges the support of Columbia Basin Trust, British Columbia Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of British Columbia.  As well as the creative partnership with The Langham Cultural Centre and business sponsorship from PK Sound, Big Cranium and Business for the Arts, and the generous support from individuals within the community.

Articles and Press:
Canadian Art (online)  - http://www.canadianart.ca/reviews/2014/01/22/paul-walde-requiem-for-a-glacier/

Galleries West  – http://www.gallerieswest.ca/art-reviews/exhibition-reviews/paul-walde%3A-%22requiem-for-a-glacier%2C%22-langham-cultural-centre/

Articulate Magazine- http://www.wkartscouncil.com/articulate/Articulate%20Summer%202013%20web.pdf

CBC’s North by NorthWest - http://www.cbc.ca/nxnw/featured-story/2014/01/25/requiem-for-a-glacier/

Vancouver Sun – http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Orchestra+plays+glacier+sorrow/8718868/story.html

CBC (online)- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/07/29/bc-orchestra-glacier-global-warming.html

The Nelson Star  - http://www.nelsonstar.com/entertainment/238513511.html

Classical Lite – http://www.classicalite.com/articles/2200/20130730/canadian-musicians-protest-perform-paul-wades-requiem-glacier-atop-b.htm

It was a Needoba who suggested sending a copy of the finished DVD to Jerry Yarnell, a 30-year veteran of a popular painting show on PBS. The Yarnell family was so impressed with the product that they agreed to list it on their popular website at www.yarnellart.com.

“I am incredibly excited to have my DVD listed on the Yarnell Art website, alongside other artists seen on PBS, such as Buck Paulson and Bob Ross,” says Vahala. “I was originally inspired by Yarnell’s clear instruction to create a DVD to guide aspiring artists. It’s an amazing feeling to be associated with an instructor of his caliber.”

Mirja Vahala’s DVD offers over 2.5 hours of content focusing on basic instruction for new artists. Starting with brush handling, tinting and shading, through to the basics of the colour wheel, gradations, blending, glazing and painting a landscape, this DVD is offered for $49.

“I was compelled to create this DVD for those who are unable to attend my workshops. It’s taken years to hone these methods for the true beginner. It is my passion to remove barriers to creativity.”

Mirja’s ability to provoke emotion in her own nature landscapes, and to articulate her methods to students have brought her some incredible teaching opportunities. Since moving to Castlegar BC in 2007 to pursue her craft fulltime, Mirja has instructed on behalf of Selkirk College and Holland America Cruises, as well holding classes in her own art studio.

For more information on ‘Acrylics for True Beginners’, please visit www.MirjaVahalaArtStudio.com, or contact Mirja Vahala at: mirja@mirjavahala.com or by phone at 250-365-7679.

Acrylucs for True Beginners – Masterpiece Chapter 1

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/requiem-for-a-glacier

WHO WE ARE: Artist PAUL WALDE and art curator KIARA LYNCH are working together with residents of the Kootenay communities of British Columbia and with the support of the LANGHAM CULTURAL CENTRE and OXYGEN ART CENTRE to produce an art project of epic proportions – Requiem for a Glacier.

THE PROJECT: Requiem for a Glacier is a sound performance by artist Paul Walde that will memorialize BC’s Jumbo Glacier area, an ancient feature of the landscape remaining from the last ice age, now under immediate threat from global warming and mega-resort development. A four movement oratorio, Walde’s Requiem for a Glacier presents the history of the glacier, the advent of electricity, climate change, and the BC government’s controversial announcement of a year-round recreational development on the glacier. A 40-person choir and 30-person orchestra, made up of volunteer professional and amateur musicians from communities adjacent to the Purcell mountain range, will perform the Requiem on the glacier this summer. Written and performed for the glacier alone – there will be no audience other than the landscape itself and those contributing in the presentation of the work.

Ajtony Csaba, chief conductor of the Central European Chamber Orchestra and conductor of the University of Victoria Symphony, will conduct the instrumentalists. A team of professional filmmakers and audio engineers will document the performance. In addition, a team of professional mountain guides will lead the expedition. In total our team is composed of approximately 100 dedicated individuals.

Requiem for a Glacier will ultimately take three forms: a) a site specific outdoor sound performance on a glacier near Invermere, BC;  b) an exhibition / installation in the Langham Cultural Centre, Oxygen Art Centre, and future venues,  based on documentation captured during the performance; and c) a a multimedia indoor sound performance.

Requiem for a Glacier will also be the subject of a documentary film which will extend the reach of this work and the issues it is exploring.

WHY HELP: Requiem for a Glacier will provide a cultural perspective into one of the biggest ecological issues of our time: global climate change and how it relates to the Kootenay region and the highly contentious Jumbo Alpine Resort. Located in the Purcell Mountain Range in eastern British Columbia, Jumbo or Qat’muk, is a range of five glaciers that have been spared some of the environmental degradation of other glaciers due to their high altitude. However with continued global warming, this geographical advantage will soon be lost, and in fact, these glaciers are already in retreat.

To compound matters, a $1 billion resort proposal has recently been approved by the provincial governmental. As Professor David Schindler of the University of Alberta warns, “Ski lifts and skier traffic on the surface of Jumbo Glacier will hasten its melting, and compromise one of the important headwater sources of the Columbia River system.”

In both the Columbia and Kootenay communities bordering the Purcell Mountain range, approximately 80% of residents are opposed to the approval of the resort.  In fact, the majority of citizens who live in the region are outraged and saddened by the continued development of our remaining wild spaces.

The proposed development area provides key habitat for grizzlies and important other wildlife species and is sacred to the local Ktunaxa Nation who have declared themselves, “expressly opposed to the Jumbo Glacier Resort.” In November 2011 the Ktunaxa Nation was joined by hockey legend Scott Neidermeyer in the Provincial legislature to present the Qat’muk Declaration, which outlines the sacred significance of this area.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Requiem for a Glacier is a unique opportunity for you to lend your support and voice to this important artistic initiative.  Through public and private grants and fundraising, we have raised a significant amount of the funds required for the professional expenses associated with  the production of this project.  However, the logistics of bringing a crew of approximately 100 hundred people and their equipment to the back country of the Purcell Mountains is formidable, and expensive challenge.  We are asking for financial assistance for transportation costs (which includes travel allowances for volunteers who are travelling from throughout the region and province), accommodation, and food costs incurred during the weekend of production.  Additional monies raised will go directly towards post-production work on video and audio footage for the subsequent video and sound installations, audio publication and the film which documents this historical performance.

WHAT YOU GET: In exchange for your help you can choose from several Requiem for a Glacier themed rewards. These include, digital audio downloads and CDs, original requiem related artwork by Paul Walde, or even the unique opportunity to witness the performance on the glacier.

No matter how much you are able to donate, you will be left with the satisfaction of knowing that you have contributed to the creation of this important art event.

……..

PAUL WALDE – Description of Practice: This project marks a continuation of my studio research in which I explore interconnections between landscape, identity, and technology; amplifying cultural gestures in order to reveal their place within nature and conversely, by capturing natural events through cultural apparatii.  These ideas are developed through a diverse studio practice, which has in recent years led me to examining sound as a physical property and artistic medium. www.paulwalde.com

CONTACT US: requiemforaglacier@gmail.com