A photograph I took was selected for Winnipeg’s first Timeraiser event! Timeraiser is an event that has people bid on art using volunteer hours instead of money. It first buys art from selected artists who apply, then the event is a little like a job fair, only with volunteer opportunities, and future volunteers put a silent bid on a piece of art, and the winner who bids the most volunteer hours gets to go home with that artwork. Timerasier events have occured accross the country for a number of years in most major Canadian Cities. This year's Winnipeg event is taking place at the West End Cultural Centre on May 6th.

Check out a video for it here:
http://timeraiser.ca/en/how_it_works

Winnipeg Folk Fest

Another Folk Fest is over. It was a great weekend filled with music, semi-hippies, tarp squatting, friends, and good food. This year I was lucky enough to be accepted as an artist for the Prairie Outdoor Exhibit. I painted some lockboxes for one of the stages prior to the festival starting. This got me a backstage pass for the weekend, so I got to join all the other festival volunteers in some of the perks of volunteering.

Here are a few highlights related specifically to the music:
Andrew Bird playing the closing night, and as was expected, made wonderful,beautiful music, and continues to amaze me.
Ghostkeeper played a nice set and really reminded me of an acoustic version of Bahamas. It was just a solo act, the rest of the band wasn't there which disapointed me-and may be why he reminded me of Bahamas, because with the whole band they don't really have that sound.
Greg MacPherson played with a lot of heart, and really sticks out in my mind.
Luluc-I didn't get to their concert, but saw them play a workshop with Devon Sproule and Romi Mayes, and also they played a Tweener act one night. They have a gentle, lovely sound.

And there are many others....