General Information

Misty Rivers Community Arts Council

Misty River Gallery

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About Us

Membership Information

To contact us:

Phone: 250-842-0455

E-mail: info@mistyrivergallery.com

History

The Misty Rivers Community Arts Council (MRCAC) started with a group of people who got together in 1997 for the purpose of promoting and supporting all kinds of art in the Upper Skeena region. We were incorporated as a Society in March 1998.

In the summer of 1998 the Arts Council operated a small gallery space in the basement of the United Church in Hazelton.

In the summer of 1999 the Arts Council hosted a series of exhibitions at the Hazelton Pioneer Museum and Archives in the Hazelton Library. That summer and fall we also operated an Artisans Market in Old Town Hazelton. The market was located in the old Hudson s Bay Trading Post warehouse building. Many thanks to the Upper Skeena Development Centre, the BC Arts Council and building owners, Harry and Monica Hesselbrach for supporting us in this venture.

The former Kermode Gallery on Highway 62 was home to the Misty River Community Arts Council Gallery in the summer of 2000. Many thanks to the gallery owners Yvonne Lattie and her partner for generously donating this wonderful space. They have now opened up their own gallery at this location.

In the fall of 2000, the Riverboat in Hazelton was refurbished to start a new life as an art gallery. The Misty River Community Arts Council promoted this endeavor with the co-operation and financial support of the Village of Hazelton. Many local artists showed their work at this new gallery during the Winter months under the careful attention of Shannon Hurst Grant.

The summer of 2001 was a busy one for some of our Membership. Through dedication to our first big project, officially named Hazelton Historical Theatre Project, Maggie Carew and Barb Janze organized and supervised several local performances. With funding from B.C. Arts Council, we hired Maggie as coordinator and youth supervisor. We had two students as full-time salaried employees with funding from Student Summer Works, six students under the Youth Community Action program to earn credit towards tuition fees for higher education, and three more students to earn work experience credits towards high school graduation. The Village of Hazelton assisted the theatre project financially and by allowing the group to use the old RCMP building free of charge.

In April of 2002, Ojibway playwright, Drew Hayden Taylor agreed to do a reading at the Public Library. Arts Council members were on hand to help provide refreshments. In August we had a booth at Pioneer Day in Hazelton, sold raffle tickets and proudly displayed our photo-scrapbook, created by Maggie Carew, which highlighted the theatre project from the previous summer.

On June 27, 2009, we finally realized our goal of establishing and opening an art gallery in Hazelton. It is now located in the upper floor of the old Marshall Building. We have been in operation in this new location for more than a year now.

In July 2010, we have been honoured to have Roy Henry Vickers, one of Canada’s world-renown artists, exhibit some of his collection in the gallery for the whole month. In August, we will be exhibiting a textile show.

Misty River Gallery Skeena River Room