Welcome to The Hub Nanaimo, your weekly insider guide to the best of community arts and culture. Did a friend forward this email to you? Subscribe to this newsletter.

On Valentine’s Day, I met up with VIU visual arts student Tarah Dowling at White Rabbit Coffee to talk about her art. 

We sat in the sunshine with her dog Meatloaf and while it was light and warm outside, the conversation about her experience in B.C.’s foster care system and her mother’s experience with substance use was a heavy one. 

She is back in school now and preparing to graduate thanks to the provincial tuition waiver program, which covers the cost of school for former youth in care. But she always wondered who else in her classes may have also been foster kids. 

So she put together a proposal for an art project titled We Are The Change That You Want to See featuring cyanotype photographs of 15 students at VIU who are accessing the tuition waiver program and an accompanying audio recording of the interviews she did with them. 

Connecting with former youth in care was emotional for her and she wanted to use help to share their stories and also their strength. 

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

Former youth in care featured in photo exhibit at VIU

Tarah Dowling presents a photo and audio exhibit featuring former foster kids who are using the provincial Tuition Waiver Program.

🖊️ What you said ⌨️

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“Thank you for giving us the information about entertainment options.”

— Linda, from our newsletter survey

🔎 Watch for🔎

Meet hobby miniaturist Lorrie Joron, the creator of the incredible dollhouse currently on display at the Nanaimo North Library, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 11 a.m. and ask her all questions, big and small.

Got the inside scoop of an event you think should be shared? 

Let us know by sending Mick an email.

🎵 Listen 🎤

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m.: Jeff Martin of The Tea Party will play at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $60. 

Thursday, Feb. 27 6 p.m.: Sweet Tooth Burlesque presents its annual love show Get a HeArt On at The Queen’s. This year will be a “Gorlesque” edition with a “moderate to extreme amount of violence and blood.” Tickets cost $25.

Friday, Feb. 28 12:30 p.m.: Janet Miller and Sylvia Thomson will host a poetry and prose open mic at the Gabriola Island Library. 

Friday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m.: Lazy Mike & the Argyle Jets will play at The Queen’s. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. 

Friday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m.: Uncle Strut, Lestranges and Trouble On The Outskirts will play at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $20. 

Friday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m.: Patrick Maliha, Amit Solanki and Bobbie Williams will perform at Sweet Spot Laugh Lounge. Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 at the door. 

Friday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.: Troubadours Scott Cook and Pamela Mae will play at the Unitarian Hall. Tickets cost $25. 

Friday, Feb. 28, 9 p.m.: Fired Up! drag night at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15. 

Friday, Feb. 28, 10 p.m.: The Femme Fatales will celebrate Jona Kristinsson’s birthday, featuring the incredible Shelley Beeston at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $17

Saturday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.: Scott Cook and Pamela Mae will play at the Agi Hall on Gabriola Island. Tickets cost $20 in advance or $25 at the door. 

Saturday, March 1, 9 p.m.: Jazz night with the Adam Robertson Trio at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15.

🎭 View 🖼️

Sunday, March 2, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.: The Nanaimo International Film Screening Society and L’Association des Francophones de Nanaimo will screen the French-language film Shepherds at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium. Tickets cost $15. 

Sunday, March 2, 4 p.m.: The Nanaimo International Film Screening Society will screen the Oscar nominated no-dialogue film Flow at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium. Tickets cost $10.

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1 p.m.:  A screening of Ava DuVernay’s movie Origin will take place at the Gabriola Library as part of Black History Month.  

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m.: Dads! The Musical continues its run at the Bailey Studio until March 8. Tickets cost $26.

⛹️ Meet 🎲

Tuesday, Feb. 25 to 26: The Global Citizens Forum at Vancouver Island University will explore global perspectives and cultural diversity. 

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 10 a.m.: Join Tumuhw Shqw'a'luqwa' and Elizabeth Prevost, student library and leadership assistant for Indigenous initiatives, for a welcoming hour of Hul’q’umi’num’ language to learn about pronunciation and different ways of offering introductions in the Madrona Room of the VIU Library. Free but registration is required. 

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 11 a.m.: Nanaimo resident Lorrie Joron is the creator of the incredible dollhouse currently on display at the Nanaimo North Library. Come meet the hobby miniaturist and ask her any questions you want. 

Thursday, Feb. 27 6 p.m.: The monthly Philosophy Café will discuss immigration, citizenship, and identity at the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library. The discussion will be led by Imogene Lim, a recently retired professor of anthropology and global studies at VIU. Admittance is free. 

Saturday, March 1, 10 a.m.: Scott Cook will host a songwriting workshop at a private venue in central Nanaimo. Tickets cost $30. Register by e-transfer to andy.cooke.music@gmail.com 

Saturday, March 1, 7:15 p.m.: The VIU Hockey Club will play theOkanagan Lakers at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. Tickets cost $10 or $5 for students. 

Sunday, March 2, noon: Lions free skate at Frank Crane Arena.

Featured

Saturday, March 8, 2:30 p.m.: To celebrate International Women's Day, The Discourse and Cowichan IWD are teaming up with the Craig Street Brew Pub in Duncan to bring local speakers and advocates together to discuss how to support people with the right to choose and make informed decisions regarding childbirth. Tickets for Building a Circle of Care for Vancouver Island start at $20 and a portion of the proceeds will be contributed to the House of Honourable Mothers.

See you around town,

— Mick and The Discourse team

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