There is a little over a month remaining in the Cariboo Chilcotin Shorelines Virtual Art Exhibit and Gallery Competition.
This winter the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake teamed up with the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society and Quesnel-based Baker Creek Enhancement Society to put on this virtual art contest to raise awareness about healthy shoreline ecosystems.
“Let’s raise awareness of this crucial ecosystem through our creativity and art with a message,” says arts council president Marg Evans, who recently uploaded more than 40 children’s entries for the contest. The deadline for submissions is April 30.
She notes the Shorelines Exhibit is split into two portions of the region with the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake and the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society providing prizes for entries received by artists south of McLeese Lake and including the Chilcotin, Horsefly, Likely and south to Clinton.
The contest prize categories are as follows: Adult, $200, $125, $75; Youth $75, $50, $25; Group $75; Viewer’s Choice $150.
Artists are encouraged to create a painting, tapestry, pottery scene, or photograph and send the image to https://www.facebook.com/bakercreeksociety/app/451684954848385/ or email it to www.bakercreek.org or to williamslakearts@gmail.com.
Name, contact details, and price of the work (if for sale), must be included with submissions. The number of entries per person is not limited but must be within reason, say organizers.
Entries will be adjudicated by local and professional artists.
People can vote for their favourite entries until May 5.
Evans says the contest is simple to enter but if people have difficulty with uploading their entries they can contact her for assistance at the Conservation Society office at 250-398-7929.
“Healthy shorelines are important for water quality, habitat for wildlife and erosion control when left in an unaltered state,” says Tracy Bond, Baker Creek’s executive director in encouraging submissions.
“Here in the Cariboo Chilcotin, we are lucky because we still have the opportunity to save our shorelines, as they are not as impacted as in other areas of the world.”
Amanda Dreager, Baker Creek shorelines co-ordinator adds: “Shorelines are rich with life and small changes in their balance can have big impacts, which is why we are bringing light to this key ecosystem that affects all of us.”