The Kipling and District Arts Council has been delighting audiences with various music groups over the past 35 years, starting back in 1986 with their first concert being John Allen Cameron.
The Arts Council has not only showcased musical talents but has also presented visual arts displays in the past. These art exhibits were organized and toured by the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils and were on display at the Kipling Community Centre gallery for the community to go and enjoy these works of art.
“We’ve received official word that there will be shows this fall and next spring,” states Mona Lynn Stender, president and performing arts co-ordinator of the Kipling and District Arts Council.
“We’re planning for a 2021-22 season,” Stender goes on to say. “When we last presented it was the 2019-20 season and we were into our third show out of the four the week that the world changed.”
The Arts Council really only had half a season, they got two shows in out of the four and cancelled that very week.
“Then our first problem was ‘Well what do we do with the season tickets that were sold,’” explains Stender. “So we called every one of our subscribers personally and gave them some options.”
Many of them had faith that the Arts Council would be back.
Stender explains that they said “I’ll take it as a credit to my next season ticket.”
Some even left it as a donation and said they’d start from scratch.
“We are very well supported,” says Stender who is very proud of the ticket sales they’ve had for past shows.
“That was gratifying to know that there was interest.”
“That’s where we left off in March of 2020.”
The venue in Kipling was closed as it was already rented out until the end of September 2021 so the committee knew they couldn’t hold a show until after that date.
The provincial co-ordinator had issues because some places use school gymnasiums so they had to abide by school protocols.
Some use their town hall, some have their own theatre, so trying to book tours to accommodate all towns was difficult.
And then booking the performers was also challenging. Some performers are coming from out of province so they would have had to quarantine for a couple of weeks depending on where they were coming from.
There are a lot of logistics that goes into the touring and the musicians have been out of work for a long time, although some have done a few virtual concerts.
OSAC also did a few virtual shows.
“We are going to do kind of a combination season,” explains Stender.
Out of the three shows that were supposed to happen previously in the 2020 season, two were rescheduled.
“People will probably notice a few differences in our upcoming shows in regards to COVID rules, but that will depend on government regulations at that time,” explains Stender. “We will definitely be having sanitize stations.”
Stender goes on to explain:
“There may be some options for seating. We could do group seating. That’s a possibility.”
“We sell tickets online so that’s an option for a touchless scenario.”
“We will definitely follow any guidelines that are laid out for us at that time.”
“Barring any big waves…that is the plan but we’ll go by the regulations that SHA sets out when the time comes.”
“We’ll make it as safe as we can,” says Stender. “We’ll do whatever it takes to make the audience feel more comfortable in coming to the show.”
“If people feel more comfortable wearing a mask, that’s their choice…they should,”
The Kipling and District Arts Council’s first show will be singer songwriter Martin Kerr from Edmonton.
Next will be The Bromantics, who do a tribute to the 50’s. Get ready for a cross between nostalgia and modern trend, attracting people of all ages.
The award-winning family fiddling group, The Fitzgeralds, will be the third show.
“We look forward to seeing new faces in the crowd,” says Stender speaking on behalf of the Arts Council committee.
“There’s a sense of joy and freedom in being able to attend events once again.”
It’s great to see emotions on a person’s face once again and that’s so important at a concert.
The performers want to be able to see the fans’ reactions and their emotional experience.
Provincially there have been many virtual meetings with OSAC which Stender has taken part in.
She has also taken many webinars and workshops online over the past year and a half coming away with this comment made by one of the speakers: “Our goal is not simply to survive but to thrive!”
“We’re dealing with the hesitancy and not sure what’s going to happen with the pandemic but we can deal with what we got and if we’re enthusiastic about it and willing to do what we can to make everyone comfortable, this is an opportunity. We’ve learned how to do things differently in the past year and a half.”
“It’s exciting to be getting on with the shows again,” says Stender. “We’re learning new things as a society.”
“I think we have something for everyone this year. We try to pick performances of every genre of music that will appeal to every generation,” says Stender. “We’re looking at expanding our audience and age group.”
Their mandate is to expose people to different types of music.
The committee has found in the past that some people purchased a ticket even though they say “it’s not my cup of tea” but they sure liked it in the end.
The committee makes sure each and every group they bring in has a home-cooked meal while they’re here.
“We’re quite proud of the hospitality we give to the groups when they come to perform in Kipling,” says Stender.
“Kipling is a great place to go,” is a comment made by many of the performers. They certainly appreciate the small town hospitality.
