Elora Centre For The Arts

Wordfest Poet – Kirstin Pulles

eloracentreforthearts — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:29:48 +0000

My name is Kirstin Pulles, I’m a grade ten student at Centre Wellington District High School, and I love to write. I love poetry as a way to vent about how hard life can be sometimes, whether you’re 8, 18 or 80. There’s so many changes happening in a teenagers life at every moment that sometimes it’s hard to keep up. School, friends, boyfriends, family, everything. This is just how I work through things, and my thoughts about different things in this world that I’m learning more about every single day.

The first poem is the one I shared at Wordfest. It’s all about the pressure we face in high school and how hard it is to remember who you are when you have so many people trying to tell you who to be. It’s called “Me”, and it’s for anyone whose ever been called weird!

“ME”

I’ve been told before I’m a little weird,
A little off centre, off balance, off kilter – a little off,
I don’t really know why,
Maybe I’m too shy? Too smart? Is it my style? Maybe my smile?

STOP.

I shouldn’t be asking what’s wrong with me,
M.E.
One little word, two letters that mean a whole lot,
My thoughts, my dreams, connected at the seams by words, woven by experience, always changing and totally, completely unique,
You have a choice in every single moment that you live to take it and make it something special,
Then keep it in your pocket and by the time you’re 50 you’ll have a suitcase full of stories,
In it you’ll discover who you are,
A crazy, random, mixed up jumble of love and loss and life,
And if anyone tries to tell you this isn’t good enough,
Just stand up taller and say
I will only ever be who I want me to be.

My second poem is about the things that run our universe. I was thinking about how hard we try to explain things in our world, no matter how far fetched or unbelievable. I wanted to make a world where everything could be more simple, easy, and fun. This is what I came up with. I call it –
“We Are Man”

I once saw the man in the sky,
Who turns a crank to make the clouds roll by,
He’s friends with the girl who lives in the sun,
To make sure it burns, oh and there’s one!
Who cries for us all, to wash away pain,
Then we take this sorrow and call it the rain,
We make up our stories, our facts and our truths,
To explain away things that aren’t absolute,
We fear everything we don’t understand.
This is our power.
We are man.

The last poem I’m going to send you guys right now is called “Your Eyes”. It’s about the power of appearances, and how someone can seem so strong and so put together but really they’re just the same as you and me. The eyes are the window to the soul, so I think they are really the only way you can truly know someone. Here are my thoughts about it.

“Your Eyes”
Those eyes,
They look down on me,
Is it disgust or pity?
That I see,
That I feel,
You make it seem easy,
Being flawless,
Like your life is perfect,
But your smile doesn’t quite reach those eyes,
Is there more to you?
Are you like us?
Maybe not so great?
Do those eyes cry?
When no ones around?
Is there a real person or nothing more?
Behind those eyes.

– Kirstin Pulles

Art Inventors and the Yellow Brick Road

eloracentreforthearts — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:50:14 +0000

Imagination Station summer Art Camps started this week. We are running 2 camps each week until the end of August. Kella Flach and Chelsea Campbell are teaching the 4-7 year olds how to express their inner Art Inventor and put their imaginations and creativity to good use. The group has been busy rigging up recycled robots, fabricating a fantastic fururistic city and sketching portraits of the Mona Lisa.
With the help of 14 theatre campers, leaders Brianna Hastie and Odessa Dobbie are busy preparing the group of older kids for a staged Alice in Wonderland play this coming Friday afternoon – August 12, 2011. Casting is done and the group is practicing vocal techniques, rehearsing their scripts and setting the stage for Friday’s performance. There are still a few spaces left in the Theatre Camp running Aug 22-26 for 7-12 year olds. Conact the Centre for the Arts for more information. Pictures coming soon …

New Show in the Minarovich Gallery …

eloracentreforthearts — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:21:13 +0000

It has been an exciting week at the Elora Centre for the Arts.
With the help of a wonterful crew of volunteers, gallery curator Julie Rene De Cotret painted the previously black walls of the Minarovich Gallery back to white in time for the August 4, 2011 opening of our newest exhibition, Peter Sibbald’s ‘Elegy for a Stolen Land’. Peter’s show will be on display until September 11, 2011 and is more than worth stopping by to see.
From the artist’s statement:
The riveting photographs of Peter Sibbald reveal the contested meanings and opportunities of the soil we live on. Upon returning to an area of Ontario where seven generations of his family has lived (even lending their name to Sibbald Point), he was surprised at the rate of development and urbanization. As he began to question the nature of our relationship with the land, including the concept of “land use”, a series of events increased his project’s scope: the Ipperwash Inquiry, the disputation of lands in Caledonia, the pronouncement of the Golden Horseshoe’s “Green Belt,” and the steady attrition of farmland.”

The Minarovich Gallery is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm, Saturday and Sunday, 1:00pm – 3:30pm.

The last week of July…

eloracentreforthearts — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:44:26 +0000

July has been a busy month here at the Elora Centre for the Art. Play with Clay! finished up yesterday. We had more than 150 people drop in during the month of July to try their hands with air dry clay projects – everything from clay fish and bowls, to animal masks, flowers and clay beads. If you did join us and have not yet brought home your clay creations, please drop by the Centre next week – before Friday, August 5 at 5pm to pick up your pieces.
A big ~~* ThAnK YoU! * ~ to everyone who joined us for Play with Clay and especially to Leva, our co-op student instructor who did an amazing job preparing the pottery room and putting together the projects for each day! We will miss you!!

Not sure what to do with the little ones in August? Here’s an idea… There are still a handful of spaces left in the Imagination Station Summer Arts Camps for kids between the ages of 4 and 12. Camp starts on August 8 and run Monday – Friday from 8:30am to 4:30 pm. We are running 2 camps each week, starting the weeks of Aug 8, Aug 15 and Aug 22. There is a camp for 4-7 year olds and a camp for 8-12 year olds. If you are interested check the website or call the Centre for details.

One last thing to note, Halloween may feel like forever away but prepartions are already beginning for Tim Murton’s Twilight Zoo Scare Fare being held here at the ECFTA! Tim is also offering wire lantern making workshops in August and September. All the details are on the website. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn the technique that goes into making a wire and paper lantern sculpture and to bring home a creation of your own. Give us a call if you are even slightly interested.

Wishing everyone a fab weekend and holiday Monday!

Hope to see you next Thursday, August 4 at 7:30pm for the opening of the next show in the Minarovich Gallery – Elegy for a Stolen Land by Peter Sibbald.

Best ~~

your friends at the ECFTA

Play with Clay! Wednesdays BEAD DAY brou

eloracentreforthearts — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:58:03 +0000

Play with Clay!

Wednesdays BEAD DAY brought a crowd of children with there parents in.

http://ow.ly/i/dXAy http://ow.ly/i/dXAG http://ow.ly/i/dXAN

eloracentreforthearts.wordpress.com: Pla

eloracentreforthearts — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:17:45 +0000

eloracentreforthearts.wordpress.com: Play With Clay!
Join us every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in July from 11am to 4pm.

http://wp.me/pxWGN-eL ^AC

Play With Clay! Teacher for Play with Cl

eloracentreforthearts — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:30:17 +0000

Play With Clay!

Teacher for Play with Clay is co-op student Liva from CW.
http://ow.ly/i/dVoX http://ow.ly/i/dVp2

Play With Clay…. Tuesday: FISH TILES M

eloracentreforthearts — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:23:04 +0000

Play With Clay….

Tuesday: FISH TILES
Make a tile with a fish or animal of your choice.

Wednesday: BEAD DAY
Make a necklace or bracelet out of homemade beads!

Thursday: Creeping Crawlers
Make your favourite insect like a Lady Bug or Caterpillar!

July Play With Clay! Learn to explore yo

eloracentreforthearts — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:15:03 +0000

July Play With Clay!
Learn to explore your creative side! Join our pottery intern every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 11am to 4pm. Try your hand at various air dry clay projects which will vary from day to day and week to week! Want to add a splash of flare to your project? Come another day to finish your project by painting designs and such on your sculpture.
No cost but donations are welcome!
No pre-registration is required, don’t hesitate to call us or check out our website in case of any additions or alterations to the program schedule.
Children under 13 MUST be accompanied by a guardian 16yrs+.
http://ow.ly/5x7V6

Post Auction Recap

eloracentreforthearts — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:40:23 +0000

Artcetera 2011 A fundraising art auction at the Centre, May 7, 2011

(All photos by Meredith Blackmore & Andy Blackmore)

Please visit our online gallery HERE

Artcetera 2011 was a huge success, in so many ways. We always learn what we can accomplish and far we can push ourselves to strive for greatness. Each year it’s a bit more.

This event celebrates the potential of the Elora Centre for the Arts and it’s connection with artists, volunteers, local businesses and our community (& beyond).

We thank each and every person that was involved in the art auction.
It was a fundraiser to help sustain this wonderful organization and
it was truly a success, in so many ways.

We hope to see you again next year.

With Kind Thanks,

the Staff & Board of the Elora Centre for the Arts