Harmony Arts Festival Art Market: Friday, Aug. 2, 2-9 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 3-Monday, Aug. 5, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, Aug. 9, 2-9 p.m.; and Saturday, Aug. 10-Sunday, Aug. 11, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Location: Along Argyle Avenue between 14th and 16th streets in West Vancouver. Info: harmonyarts.ca.
AT this time of year, Christie Rosta refuses to discuss the weather.
Special events and festivals manager for the District of West Vancouver for the last five years, Rosta is charged with overseeing the municipality's upcoming annual Harmony Arts Festival, and apparently whenever the topic is raised among her fellow organizers, it's immediately kiboshed, their fingers crossed for sunny skies.
"We don't talk about it until it comes," she laughs. The 23rd edition of the Harmony Arts Festival is being held Friday, Aug. 2 through to Sunday Aug. 11 and looking through the program, it's easy to see why. Programmers have clocked countless hours putting this year's lineup together and the annual celebration of music, performance, cinema, visual and culinary arts, all being presented along West Vancouver's waterfront and offering something for all ages, is bursting at the seams.
"I really enjoy seeing everyone come down to the waterfront and socialize, appreciate and enjoy the art and enjoy the music. It's very festive," says Rosta, 39.
One of the popular features of the festival is its Art Market. A total of 80 artists, some new and returning, and from throughout the Lower Mainland, Sea to Sky corridor and Vancouver Island, will be featured this year. Each weekend of Harmony Arts will see 53 artists exhibited along Argyle Avenue, between 14th and 16th streets. Mediums include painting, jewelry, metal, leather, glass, ceramic, textile, wood and photography.
"It's an amazing lineup this year. It's high quality, alloriginal, one-of-a-kind pieces," says Rosta.
The Art Market jury faced a tough decision this year, seeing 188 artisans apply.
"We had jury members, art professionals from West Vancouver, and they spent an entire day going through all of the different applications," says Rosta.
Among those chosen was West Vancouver jewelry designer Chi Cheng Lee of Chi's Creations.
Born in Taiwan, Lee, 51, moved to New York when she was nine. Raised in an artistic family, her late father, Hung Chu Lee, made Chinese watercolour painting on silk, and her sister is a New York City-based fine artist. Lee honed her craft at Parsons School of Design, graduating in 1985. Making jewelry for 30 years, she also worked for luxury design house Harry Winston for 15 years, both in New York and Hong Kong. Lee and her husband have called the North Shore home for the last 10 years.
At the Art Market, Lee will be selling a variety of pieces, which she handcrafts from sterling silver, and various karats and colours of gold, adorning them with pearls, semi-precious and precious stones, as well as diamonds. She'll have pieces on display from her Stacking Rings collection, which are designed to be fun to wear and offer buyers an opportunity to wear them alone or interchangeably with others from the collection.
Lee also plans to exhibit some pieces from her Balance Collection, designed to keep wearers grounded.
"I always find it's very important for people to have emotional connection to pieces that they buy or that they wear because it's so personal," says Lee. "I would like people to wear a lot of my pieces every day, like I wear every day. There are certain things that I wear all the time. It just makes me feel together and dressed and balanced. That's the emotion that makes people feel good. It shouldn't take over you, it should complement you.. .. I go for the very simple elegance and low-key, but you can be dramatic but not over the top because you should also see the person too, behind it or wearing it, so it becomes a part of you."
While Lee took last year off, she was featured in the Harmony Arts Festival Art Market the previous five years.
"I've always loved the festival," says Lee. "We used to go to the festival even before I was selling there. There's a lot of activities for my daughter, she was very young. There's lots of music, lots of free activities, and there's a very family (atmosphere) and you meet your friends."
"It's so beautiful to do the show. It's the best place to be, by the beach," she adds.
For more information on this year's Harmony Arts Festival, visit harmonyarts.ca.
For more information on Chi's Creations, visit chiscreations.com.
