Culture in Regina
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Regina, Saskatchewan has a rich cultural life in music, theatre and dance, amply supported by the substantial fine arts constituency at the University of Regina, which has a large fine arts department including faculties of music and theatre. At various times this has attracted notable artistic talent: Donald M. Kendrick and Joe Fafard have been particular stars.
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[edit] Live theatre, music and dance
The Regina Conservatory of Music operates in the former girls' residence wing of the Regina College building. Regina’s highly active multicultural community, earned Heritage Canada’s designation of 2004 "Cultural Capital of Canada" (in the over 125,000 population category). Regina lacked large concert and live theatre venues for many years after the demolition of the Old City Hall in 1965 at a time when preservation of heritage architecture was not yet a fashionable issue, though until the demolition of downtown cinemas which doubled as live theatres the lack was not urgent, and Darke Hall on the Regina College campus of the university provided a small concert venue; the default was remedied with the construction of the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts (now the Conexus Arts Centre) as a Canadian Centennial project, a theatre and concert hall complex overlooking Wascana Lake. According to its promotional literature, it is one of the most acoustically perfect concert venues in North America.
The Globe Theatre, founded in 1966, is a professional company with theatre premises in the Prince Edward Building (formerly known as "The Old Post Office" building though it was also a temporary city hall between the demolition of the old city hall on 11th Avenue between Rose and Hamilton Streets and the construction of the new city hall on Victoria Avenue) in the central business district.
The Regina Little Theatre was a major focus of community life during the winter months in past decades before the establishment of the Globe Theatre and before touring theatre and concert companies had satisfactory venues and assured audiences of commercially viable size in Regina. The RLT continues to provide valuable opportunities for local would-be actors and ongoing amusement for community-minded theatre audiences.
The Regina Symphony, established in 1908, is an amateur community orchestra with a professional core; it performs in the Conexus Arts Centre and at other venues in the community. Each summer an outdoor concert, Mozart on the Meadow, is attended by many thousands. The Regina Community Orchestra is a volunteer group that practises at the Odd Fellows hall each week, drawing members of all ages (from 14 on, as of May 2006) from Regina and surrounding communities. They perform in different locations throughout Regina, as well as certain special events, the most recent being Sangerfest, at the Conexus Arts Centre.
The Regina Philharmonic Choir was formed in the late 1970s to perform choral works with the Regina Symphony. When the University of Regina failed to renew the teaching contract of Donald M. Kendrick who had considerably enlarged and improved the university choir at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, the local musical community realised that it was in danger of losing what had immediately become a vital part of Regina's cultural life. A community action plan was mounted to give the Philharmonic Choir permanence. A fine chamber choir, Halcyon, sang at the opening and closing ceremonies at the Canada summer games.
Holy Rosary (Roman Catholic) Cathedral and Knox-Metropolitan United Church have fine large Casavant Freres pipe organs and although the city's arts community is not large enough to provide substantial liturgical musical establishments at all major churches at once, there is generally at least one such organisation at a time — variously at these two churches and at St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, where the renowned Donald M. Kendrick once played and conducted.
Several dance companies groups operate in Regina, including the Tavria Ukrainian Folk Dance Ensemble and Polonia Polish Folk Dance Ensemble.
[edit] Multiculturalism
The Regina Multicultural Council (RMC) was established in 1973 as a successor to the Regina Folk Arts Council and the Regina Folk Arts and Cultural Council. Operating as a non-profit organization, the RMC acts as an umbrella organization for over 60 member groups that represent approximately 45,000 people.
The aims of the council are:
- 1. To further the development and promotion of the cultures and folk arts of all ethno cultural groups;
- 2. To promote co-operation and mutual understanding among these groups;
- 3. To promote multiculturalism; and
- 4. To promote and retain heritage languages and cultural traditions as essential components of multiculturalism.
To meet these aims the RMC organizes and participates in a number of activities, of which the best known is Mosaic.
[edit] Mosaic
Dubbed a Festival of Cultures, Mosaic has been held annually since 1974, when it began as a one-day festival. Since 1978, it has grown into a three-day event held in early June at pavilions located throughout Regina. Every pavilion features traditional foods, displays of arts and crafts and entertainment by musicians and dancers.
A passport is purchased which is stamped at the door of each pavilion. This enables the bearer to visit any Mosaic pavilion for an unlimited number of times and to use the free Mosaic bus transportation to all pavilions.
Each pavilion has ambassadors and youth ambassadors that travel as VIP guests to other pavilions, representing their own ethnicity.
Mosaic has a number of pavilions representing different ethnic backgrounds. Some of these include: German, Aboriginal, Austrian, Chilean, Hungarian, Caribbean, Ethiopian, Irish, Scottish, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Philippine, Ukrainian, Greek, Italian, French, and others that vary over the years.
[edit] Visual Arts
Many painters call or have called Regina home, and have contributed much to the community. Ted Godwin, Bob Boyer, and members of the Regina Five are some examples. A number of notable private art galleries such as the Assiniboia Gallery, Dunlop Gallery, and Neutral Ground have been established in response to the the presence of a vibrant visual arts community since the 1960s. A number of art galleries with predominantly public funding are vital to the visual arts community. The largest of these is the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery.
