Rossland Council for the Arts and Culture (RCAC) is trying to spruce up downtown Rossland, in the midst of extensive renovation. To do that, and get a bit of excitement going for the summer, they will be putting on “Random Acts of Culture.”
The first of these events took place Friday beside the post office on Columbia Avenue. They set up a stand and asked people passing by to paint what they imagine their community being.
Nadine Tremblay, who was organizing the event, said the art could be anything, from a painting to just a word, with imagination the only limit.
The event was also a workshop and local artist Stephanie Gauvin was there to help everyone participating complete their vision.
The finished paintings will be exhibited in a secret location according to the arts council.
Rachael Roussin spoke to council on the initiative Monday, on behalf of Tremblay.
Roussin is the administrator for the RCAC.
“It’s a really fun initiative, where we’re trying to engage the community in their everyday life with more arts and culture,” Roussin explained. “This newest one is a visual art project for the community.”
Roussin said it’s the perfect time to reinvent Rossland with art, while it is being literally reinvented with construction.
“What is everyone’s Rossland? Every one has a different idea. It’s about just getting people to have fun and doing some painting,” she said. “We’re springing up in some random locations with artist and paints and these things and getting people to express themselves visually .”
She said they had a great response outside the post office last Friday, with people having a lot of fun.
“People are also embracing it. I think they’re saying, “Yeah, downtown’s under construction. What is my Rossland?” It can be anything. It can be abstract, it can be words, it’s not specific,” she said.
They will pop up at the Rossland Mountain Market, which begins this week, as well as schools and other places around town.
Roussin said the most exciting part is that it will be on public display at random times and location, which nobody, except a few RCAC board members, knows about.
“So at some point, there will be a public art display,” she said. “Nobody knows where or when.”
To engage council, Roussin left a toolkit full of paints, sharpies and boards to draw on.
She asked that council members take them home, give them to their kids to draw on and also to encourage staff to participate.
Coun. Kathy Moore asked how long they had to put together the art projects and paintings.
Roussin said that they don’t have much time and she’d need the finished products by this weekend.
Mayor Greg Granstrom said that council would take care of it.
“I’m sure we have some very aspiring artists on council,” the mayor said.