The snow is melting and the days are getting longer in the little mountain village of Wells, in BC’s Cariboo country. Soon the pussy willows will dominate the landscape, the fireweed will ignite the mountainsides and the bears will emerge from their winter slumber. Summer is on the way.

Island Mountain Arts (IMA) is an arts organization that has been operating in Wells since 1977. One of the few access points for arts training in central and northern BC, IMA provides quality arts education in visual, literary and performing arts for all ages and levels in a beautiful wilderness setting, just down the road from Barkerville Historic Town and the Bowron Chain of Lakes.

The Wells Artists’ Project For Professional and Emerging Artists is one of the programs that Island Mountain Arts developed in order to address the needs of artists in the area and throughout the province.

First led by Norman Yates in 2000, the Wells Artists’ Project (WAP) is an eight-day intensive painting retreat (with a four day option) held in the large airy studios of the Wells/Barkerville School. This year WAP takes place from July 23 – 31 with BC painter Sherrard Grauer.

A unique creative experience in a unique non-urban environment, WAP is a forum for artists to explore and develop their ideas in relation to painting. With hands on experimentation as the starting point, artists engage in an exchange of ideas aimed at better understanding the possibilities of the creative act - ideal for artists wishing to hone their craft while in a creative, supportive and nature filled environment.

Sherrard, with her vast knowledge and experience from working for over forty years as a visual artist in Canada, will give valuable keys to those artists keen to forward their artistic practice in the visual arts and spur production of new bodies of work.

Since its inception, WAP has seen some phenomenal artists pass through its studio doors. Visual artists like Claire Kujundzic, Eri Ishii, Meghan Hildebrand, Annerose Georgeson and Paula Scott, to name a few, have all benefited from the experience.

Judith DesBrisay from Quesnel who took part in a past project, and who will be having an exhibition in the Island Mountain Arts Gallery this summer, commented that, “the creative resources shared by all participants heightened our learning and enjoyment. My art practice has benefited greatly as a result of my participation in the Artists Project at IMA.”

Lorraine Martinuik from Denman Island who took the program in 2002 said “my experience in the Wells Artists’ Project helped me to shift my practice and helped me to deepen and extend my expression and the thinking that goes into it.”

This summer’s senior artist mentor, Sherrard Grauer, who is currently living in Duncan, has been working as a professional artist since the 1960’s with her art showing in exhibitions all over the world. Born in Toronto, she has studied at the Ecole du Louvre, the Atelier Ziegler in Paris, and the San Francisco Art Institute. She is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, and has been exhibiting in Canada since 1964. Sherrard's work is in many public collections including The Canada Council Art Bank, Musee d'Art Contemporain, Vancouver Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada.

This summer’s WAP will coincide with the 2nd Annual Artswells Festival of All Things Art (July 29 – Aug 1) in Wells. Loaded with music of all kinds like blues guitarist Courtney Wing, folk songstress Yael Wand and the country stylings of Rae Spoon, theatre performances like the International One Minute Play Festival with Charles Ross and workshops in drumming and song writing, the festival also includes an ArtWalk through the town where visual artists display their works in various public places and local businesses. Participants of WAP are encouraged to exhibit some of their works in the festival ArtWalk, as well as through a studio open house.

Besides the Wells Artists’ Project and the Artswells Festival there are a whole lot of other reasons to come and visit the Wells area. In addition to BC's largest heritage site, Barkerville Historic Town, being 8km down the road and endless outdoor activities at your fingertips, starting in April Island Mountain Arts has partnered with the College of New Caledonia to offer the following credited studio arts courses. From April 25 – May 6, FINE 103 – Drawing I (4 credits) and May 9 – 20, FINE 104 – Drawing II (4 credits) will run in Wells in intensive ten-day courses. This unique way of learning and the spectacular natural beauty of Wells make these courses ideal for students who are keen to learn the art of drawing in a inspirational setting and get credits toward their degree. The credits are transferable to most colleges and universities across the province.

Also for the visual artist, IMA is pleased to welcome back the dynamic artist from Merritt, Evelyn Armstrong, to teach Image and Process from July 16 – 19. This course will cover the fundamentals of drawing from the human figure and is open to students of all levels.

For writers looking to hone their skills, award-winning author and skilled teacher, Luanne Armstrong, from Vancouver will be teaching Writing From the Inside Out also from July 16 – 19. This course includes lots of writing exercises designed to get you started and keep you going. Through lectures on specific craft issues, participants will break through creative barriers, find their story and get it onto the page. Luanne will also be leading a day workshop following her course on July 20 on How to
Get Published.

For parents interested in involving their kids in some creative endeavours, Pottery & Creative Arts for Kids (ages 6 – 14) with Williams Lake potter Lesley Lloyd and Wells visual artist Beth Holden, runs concurrently with the Drawing and Writing courses from July 16 – 19.

A special interest weekend course (July 16 &17) with Valemount artist Pamela Cinnamon, Art Journaling and Book Binding will teach innovative techniques in journal creation and explain the process of binding books.

Also running this summer is the Island Mountain Arts’ Annual International Celtic Harp School from August 9 – 13. This year we have a phenomenal line-up of instructors with Lori Pappajohn returning to teach beginners, the popular Sharlene Wallace from Toronto to teach the intermediates and the very special master of the Welsh triple harp, Robin Huw Bowen, from Wales to teach advanced technique and
Welsh repertoire.

Running concurrently with the harp school, award-winning fiddler and well recognized children’s music instructor, Jenny Lester from Smithers is teaching Music Ensemble for Children. This five-day course is for aspiring musicians at all levels from ages
6 – 14. Kids will be introduced to a variety of musical instruments to try, playing as a group in the morning and with individualized instruction in the afternoon.

The Island Mountain Arts Public Gallery also has a great line up this summer including; Interwoven - A Painting Exhibition by Judith A. DesBrisay; Double Vision - A Pottery Exhibition by Joan Beck and Lesley Lloyd; Natural Elements – painting by Galen Hutcheson; and Triple Vision - Three Generations - A Multimedia Exhibition by Peter Scott, Brandon Scott & Brent Wolfe.

For those of you looking for a change of pace and a unique setting for creative exploration, Wells is an ideal locale. From northern lights and stars so bright, to a quiet so rare that one can hear the ravens’ wings flapping through the sky, an experience in Wells is guaranteed to be a memorable one. Maybe you will even be ready to move here by the end of your visit, there is lots of room for more artists’ studios up here and affordable land is plentiful.

For more information on the Wells Artists’ Project or any of IMA’s programs and events please call 1-800-442-2787, email media@imarts.com, or
visit www.imarts.com