Ross Creek Centre for the Arts
555 Ross Creek Rd RR 3 B0P 1H0 Canning, NS, Canada

We were so excited to receive some of the excellent art being created by some of our campers! The first 2 are by Arthur (age 9). The colour one is a portrait of himself, the pencil drawing is a portrait of his step-dad. The last 3 are by Olive (age 6). Her red/green yellow one is called ‘sunset’, her craft is a Halloween spider, and the last one is a girl wearing a mask. If you (or your young ones) have been creating at home, we’d love to see it! Feel free to share it wi...th us over Instagram, Facebook, or email it to us at [email protected]! You can also support Ross Creek by visiting www.artscentre.ca/donate (link in bio) to build a lasting connection with us and have your monthly donation matched until Dec 31st by Jason Roth & Cheryl Steadman Roth!

Still looking for the perfect gift for that 'special someone'? Check out our MERCH BOX SALE at www.artscentre.ca/boxsale for great Ross Creek and Two Planks merch that make the perfect gift (and support shopping local)! OH-Did we mention? We found ONE MORE hat and canvas tote bag (that were previously sold out)... Check out the site to order now before they're gone!

Keep it Going - Caitlin Smith I’m Caitlin, I’m 12 and I’m in grade 7. I like drawing, reading, biking, and swimming. I really like meeting new people every year and just doing all the art is really fun. I never really thought I was that good but I think I’ve gotten better over the years and I’ve also learned a lot of new art techniques here. I also like staying overnight in the cabins, that’s really fun. What made me want to donate was...well the first thing that happene...d was I was at a fair and some guy gave me free earrings that were supposed to be $12 and he told me to pass it on to someone else, to give $12 to someone else. I knew that my parents were going to be donating some money to Ross Creek and I had wanted to give some as well since I had so much fun here so I gave $12. I felt kind of proud when I gave the money ‘cause I wasn’t really that old and ‘cause I was giving $12 to a place that I had so many fun memories at. I think if you really feel like you had a lot of fun somewhere or if you support a cause or anything that it’d be good to donate so that it can keep going. There’s a lot of exciting things happening at Ross Creek! To check them out, click the link in our bio or visit www.artscentre.ca

Congratulations to faculty member and artist in residence Andrew Obol!

Thank-you to IFTL Chartered Accountants and @holiday4hearts for this wonderful wreath! We can’t wait to use it to spruce up the centre and add some holiday cheer!

Settling In - Roland Chun Shing Au I’m Roland Chun Shing Au. Originally, in Hong Kong, I was an actor. I finished my degree in Acting at the Hong Kong Art School and Carmen studied Stage, Events, and Arts Management. And two or three years after graduating we started to travel and came to Canada in 2015. When we first came to Ross Creek it was almost November, so that was our first winter and we found we felt very safe at Ross Creek because we had not gone through the wi...nter in Canada, we don’t know how to drive in Canada, so we can get used to living here. And also there’s a lot of events happening at that time so we stay over the winter and get to know people. The people in Ross Creek, in Nova Scotia, are very helpful to us to teach about the arts scene in Nova Scotia, to know about the dynamic of the province, so we keep staying at Ross Creek. We volunteered at Ross Creek for six months but we keep coming back. In 2017, I designed puppets for Two Planks and a Passion’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Fire. We taught workshops on puppetry and sculpting with recycled cardboard for Summer Arts. We have done residencies at Ross Creek to workshop and develop our theatre shows. We have a theatre company, Theatre du Poulet, based in Halifax. We do puppetry and physical theatre to connect art with political and social issues in a language-free way. Being at Ross Creek for Canada Day made me realise what it was to have a nation. As Hong Kongers it feels like that is being lost. That is part of what inspired our show, The Extinction of Hong Kongers. I can feel there’s a strong bonding between the community and Ross Creek. So we keep coming back. Every time we go away, to Hong Kong or other places, meeting Chris and Ken is the first thing to do every time we are back to Nova Scotia safely. _________________________________________________ To learn more about Roland ( Chun Shing Au) and Theatre du Poulet you can visit https://www.theatredupoulet.com ! : 1st Photo by Rory Macklin/3rd Photo by Ian Selig

Paying Forward Memories - Connor Smith I’m Connor Smith, I’m 15 and in grade 11. I think the best part about Ross Creek is just meeting people. If you come here a lot you can see the same people coming and you remember them and can kind of continue where you left off a year ago. And it’s fun to kind of just be away and meet new people. And the food’s great. As I stay here longer I’ve liked more and more of the food. I don’t think it’s changed, I think my tastes have c...hanged. I think I’ve gained confidence about doing art because I don’t really think of myself as being good at it but recently we did a little painting thing at school and it turned out way better than I expected. I’ve done some of that stuff at Ross Creek so I’m thinking maybe I’ve gotten better from doing that there. The instructors are really encouraging towards you. In one class the stuff I was doing wasn’t really what I liked that much and the instructors kind of melded it for me into something that I did like which was really fun. I realized that I had so many good memories of this place, so much fun, and so decided it’s something I’d like to support for other kids to do. It kind of made me feel like I was helping other people to kind of experience what I experienced. Kind of like paying forward some of the good memories to other people.

AUTUMN ARTS is BACK NOV 19-21!!! Join us this week as we offer a whole bunch of exciting opportunities for artistic exploration, discovery, and play (and don't worry about packing a lunch, a homemade meal is included)! Thursday November 19th (Ages 5-10) will be a fun-filled day of activities, music, and time spent outdoors! A fantastic opportunity to add some arts to your child's curriculum and give them a chance to make new friends up here on the mountain!... Friday November 20th (Ages 11-15) will be an exciting day of creativity, learning, and art-making! A great chance to meet new people and learn new skills! Saturday November 21st (16+) will be a dive into a visual arts studio where participants can explore traditional and cutting edge techniques and tools used in the studio by visual artists from around the world. Transform materials, and learn about colour, textures, and composition before heading home with a brand-new creation! With Ian Funke-McKay. To register, or for more information, check out: www.artscentre.ca/autumnarts2020

Room to Grow (2/2) - Marah Laforge I belong to a reserve called Timiskaming First Nation. I basically grew up there and am really passionate about the Anishinabe culture and think it’s very important. At Ross Creek, they made me even more proud to be Native American and to express myself. There was a week this summer when I got a bit sick so I had a lot of time on my hands. During that time I put together a call-and-response land acknowledgement for the camp. I think ...that it’s important that everyone has that education about where they are and on whose territory. It was super interesting to me because I’ve never been able to write and lead something like that. It felt very empowering. It actually made me pretty emotional because I’ve never had a place where I could bring that out of me and express it and share it with other people. Everyone was super accepting and very encouraging. It made me want to dive more into those kinds of things. After that I was looking through the library and I found this book, it’s like a comic on Indigenous culture, and I was in a workshop with the juniors (4-7 year olds) so I read it to them. I was kind of scared because I didn’t want them to be uninterested but they were so into it and they wanted to read it every single day! I was able to teach them my own understandings and words and different parts of the culture and it was just super nice to get even the small kids interested and learning. And then they started going to tuck and saying miigwetch when they got their snacks. It was so...I almost cried. I’d like to keep working at Ross Creek and make it to a counselor position eventually. I want to become a teacher because I just really enjoy interacting with kids all day and being able to educate them on new things. Seeing how curious and open minded they are is just so cool. Ross Creek has really helped me figure that out. I also want to learn even more about my Indigenous culture. Even though I’ve already made progress there’s always room to grow. Check out www.artscentre.ca for more stories and to get involved AND visit www.artscentre.ca/donate to build a lasting connection with us and have your donation matched until Dec 31st by Jason Roth & Cheryl Steadman Roth! Today is the final day of "HUMANS OF ROSS CREEK/TWO PLANKS"- to catch up on more stories you can visit www.artscentre.ca/humans! Thank-you for joining us on this journey into sharing some of the incredible individuals who make up our community.

The Piano (2/3) - Andrea Hewitt Community engagement is a pillar of Collective Social Responsibility at McInnes Cooper. The firm launched the CSR program in 2009 and it has always been informed by the interest and enthusiasm of our members. Sharon is an active volunteer with so many organizations. She’s really engaged but in a really quiet and understated way. She really takes pride in her work and is just such a special person. Sharon reached out that she had some thi...ngs she wanted to donate or find a new home for and one of those was this piano. I didn’t immediately recognize the story behind it, that it is so antique and unique. Ross Creek came up as an organization that might be interested in it. I was aware of the Centre and happy to reach out to Chris. I was so thrilled she said yes. We realized that this was probably going to be costly to move so I turned to McInnes Cooper to see if we could help offset the cost of delivery. The whole thing was a very organic process. I think the word philanthropy gets a bit of a bad rap - it has a beautiful definition about the love of people but it carries this connotation that’s all about money. But really it’s about maintaining a sense of altruism - volunteering, engaging our members and their interests. It’s not just cutting those cheques it’s about building those community partnerships and relationships and conveying the message [...] that you matter and we’re here to say that and help you believe it. It’s about being authentic and caring.

The Piano (1/3) - Sharon Gates I grew up with that piano. Mum said it was old when she got it. That piano has always been there in our house - we played under it, around it, behind it. It was just a big part of our household all the time. Mum grew up in Kentville. She used to play the piano and she’d put the big songbook up and Dad would sing. Dad never had any training, he was taught to be a mechanic by his brother, but he would stand there really straight and sing. ...He could dance and he could sing. We were a family with a love of music. The whole area, the whole valley had such a way of sharing music in their own homes. When Mum passed away I thought ‘what am I going to do with it? I don’t have room.’ I thought about giving it to a museum, or something. I went to Andrea Hewitt, our Collective Social Responsibility Coordinator at McInnes Cooper, and said, I’m trying to find a home for this piano and she suggested donating it. Andrea is fantastic - everything we do at McInnes Cooper she seems to be there, she’s such a lovely person, so giving, tries to help everyone - so I thought, ‘that’s a good idea.’ See more

Last work for a little while on the awesome #langohut by @andrewobol with help these days from @aggreyagwatamsanii. Can't wait to welcome them back and to see its next phase! #artisforeveryone #nscad #storytelling #communityarts

Sunday, November 15 marked National Philanthropy Day - a day meant to recognize those who give, volunteer, and actively engage in making our world a better place. We at Ross Creek and Two Planks want to take this opportunity to shine a spotlight on a few of the artists, donors, volunteers, and participants who have left their mark on our community. Over the next two weeks we will share their stories with you on our social media pages - so stay tuned and look for #HumansOfRossCreek and #HumansOfTwoPlanks There are so many ways you can get involved in what we're doing here on the mountain. Check out www.artscentre.ca to learn more about our programs for kids and adults, art residencies, volunteer opportunities, or to donate!

The Storm - Joan Craig When starting the Craig Foundation it was largely a way to support local theatre across Nova Scotia. I love the idea that Ken has taken so many chances on classics and the latest local work. That really appeals to me. The first time I saw a show at Two Planks, there was a storm in the middle of it - thunder and lightning and rain. They stopped the show and the audience all gathered inside to wait to see if the show could continue. The rain let up... enough and we were given ponchos and we all stayed through to the end. You could hear the raindrops on our ponchos. There was a feeling of camaraderie among the audience and the performers to have that experience together. The Centre does other things besides putting on plays - like camps. I’m really pleased they are going out into the community and welcoming people to the theatre and the arts. They welcome everyone in the community - maybe those who might think theatre isn’t for them. My real focus is on the actors - theatre is who they are and, especially now, being able to support what they do and give them that light in the darkness is what I want to do. Right now, instead of thinking ‘when is this going to end?’ we need to be thinking that this is our life today so what are we going to do about it? This isn’t a time to live half-heartedly. If we can forget about what will come tomorrow and concentrate on how we’re going to live today that would give some people hope.