Art, industry and exploration came together Sunday (Aug. 12) during the fifth annual Copper and Fire festival at the BC Museum of Mining. Visitors got to check out pieces by local artists and listen to live music while they learned about the history of mining."One of the things we want to do with the event is give artists exposure," said the museum's executive director Kirstin Clausen. "It's also a chance to think about mining in a fresh way."
Different mediums were present throughout the festival - but the one constant was the art's involvement a mined material, said Clausen.
Steel, glass, iron and clay were just some of the materials manipulated by the artists.
Jenny Smack, a Paradise Valley Artist with works in the Brackendale Art Gallery, said she enjoyed giving people the chance to watch her create something seemingly out of nothing.
"It's really fun for people to see me working on the pottery wheel," said Smack, "and then be able to purchase something they saw being created."
Smack said she often works with clay and porcelain but also branched out to use various metals in her work.
The essence of the festival, said Smack, is about showing the artistic value present in everyday mining materials and equipment.
"You get to create meaning using materials that most people would disregard as useless," she said.
Visitors got to control some of the materials on hand and talk with artists. The challenge in having an interactive art show is not only co-ordinating all the participants, but making sure an artist's medium can be handled by visitors, especially kids, said Clausen.
"We want the artists to actually be doing something," she said. "Where I would love to take it next year [is] to have something the public can do at almost every display so they're not just watching the artists."
Around a dozen artists showed off their works for the close to 800 visitors, making the show a success, said Clausen.
"We had tremendous community support from 樱桃视频[which] made planning the event that much easier." Clausen credits her creative staff, especially Carol Watts and Adriane Polo, with helping her develop the idea for the festival.
"People are multi-dimensional, some like science, some like rocks and some people love art," said Clausen. "This museum can be something for everybody."
