Free public open house held for community to gather thoughts and feedback
Nancy Holmes
Residents and lovers of Kelowna’s unique North End neighbourhood are invited to attend a community open house to talk to university students who are creating an Eco Welcome Wagon package for the neighbourhood.
The Eco Welcome Wagon project is being created by fourth-year Creative Writing and Visual Arts students at UBC’s Okanagan campus. While traditional welcome wagons provide new homeowners with information about a city and its businesses, the student’s Eco Welcome Wagon will be a package of artwork and writing that tries to attach new residents to their neighbourhood environment. Recipients of the package might discover local stories, buried history, or unique features of their new place. It might include fiction, historical work, or visual art specific to their new home.
“Kelowna is a rapidly growing community and we want to help newcomers understand their new place,” says Nancy Holmes, associate professor in the Department of Creative Studies and coordinator of the project. “A huge problem of sustainable living is getting the message out to people in interesting, fun, and memorable ways. By giving people the chance to learn through art about the precious and unique qualities of Okanagan living, we hope to make them more sustainable members of their communities.”
The open house will be held on Saturday, December 1, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) Okanagan campus, 825 Walrod St. Residents are invited to share their stories, history, concerns and experiences of the neighbourhood, and will be asked their thoughts on what they would communicate to newcomers to the area. Students will also share their work in progress and hope to get feedback.
The open house is a free, family-friendly public event with complimentary snacks and refreshments.
This event is sponsored by the Eco Art Incubator research initiative of UBC and by the Kelowna Downtown Knox Mountain Neighbourhood Association. For more information see ecoartincubator.com or email nancy.holmes@ubc.ca or phone 250-807-9369.
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