The Most Easterly Published Newspaper in the US

Published the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month

Centre for culture and arts explored for Ministers Island

Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island Inc.'s recent call for request for proposals presents an opportunity to once again explore the issue of establishing a performing arts and cultural centre on Ministers Island.

Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island Inc.'s recent call for request for proposals presents an opportunity to once again explore the issue of establishing a performing arts and cultural centre on Ministers Island. The idea is to integrate this unique property into Canada's oldest and most internationally known seaside resort, St. Andrews-by-the-Sea. A concert on the island on Sunday, September 13, marks the beginning of renewed discussions for the 25-year-old concept.

The development of a cultural centre on Ministers Island is seen by many in the local arts community as a pivotal piece in moving St. Andrews forward as a primary destination for the educational and cultural industry. The new centre would complement the multifaceted tourist activities now available in southwestern New Brunswick and would be established on Ministers Island without infringing on the success of other development proposals being put forward for the island.

The concept of developing a performing arts and cultural centre on the island is not new. In 1983, after the Province of New Brunswick purchased the island, the St. Andrews Arts Council approached Premier Richard Hatfield with a proposal for the development of a world-class performing arts and educational centre on Ministers Island, which would bring in the finest names in music, ballet and theater to teach students from around the world. Plans called for the development of an economically self-sustaining operation that would in time become the eastern seaboard's cultural showplace. It was felt that New Brunswick's bicentennial year, 1984, was the perfect time to launch the project. Unfortunately due to budget constraints, government funding for the development was very limited.

The same situation reoccurred in 1995 and again in 2000, when calls for proposals to develop the island were again put forth by the province. The arts council submitted an expanded version of its original project to MLA Tony Huntjens, which included plans to invite six professional performing arts organizations from Canada and the United States to establish summer residencies on the island for students and faculty.

In the fall of 2008 the arts council contacted Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island Inc. to arrange for a series of chamber music concerts to be performed on the island at Covenhoven during the summer of 2009. This is the first time that formal concerts have been given on Ministers Island in many years, and the series received a grant from the Arts Participation Fund managed by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, Wellness, Culture and Sport, and the New Brunswick Arts Board. The first concert was given on July 10 and featured classical guitarists Steven Peacock and Gerry Van Wart. The second concert will be on Sunday, September 13, with Isabelle Fournier, violin, Susan Sayle, viola, and Karin Aurell, flute. The third concert takes place on Sunday, September 27, with a string trio featuring Chris Buckley, violin, John Buckley, cello, and Paul Campbell, violin.

Discussions are now under way between arts council co-artist directors Lewis Dalvit and Dr. Laurie Glencross of Millikin University School of Music, New Brunswick Early Music Festival directors Matthew Leese and Dr. Daniel Carberg and Ministers Island acting director Gerald McEachern to explore a mutual interest in establishing a centre for performing art education, performances and collaborations on Ministers Island. The St. Andrews Arts Council will begin scheduling select performing arts programming on Ministers Island in summer 2010. Plans also call for summer-long collaborative performing arts residences by dancers, actors, composers and musicians focusing on cutting edge performance art and education through the Between-the-Tides Experiment.

The St. Andrews Arts Council's Festival of the Performing Arts series will also be presenting its second season of traditional chamber concerts at Covenhoven along with more experimental performances in various venues on the island to include outdoor spaces, the bathhouse and the barn.

The arts council will be holding a benefit luncheon at Covenhoven on Sunday, September 13, at noon just before the next chamber concert begins. Tickets for the lunch/concert benefit are available until Friday, September 11, at Cockburn's Corner Drugstore in St. Andrews and by calling the arts council office at 506-529-4692 or 207-454-3324.

Proceeds from the benefit will go to arts council educational and performance programs including the Performing Arts Road Show, which presents performing arts programming free of charge to students in District 10 schools, the Bursaires and Internship Program, and the Kids Up Front! Program, which provides free tickets to performances for children and their families.

Planning discussions between the two organizations regarding the potential for a new cultural centre will take place over the next few months.