West Kootenay Regional Arts Council

Kootenay Coldsmoke Powderfest
2025-02-23 08:00 - 15:00 (America/Vancouver) | Whitewater Ski Resort, Whitewater Ski Hill Rd, Nelson BC, V1L 5R3, Canada
Kootenay Coldsmoke Powderfest is an annual celebration of ski and snowboard culture. This grassroots flagship festival features clinics, competitions, and ski-themed arts and culture programming both in Nelson and at Whitewater.
Coldsmoke brings together a community with a shared passion for winter sport. Through a curated collection of competitions, backcountry education, arts and culture, storytelling, and clinics, we aim to connect, educate, and inspire.
It’s a chance to expand your skills, bridge connections, and immerse yourself in the breathtaking landscape that surrounds us. The spirit of Coldsmoke stays with you long after the weekend ends.
Join us at Coldsmoke, where the slopes are our canvas, and the spirit of skiing and snowboarding takes center stage.

Lost Buildings with Greg Nesteroff
2025-02-23 13:00 - 15:00 | Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, 502 Vernon Street, Nelson, V1L 4E7, Canada
While Nelson is well known for its many heritage buildings, it has also lost many to fire and demolition. Local historian and author Greg Nesteroff visits the Nelson Museum on Sunday, February 23 at 1pm to present a fascinating slideshow that will look at 40 such structures and their stories, from the opera house to the Strathcona Hotel to the Kerr Apartments.
To celebrate Heritage Week (February 17-23) this presentation is free and open to the public. Admission to the Nelson Museum is also by donation all week.

re:source – making materials matter
2025-02-25 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-02-26 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-02-27 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-04 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-05 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-06 12:00 - 16:00 | VISAC Gallery, 1501 Cedar Avenue, Trail, V1R 2J5
re:source is an exhibition of creative re-imagining, the act of finding and using materials over again or for a purpose not originally intended. We often think of “resources” as the things we have, but re-sourcing in this context implies the active process of discovery and reinvention.
Exhibition Dates: January 23-March 6, 2025
Opening Reception: January 28, 2025 @ 6:00pm-8:30pm
Join us for an evening of light refreshments. Artists in attendance.
Evening Hours: March 5, 2025
Intermission hours during the Bailey’s Performance Series.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Thursday @ 12:00pm-4:00pm
Do you have a group looking to attend outside of gallery hours? Contact us at info@visacgallery.com to discuss group visits and field trips.

Deep 2: A Very Graphic Novel
2025-02-28 19:00 - 22:00 | Gallery 444, 448 Baker St, Nelson, BC, V1L 4H8, Canada
Zen WangBack by popular demand! DEEP 2 is finally here.Feb 28th, 2025. Doors open at 7PM. 444 Baker St. Nelson. BC.
DEEP is an intimate affair where it is safe to explore and wonder.DEEP is an imaginative space where your spirit is allowed to roam.DEEP is a self-honouring and community supported oasis to let loose and enjoy who you are.
SOMA Sound & Events & Gallery 444 present DEEP 2 ~ An erotic pop-up art exhibit.
At this one night only event there will be more of the fresh-off-the-drawing board Erotic Posters from the Graphic Novel “DEEP”. This event will also be host to our guest Intimacy Experts who will be offering a Somatic Consent Intro; also provided for our guests will be delicious and healthy elixirs to quench your body and soul at our “cash only elixir bar”; an Aphrodisiac chocolate fountain to wet your desires; & Transcendence music and dance floor to manifest your destiny through movement. Listen to your inner voice and join us to celebrate this sensual experience on Earth.
*** Guest appearance by Mz. Iris Wilde -ambient sensual performance art. Bringing the soulful expression of heart and divinity, the body as altar and embodied poetry. ***

Tickets are $30 at the door and $25 online via Eventbrite.
Space is limited, so reserve your spot today.
Dress code is “as sexy as you feel comfortable with”.
• please note this venue will ask for you to remove shoes in gallery• This is an 18+ event

SF Ho Artist talk + Closing reception
2025-03-08 17:30 - 20:00 | Notably, a Book Lover’s Emporium, 454 Ward St, Nelson, V1L 1S8
Exhibition
SF Ho
TRIPLE BURNER FLOWER FIELD
15 January – 8 March 2025
Wednesdays to Saturdays, 1 – 5PM
Admission is free
Artist Talk by SF Ho
Saturday, March 8, 2025
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Notably, a Book Lover’s Emporium (454 Ward St. Nelson, BC)
Suggested donation: $5 – $20 per person
Closing Reception
Saturday, March 8, 2025
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Oxygen Art Centre (#3-320 Vernon St. (alleyway entrance), Nelson, BC)
Admission is free
Oxygen Art Centre presents two events to commemorate the closing of SF Ho’s exhibition TRIPLE BURNER FLOWER FIELD. The exhibition has been on view at the artist-run centre since January 15, 2025, following Ho’s residency in November and December 2024.
The public are invited to attend an artist talk by SF Ho held at Notably, a Book Lover’s Emporium at 454 Ward St. Nelson, BC, on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 5:30pm. Admission is a suggested donation of $5 – $20 per person at the door.
The artist talk will feature background on the Vancouver-based writer and artist’s practice and current research that led to the exhibition, TRIPLE BURNER FLOWER FIELD. A slide presentation will accompany the talk. Topics will range from Traditional Chinese Medicine and plant cultivation and use in artistic practice, to historical research into Chinese agrarian and cultural practices.
Following the artist talk, the public are invited to the artist-run centre along the alleyway for a Closing Reception celebration of Ho’s exhibition at 6:30 PM. Refreshments and light snacks will be provided. Admission to the closing reception is free.
The exhibition attends to the use of common plants while speaking to first-generation settlers about agriculture and medicine. By highlighting the spiritual and medicinal uses of tea, yarrow, poppy and mugwort, the exhibition examines how life is separated into the categories of useful commodities or invasive weeds within the framework of global capitalism.
TRIPLE BURNER FLOWER FIELD also includes archival and oral accounts of the role of the barefoot doctor during the Cultural Revolution, the agricultural land defense movement in Hong Kong, and the early Chinese market gardens of Nelson, BC. Using emptiness and manifold duality as guiding principles, art making becomes a kind of serious play that points to interdependence with land and beings while eschewing human supremacy.
TRIPLE BURNER FLOWER FIELD is currently on view at Oxygen Art Centre from January 15, 2025, to March 8, 2025, on Wednesdays to Saturdays from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.
SF Ho will be present in Nelson, B.C., for the Artist Talk event at Notably (5:30 pm) and Closing Reception event at Oxygen Art Centre (6:30 pm) on Saturday, March 8, 2025.
Oxygen Art Centre is an artist-run centre located at #3-320 Vernon Street along the alleyway behind Baker Street.
This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program.
Artist Bio:
SF Ho (they/them) is an artist, writer and organizer. They have been living as an uninvited guest on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ peoples for over fourteen years. Operating somewhere between words and whatever words can’t be, their work is informed by feminist methodologies, land-based practices, and grassroots community networks. Ho has presented their artwork and writing both regionally and internationally. They published a book about love and aliens called George, the Parasite.

ReelRock 19
2025-03-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Castle Theatre, 185 Columbia Ave., Castlegar
TAWKROC and THE CASTLE THEATRE PRESENT:REELROCK 19
Saturday March 8th – doors at 6pm show at 7pmLicensed event
Come out and support your local climbing community
Reel Rock 19 showcases three world-premiere climbing films spanning disciplines, characters, and continents: a heartfelt story of second chances in love and climbing on Squamish’s legendary Cobra Crack; an outrageous 18-day big wall epic on Patagonia’s towering Torre Central; and the pursuit of a lifelong dream—a 5.15 first ascent—made possible by an unlikely partnership. Reel Rock 19 is on tour worldwide starting March 2025.

“Uno” by Raul Pous Facha
2025-03-10 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-11 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-12 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-13 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-14 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-17 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-18 12:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-19 12:00 - 16:00 and 6 more dates | VISAC Gallery, 1501 Cedar Avenue, Trail, V1R 2J5
Meet Raul: Architect, Artist, and Digital Fabrication Visionary

“I’m Raul, an architect and artist of Mexican origin, now based in Canada since 2022. My lifelong fascination with materials and manufacturing techniques has deeply influenced my approach to design. While I’ve always appreciated the artistry and individuality of handmade products, I’ve also recognized the challenges they face in achieving precision and consistent quality.

This curiosity led me to digital fabrication, where I discovered the power to translate complex designs into reality with precision and control. Through the fusion of technology and craftsmanship, I am able to create pieces that retain the unique essence of handmade work while elevating their quality and accuracy.”

Exhibition Dates: March 10 – 20, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 13 from 4:00pm-5:30pm

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday, 12pm-4pm

To learn more, visit us at: https://visacgallery.com/exhibitions/#unoraulpousfacha

Opening Reception of “Uno” by Raul Pous Facha
2025-03-13 16:00 - 17:30 | VISAC Gallery, 1501 Cedar Avenue, Trail, V1R 2J5

Speaker Series and Gallery Show with Melanie Mercier: Rooting for Nature, Rooting for Ourselves
2025-03-13 18:30 - 19:30 | Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre, 1100 Hwy 3B | Junction of Hwys 3B & 22, Rossland, BC, V0G 1Y0, Canada
Melanie Mercier is returning with a double-header event! “Rooting for Nature, Rooting for Ourselves” is a celebration of the intrinsic connection between nature and humanity, highlighting the symbiosis that exists between all living beings and the health of our environment, and a visual exploration that inspires environmental stewardship. Join us at the Museum at 6:30 pm on Thursday, March 13th, for a Speaker Series talk and Gallery Show that aims to not only spark conversations but also inspire tangible actions that contribute to a more sustainable and harmonious world.

Entry by donation. Please RSVP online, send us an email at info@rosslandmuseum.ca, or give us a call at 250-362-7722 to let us know you are coming!

Debert Bunker: By Invitation Only film screening
2025-03-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, 502 Vernon Street, Nelson, V1L 4E7, Canada
Outside a military base in Debert, Nova Scotia, on a cold day in February 1984, a small but mighty group of women harnessed the power of performance art, protest, and the media—and captured the attention of the entire country.
That same day in February, 329 people were planning on using the bunker for rehearsal of a nuclear attack—nearly all of them white, middle-aged men with government or military leadership roles; only 11 women were on the list.
Months earlier, women from all over the Maritimes began planning for a multi-faceted day of action, dubbed Debunk Debert. The group arranged radio interviews on CBC morning shows, arranged for men to handle the day’s cooking, cleaning, and childcare, and staged a protest at Camp Debert, the location of Atlantic Canada’s only cold war bunker.
The protesters’ message was clear: while these men continue government from inside the bunker, what is happening to the women and children you’ve left behind? How do you continue government, or humanity, without a second generation? Documentary filmmaker Liz MacDougall explores these questions and covers the protest in her 1985 documentary Debert Bunker: By Invitation Only, screening Friday, March 14 in the Cold War Bunker, presented by the Nelson Museum to celebrate International Women’s Day.
The screening of Debert Bunker: By Invitation Only is at 6:30pm on Friday, March 14, followed by an open discussion with Anna Purcell and Tressa Ford. Tickets are $10 for museum members and $15 for the general public and includes a reproduction of the ‘Debunk Debert’ buttons created for the original protest.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Front Desk or online. Space is limited for this one-time only event.

Dark Chapters opening reception
2025-03-21 19:00 - 21:00 | Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, 502 Vernon Street, Nelson, V1L 4E7, Canada
The Dark Chapters project encompasses the renowned career of Métis artist and educator David Garneau, through the dual lens of exhibition and publication. The book, Dark Chapters: Reading the Still Lives of David Garneau, invites 17 Canadian artists and academics to write a response – poetry, creative writing, critical essay – to one of Garneau’s vast collection of still life paintings. The exhibition features works from the publication as well as additional pieces chosen by Garneau. Dark Chapters offers myriad ways to investigate how the written word can implicate, illuminate, and interpret artworks.
Dark Chapters opens on Friday, March 21 at 7pm featuring an artist talk with Garneau and essay contributor Fred Wah. This event is free and open to the public.
David Garneau (Métis) is a Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Regina. He is a painter, curator, and writer who engages creative and critical expressions of Indigenous contemporary ways of knowing, being, and doing. In 2023, he received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art: Outstanding Achievement and was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada.

Local Trail, Distant Shores: Water Colour Perspectives
2025-03-27 12:00 - 16:00 | VISAC Gallery, 1501 Cedar Avenue, Trail, V1R 2J5
A series of watercolour paintings by Dan Ashman. The exhibition takes inspiration from the scenery of the West Kootenays.
Exhibition Dates:
March 27 – April 24, 2025
Opening Event:
March 27, 2025
Evening Hours:
April 15, 2025
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday-Thursday
12pm-4pm

Artist Statement:
If I am asked how long it took to paint a picture, I would reply, “Thirty-five years to learn how, and a few hours to put paint on paper”. It is a long process to master the media of watercolour and even after all this time, something can still go wrong. I’m still learning and developing my style.
About Dan Ashman:
Dan Ashman was born in British Columbia in 1956 and started his foray into art in High School by painting in oils. He moved to Trail to work as a Metallurgical Engineer at Teck and took up watercolours in 1987 during a night school course led by fellow engineer and local watercolour artist, Brian O’Hara. Subsequently, he attended workshops with Les Weisbrich, a watercolour artist from the Slocan valley, and Kiff Holland, a watercolour artist from the lower mainland. Otherwise, he is self taught.
Dan joined the Trail Art Club in 1988 and helped to establish the VISAC gallery. He was a member of the “Thursday Night Painters” when it was led by Bob Ross. His work has been shown in Art Club exhibitions, the VISAC invitational show, showings of the Thursday Night Painters both in Trail and Spokane as well as juried art shows. He has sold a number of paintings including one to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
As an avid outdoorsman, Dan was inspired by the captivating scenery of the West Kootenays and began to capture local scenes in watercolour either painting “en plein air” or in his studio. He is also an amateur photographer and uses photos from his travels as subject matter. Now retired, his recent works include landscapes from the West Kootenays, the Canadian Rockies, Hawaii, and Atlantic Canada.
