For three days this week, our President & CEO, Lisanne Ballantyne, has been going about her day-to-day activities and exploring Kelowna with a beacon named Amelia.
Amelia is one of 25 beacons that the City of Kelowna’s Artist in Residence, Melany Nugent-Noble, created for her community participation art project, When it is Necessary to Stand Still. The project, which launched in early September and runs until October 16, requires participants to carry the beacons for three days at a time. The beacons change colour and become brighter or dimmer when they move closer to or further from the other beacons.
“I am a big believer in how the power of art can positively affect individuals and communities,” says Ballantyne. “This project was such a unique way to show how, as community, we dim the further apart we are - and how we grow brighter when we come together.”
In addition to taking part in the beacon project, Lisanne also volunteers her time as a Board Member for the Kelowna Art Gallery and, through her work with Tourism Kelowna, supports Kelowna's creative sector, which had a direct economic output of $339 million in 2018.
Projects like Nugent-Noble's, along with events like Culture Days and exhibits like Our Living Languages, help the City of Kelowna's 2020-2025 Cultural Plan vision come to life, particularly with respect to Kelowna being recognized as a four-season destination with a rich variety of high-quality arts, culture and heritage experiences.
The City of Kelowna is currently accepting applications for its cultural grants, which support the operations of local arts, culture, and heritage organizations, as well as projects from non-profit organizations that feature arts, culture or heritage and are open to the public.
