Feb 13 - Cheery art for a sombre time

Good morning !

I don’t think it’s the time for politicking or pointing fingers.
So, I’d like to tip my cap to our leaders from Victoria to Ottawa for showing genuine empathy and leadership during this national tragedy, as many mourn the lives taken and those forever altered.

Let’s start our Friday newsletter in Oak Bay, and art’s three-dimensional world of sculpture.

— Mark

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧️ 9 / 4 

Tomorrow: 🌦️ 8 / 4

Sunday: 🌤️ 7 / 4

7-day forecast

NEWS

Oak Bay’s arts contest is sealed with The Kiss

Fittingly announced on the eve of Valentine’s Day, a sculpture featuring a pair of fish playing tonsil hockey is the People’s Choice winner in Oak Bay’s Arts Alive campaign.

The Kiss by local artist David Hunwick received the highest number of public votes. 

“This sculpture captured residents with [an] intimate composition and expressive design, making it stand out along Oak Bay Avenue,” the district said.

The Kiss is the work of James Bay artist David Hunwick, whose sculptures enhance many private and public collections in Australia, the UK, Germany, and Italy, where his work was displayed in Tuscany to help celebrate the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo. Hunwick’s public sculptures are also on display on the Oak Bay sculpture trail and on Sidney’s Art & Sculpture Walking Tour. 

“This piece invites viewers to contemplate the interconnectedness of existence, the delicate balance of relationships, and the cyclical nature of love and life,” is how the artist describes The Kiss. 

Doug Taylor’s Cosmos Wheels, two aluminum wheels that rotate with the slightest gust of wind in McNeill Bay, and Baba Yaga Little Free Library, by Erick James, a playful little free library on bird’s feet at the corner of Newport and Windsor, each received a significant number of votes, the district said.  

The sculptures are among nine on display (until April) across Oak Bay as part of the community’s Arts Alive program, which will celebrate its 10th year in July.

“The free walking/cycling map encourages residents and visitors to get active and visit the different corners of the municipality, on bike or by foot,” said Matt Williams, communications coordinator for the District of Oak Bay.

The artwork is also up for sale, with The Kiss listed at $16K—and the district may get in on the action

The top three pieces will be reviewed by a volunteer art jury, and if one is recommended for purchase, the Oak Bay Council will decide whether the district should snag it.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Saanich road closure: Kremlin between Broadmead and Kisber, through Feb. 27, 4pm-8am.

Saanich single-lane traffic: Quadra between Glenora Pl. and Union, today, 9am-3:30pm.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Victoria city council agrees to push the province to allow wheelchairs and mobility scooters in bike lanes

Coun. Dave Thompson introduced the motion as a straight-up safety issue.

“Many sidewalks are unsafe for wheelchairs and mobility scooters, with a variety of hydro poles, signposts, driveway cuts, heaving, and other hazards, and many are too narrow,” he tells Capital Daily.

Some seniors and people with disabilities find it safer, he says, to use their wheelchairs and mobility scooters in the bike lanes. 

But as Thompson points out in his motion paperwork, BC’s Motor Vehicle Act limits the use of electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters to the sidewalk or crosswalk—and classifies them as pedestrian devices.

His motion called for the council to endorse a resolution to petition the province to update that. 

“The aim is to have the province change the Motor Vehicle Act, and if needed, the regulations, to allow the electric wheelchairs and scooters in the lanes.”

The motion passed unanimously on the consent agenda of the committee of the whole and again at the subsequent council meeting. 

Thompson says several organizations, such as the BC Cycling Coalition and the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of BC—an umbrella group representing 80K BC seniors—support the idea.

“Scooters are already using the lanes, and generally people are courteous and patient—it’s Victoria after all,” Thompson says.

With an increasing number of electric-drive personal devices in the lanes, there might be some congestion, but he says the city is expanding the bike lane network “so people won’t be all funnelled into the same few routes.”

The council endorsed a resolution to be brought before the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC), which acts as a "first filter" for resolutions, at its next meeting, slated for April 24-26 in Victoria.

The motion is also to be heard at the next Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) gathering, which is scheduled for Vancouver Sept. 14-18. 

This story ran for our Insiders on Feb. 8. Consider becoming an Insider today and be the first to receive stories every Sunday.

SPONSORED BY BELFRY THEATRE

Maanomaa, My Brother, on now to March 1

“I just need to tell someone how absolutely marvellous the play was. Please pass on to those two beautiful men that we were so blown away by them and their story.” — Audience reaction.

In Maanomaa, My Brother (My Bird, My Brother), childhood friends Kwame and Will reunite in Ghana for the funeral of a loved one and discover how much has changed since they separated 25 years earlier.

Telling their story in a beautiful combination of dialogue and movement, the play is both fiercely personal and curiously abstract. It’s a meditation on grief and diaspora starring playwrights M’Carthy and Cook.

The Belfry offers Pay-what-you-want tickets to all performances.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🪥 Every Smile Matters. (See ICYMI) [Contribute here].

🎭 Love, obsession, and betrayal—Pacific Opera Victoria presents Puccini’s Tosca. Feb. 18-24 at the Royal. Have tickets yet? They start at $35.*

🎸🍷 April Wine tonight. [McPherson Playhouse] 

🎸🤘 Megadeth, with Anthrax on Sunday. [Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre]

🧩 Pick up new skills in small doses. Gain skills when it works for you with bite-sized professional development programs from Continuing Studies at UVic.*

♥️💃 Carnaval Saint Valentine's Latin Party. [Tomorrow]

🚸 Dancers4Kids for the Island Kids Cancer Association. [Tomorrow]

🐈‍⬛ It’s Friday the 13th. Just sayin’.

*Sponsored Listing

SPONSORED BY PHS COMMUNITY SERVICES SOCIETY

Please Help PHS Care for People in Crisis

In Victoria, PHS Community Services Society provides 290 units of supportive housing with round‑the‑clock supports, a homeless shelter, a 22‑bed recovery program, and daily meals for the people served in these programs.

Please donate to PHS today to help restore stability and dignity for those experiencing homelessness.

🗞️ In Other News

Throne speech replaced with heartfelt tribute to Tumbler Ridge community
Instead of the usual address outlining the government’s legislative agenda, Lt.-Gov. Wendy Cocchia yesterday delivered a solemn tribute to the victims of Tuesday’s mass shooting and to the Peace River community of 2,400. “Today, the people of Tumbler Ridge are wrapped in the care and compassion of an entire province and a country that mourns alongside them,” she said, before thanking first responders, health-care workers, teachers, and school staff “whose courage and swift action helped save lives.” Nine people—aged 11 to 39—died in the shooting, including the suspect, 18, who died by suicide. [Times Colonist]

Islanders grieve loss of 12-year-old family member who died in Tumbler Ridge
The weight of Tuesday’s tragedy is being felt profoundly by the Island family of one of its victims. Kylie May Smith was 12 years old when her life was taken. Her aunt Shanon Dycke describes Kylie as “kind, so sweet and gentle.” Dycke says her extended family—whom Kylie visited frequently here on the Island—is devastated. Kylie was inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School when the mass shooting took place. [CHEK]

Langford development leads to ‘hazardous conditions’
A large hole created for a delayed development project is at risk of collapsing, says the city, after a recent geotechnical assessment. There is a risk of “sloughing” along the southern wall of the excavation—adjacent to 2748 Peatt Road, a development known as “The Scene”, close to the northern boundary of a neighbouring strata property. The city says heavy trucks and emergency vehicles should not drive down the strata road until the issue is resolved, as they could increase the risk of collapse. Neighbouring property owners were alerted to the concern by city staff and were told they do not need to evacuate. [City of Langford]

🗓️ Things To Do

📚 Family Storytime with Stay & Play: Fun-filled stories, songs, rhymes, and puppets for young children and families, followed by social time and free play. Greater Victoria Public Library Heritage Branch. Today. 10:30-11:30am. [Info]

🗝️ Scavenger Hunt: Family Day: Explore Langford's trails, parks, and outdoor spaces with this special scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes, including gift certificates. City of Langford. Today-Tuesday. 8am-2pm. [Info]

🧘YMCA Yoga: Family Day Weekend: Enjoy free family yoga at the YMCA Westhills with regular hours and admission available for members and day pass users on Family Day. YMCA Westhills. Today. 6:30-7:20pm. [Info]

🌃 Victoria at Dusk: Wander through an illuminated self-guided walking route and discover interactive installations, art, performances, music, and winter magic. Downtown Victoria. Tonight-Sun. 5-9pm. [Info]

🎺‍ UVic Wind Symphony & the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy: A dynamic collaboration takes audiences through contemporary jazz and Latin-inspired works in this high-energy program featuring soloists from both ensembles. UVic. Tonight. 8pm. [Info]

🎻 Discover Strings! Family Day Weekend Free Drop-In: Try the violin, viola, or cello and learn about beginning your musical journey in celebration of Family Day weekend. Victoria Conservatory of Music, Westhills. Tomorrow. 1-2:30pm. [Info]

🍵 Appreciation Tea: Celebrate Black elders and mentors who uphold culture, share history, and help raise the next generation. Victoria music icon Louise Rose will perform. Baumann Centre at Pacific Opera Victoria. Tomorrow. 2-4pm. [Info]

🎶 Ebony Roots Concert: A concert journey that musically narrates the evolving emancipation of the Black community. Celebrate African Descent/Black music, from 300-year-old spirituals to Motown, and everything in between. Club KWENCH. Sunday. 2-4pm. [Info]

🎨🥊 Art Battle Victoria: Competitive painting. In three fast-paced rounds, artists battle the clock and each other to create their best work in just 20 minutes. Capital Ballroom. Sunday. 7pm. [Info] 

For more Family Day events, click here.

For more Black History Month events, click here.

👀 In Case You Missed It

Thursday’s headlines: 18 Victoria-area employers make top-100 list; VicPD gets ‘proactive’; Former Canucks broadcaster Jim Robson dies at 91. [Feb. 12 ]

Victoria psychologist: How to talk to kids about the Tumbler Ridge shooting. [Times Colonist]

‘Adopt an American’ event coming to Nanaimo in April. [CHEK]

Victoria nonprofit provides dental care because Every Smile Matters. [CTV]

Dogs banned from Tofino’s Wickaninnish Beach as wolf sightings increase. [Parks Canada]

That’s it!

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