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 Tuesday, I sat down in a small parkette where people had planted a community garden and set up a table and chairs to meet with local Indigenous artist and activist Lenae Silva. Her art about her experiences with substance use and advocacy will be displayed in Vancouver Island University's Malaspina Theatre this month.

Her exhibit will open as part of the event Harm Reduction is an Act of Love, organized by the Vancouver Island University Harm Reduction Alliance, on Wednesday.

I am grateful for Lenae taking the time and energy to talk with me about her work as an artist and her life. 

You can read my full interview with her below.

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

🖊️ What you said ⌨️

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"You captured every event in town, which was so inspiring for me!"

—  From our newsletter survey

🔎 Watch for 🔍

Q&A: Nanaimo artist Lenae Silva on substance use, support and ‘bright endings’

Lenae Silva talks about her experiences as a person who uses drugs in her new exhibit at Vancouver Island University.

Know of an event you think should be shared? 

Send Mick an email.

🎵 Listen 🎤

Thursday, Sept. 18, 9 p.m.: Keanu Ienco and Cosmosaurus will play progressive jazz and  indie rock at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15. 

Thursday, Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m.: Antonio Larosa and Emmett Jerome will play a night of country, roots rock and blues at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $16.50

Friday, Sept. 19, 8 p.m.: Vogue Villains, GorillaFlip, Dead Summer and Junk will play an all-ages show at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15. 

Friday, Sept. 19, 8 p.m.: Comedian Brent Butt of Corner Gas will perform at The Port Theatre. Tickets cost $50. 

Friday, Sept. 19, 9 p.m.: Carter Felker and Amy Nelson will play alt country and psych/folk rock at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15. 

Saturday, Sept. 20, 8 p.m.: The Grundles, Vying for Glory, The Next and Dolly Desire will play a high-energy punk and rock show at The Terminal. Tickets cost $15.

Saturday, Sept. 20, 8 p.m.: Sirreal will headline MC Bodhi’s Good Vibes and High Fives Tour at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15 in advance or $20 at the door. 

Saturday, Sept. 20, 8 p.m.: Benefit for The Salish Sea Community Classroom Program with Behaviors, KMVP, Ida Maidstone and The Bingus Art Ensemble at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15.

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2 p.m.: Dan Bandeira Parker and Friends will play a “harmonic variation of the local protests held each Saturday against the genocide in Gaza.” Palestinian activists Sara Kishawi, Hala Kishawi and others will be sharing their perspectives and experiences throughout the concert. Admission by donation. 

Sunday, Sept. 21, 3 p.m.: Smokin’ Hot Toasters will headline the Sunday Blues Jam at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $10 or are free for blues jammers.

Sunday, Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m.: Multi-instrumentalist Roy Styffe will play at Simonholt restaurant. For reservations call 250-933-3338.

🎭 View 🖼️

Thursday, Sept. 18, 5 p.m.: Join Germaine Koh for a DIY making workshop on Thursday night as she turns the Nanaimo Art Gallery into an experimental arena where visitors are welcome to jump, throw, dance, run and touch — all actions that are usually frowned upon in art museums. 

Friday, Sept. 19, noon: Take a lunchtime tour of the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s current exhibition, League Nanaimo. Tickets cost $5 or are free for members.

Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m.: Learn to sketch urban landscapes with John Hofman at the VIS Studio. Registration and materials cost $357 for three weekly sessions totalling nine hours. 

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 6 p.m.: Jenin, Jenin<> will be screened at Vancouver Island University, Building 200, Room 203 by the VIU Muslim Women’s Club and For Palestine Vancouver Island. Admission is free.

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 7 p.m.: Harm Reduction is an Act of Love: An evening of art and film presented by the VIU Harm Reduction Alliance will feature an art exhibition by Lenae Silva (see story above) and a screening of Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy at 7:30 p.m. in the Malaspina Theatre.  Admission is free 

⛹️ Meet 🎲

Friday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m.:  Theatre professor Eliza Gardiner will present her recent research in a lecture entitled, “Theatre and Criminological Theory, an interdisciplinary study of Antigone" at the Arts and Humanities Colloquium in VIU’s Malaspina Theatre. Free to attend.   

Saturday, Sept. 20, 12:30 p.m.: The VIU Mariners soccer teams take on the Capilano University Blues at Harewood Centennial Park. Women’s game at 12:30 p.m., men’s game at 3 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 20, 1 p.m.: The Chase River and Cinnabar Valley Heritage Day will be held at the Chase River Elementary Field and includes historic displays, activities, crafts and hourly buttermaking demonstrations.  It will also include music, a Ukrainian dance performance, a display in medieval combat by the Comox Valley Combat Guild and an apple pie-baking competition.

Saturday, Sept. 20, 1 p.m.: Seniors for Climate will participate in the Draw the Line protests “to resist Prime Minister Mark Carney’s anti-migrant, anti-Indigenous, and fossil fuel-driven policies” at Maffeo Sutton Park. 

Saturday, Sept. 20, 6 p.m.: The Aidan Webber Foundation will hold a beer and burger fundraiser at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $30. 

Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m.: Make your own card game at the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s Art Lab Sunday. Free for members, $5 for non-members. 

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 7 p.m.: Members of the Nanaimo Art Gallery will gather for its Annual General Meeting.

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 3:30 p.m.: The Teen Art Drop-in offers space and time for teens to work on their own projects with access to the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s supplies and support from two facilitators. Tickets cost $5 per drop in and are also available in 10-visit punch cards or an annual pass.

What did you think of this newsletter?

⭐    ⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Like what you're reading?

Community news keeps us connected. We can't do this without you.