by Gillian Crowley –
Small Expressions
Members of the local Arts Council will display some of their “small” artworks in this unusual show. Local artists work within 12 by 12 by 12 inches, both 2D and 3D works, in a variety of mediums. See the creativity that can be expressed in a limited space. Free admission and parking. Tulista Arts Centre, 9565 Fifth Street, Sidney.
March 4 to 31, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Mondays).
Granny Power Film Screening
Celebrate International Women’s Day with the Raging Grannies! The Library will screen Magnus Isacsson’s documentary Granny Power. Learn about this unique international movement that started 25 years ago as a satirical protest group in Victoria. Remaining active and finding a voice as elderly women, these grannies are deflating clichés about aging and proving that life can be lived to its fullest at any age. Free. Sidney/North Saanich Library, 10091 Resthaven Drive, Sidney. March 8 from 6 to 8 p.m.
St. Paddy’s Day with Denis Donnelly
Wear a bit o’ green and join Denis Donnelly as he performs music from his beloved Ireland. Denis will sing, play guitar and Irish harp, and be joined by his long-time musical partner, the gifted Lanny Pollet, who will play Irish flutes. Together they will recreate some of the most beautiful and enduring songs and tunes from that amazing tradition, including jigs, reels, and music of the itinerant 17th/18th-century harper, Turlough O’Carolan. Presented by Deep Cove Folk Society. Tickets at door. St. John’s United Church, 10990 West Saanich Road. March 10 at 8 p.m.
Friday Films at the Library
View three outstanding short films by National Film Board filmmakers. Mabel: Feisty, fiercely independent and firmly rooted in place, 90-year-old Mabel Robinson broke barriers in the ’40s when she became the first woman in Hubbards, N.S. to launch her own business – a hairdressing salon where she still provides shampoo-n-sets over 70 years later. The film celebrates the power of friendship, doing what you love and staying active.
Debris: A portrait of Tofino, B.C. intertidal artist Pete Clarkson as he crafts his most ambitious and personal project to date: a memorial to the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Revealing Marie Saint Pierre: Meet Quebec fashion designer Marie Saint Pierre in this art documentary. The film gives razor sharp insights into her creative process as well as being a woman entrepreneur in the exclusive world of luxury fashion. Sidney/North Saanich Library, 10091 Resthaven Drive. March 31, 1 to 3 p.m. Free.
Spring Reading Series – C.C. Humphreys and Tilar Mazzeo
Two talented authors will read from their works in support of the 2017 Sidney & Peninsula Literary Festival. Chris (C.C.) Humphreys is an actor and writer of historical novels. Having played Jack Absolute, (The Rivals by Sheridan), he stole the character and has written three books about this 007 of the 1770s. He has also written a trilogy for young adults, The Runestone Saga. His newest book is Fire, a gripping reimagining of events surrounding the 1666 Great Fire of London.
He is joined by Dr. Tilar Mazzeo, author of numerous works of narrative nonfiction. She divides her time amongst coastal Maine, where she teaches English; New York City; and Saanichton. Her latest book, Irena’s Children, is the remarkable history of a “female Schindler,” Irena Sendler (1910-2008), who saved more than 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis. Tickets: Tanner’s Books and online at www.sidneyliteraryfestival.ca. SHOAL Centre, 10030 Resthaven Drive, Sidney. March 17 at 7 p.m.