Arts Archives – The Discourse.

A mural featuring a stylized arbutus tree has cars parked in front of it

‘It was just meant to be’: Arbutus mural gets revitalized

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● July 16, 2024

Artist Paul Grignon painted the iconic arbutus tree mural more than 30 years ago. Now, the community is rallying to save it.

Latest in Arts

A man in a blue shirt kneels and holds the hand of a young woman in black while a man in a white shirt and plaid overskirt extends his arm. They are all in what looks like a wooded park

New play Nice While it Lasted explores ‘coming of age on a burning planet’

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● June 25, 2024

Reconciliation Theatre tours Vancouver Island with original play.

A man in a silver suit and ball cap dances in front of a green background

‘entre chien et loup’ teeters between the body and technology

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● May 21, 2024

Performance explores ‘the fault lines between fear and unknowing, civilization and the wild, and security and safety.’

An abstract painting shows a stripe of yellow over a cluster of other colours below

Sun Over Swamp explores the abstract aesthetics of ‘vast and complex lifeworlds’

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● April 23, 2024

Nanaimo Art Gallery’s Sun Over Swamp group show features abstract works from Takao Tanabe, Rebecca Brewer, Azadeh Elmizadeh, Rita Letendre and Gailan Ngan.

It’s not that serious: ‘i love the laundry room’

By Aia Segal ● Nanaimo ● April 16, 2024

Comic artist Aia Segal explores feeling like you’ve got it all figured out — only to find out that maybe you actually don’t.

A crowd of audience members gather in a backyard around a makeshift stage constructed of wood

Nanaimo’s Backyard Fest is back on

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● April 9, 2024

Two-day backyard festival that celebrates local musicians and artists saved by ‘working together,’ says organizer.

‘We go for epic everything’: Tremblers of Sevens put on a wild live show

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● February 28, 2024

Our Q&A with drummer Rad Juli covers communicating through music and how the band ‘makes two people sound like 10.’

Artist Yvonne Vander Kooi stands in front of a collection of large paintings in a white dress

Exploring family history through art

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● February 13, 2024

Artist Yvonne Vander Kooi’s portrait ‘Walking The Hounds’ looks at identity and the transitory nature of memory.

Kerri Orser sits at a sunny table with a variety of linocut tools around her, carving a piece with acorns on it

It’s all in the cut for printmaker Kerri Orser

By Julie Chadwick ● Nanaimo ● February 6, 2024

The local artist, teacher and printmaker’s linocut art was recently featured in Pressing Matters magazine.

Title block reads It's Not That Serious and features the drawing of a person with a star for a head

It’s not that serious: the formless goo stage

By Aia Segal ● Nanaimo ● February 6, 2024

Comic artist Aia Segal explores feeling like you’ve got it all figured out — only to find out that maybe you actually don’t.

‘It was just meant to be’: Arbutus mural gets revitalized

Latest in Arts

New play Nice While it Lasted explores ‘coming of age on a burning planet’

‘entre chien et loup’ teeters between the body and technology

Sun Over Swamp explores the abstract aesthetics of ‘vast and complex lifeworlds’

It’s not that serious: ‘i love the laundry room’

Nanaimo’s Backyard Fest is back on

‘We go for epic everything’: Tremblers of Sevens put on a wild live show

Exploring family history through art

It’s all in the cut for printmaker Kerri Orser

It’s not that serious: the formless goo stage

Nanaimo’s toxic drug emergency at 10 years

Nanaimo city council votes down proposed drug policy letter

Motion to close Nanaimo’s Overdose Prevention Site withdrawn

‘Like a bomb dropping’: Safer supply changes leave patients struggling for stability

Drop in 2024 Nanaimo overdose deaths still ‘a fraction’ of overall trend upwards

Sudden changes to safer supply program a ‘huge mistake,’ says Nanaimo patient