ACES update for May
The Arts Centre for Edson Society (ACES) is a group of Town of Edson and Yellowhead County citizens who have come together to advocate for the arts and culture community of Edson and area; and to develop a new cultural multiuse facility for the community. Arts and Culture has been proven to be a key pillar to improving the quality of life and well-being of citizens.
The group was very busy over the last two months. In early April, they met with representatives from the Edson Cultural Heritage Organization who operate and manage the Red Brick Arts Centre. At this meeting, ACES began some informational discussions surrounding a possible partnership and future renovation of the Red Brick that would see the building house more seats, have a larger stage and backstage area, improve the lighting equipment, and modernize the theatre among other things. ECHO then met at their regular board meeting in April where they decided to respectfully decline ACES offer for a partnership. “ACES would like to thank members of ECHO for taking this offer into consideration,” says President Peter Taylor. “We will now look to other means to develop a new performing arts centre in Edson to further meet the needs of our community. That said, ACES will always be open to any partnership that will help to make this dream a reality.”
Over the past month, ACES members took part in the regional survey on the future of programming and facilities. They openly advocated community members to speak about the great arts and culture initiatives in Edson and advocated heavily to build a new a theatre. The group looks forward to hearing the results of the survey.
ACES continues to promote arts and culture events via its Facebook page. Be sure to like the page to hear about new events and hear reasons why having a new arts centre in Edson is important. facebook.com/artscentreforedson.
Two recent successful events included the revival of the Pandora Players with their production of In On It. The one-act play had two great performances in Edson and then won three awards, including Best Production, at the Yellowhead One-Act Festival in Whitecourt. “The other event was the Zone 2 West Junior High Drama Festival,” says Taylor. “The event was hosted by Pine Grove School and saw 10 plays from 10 shows perform on April 27 and 28.”Three of Edson’s high schools, Holy Redeemer, Parkland and Pine Grove, performed very well, however no members of the public could be seated for the event as there was not enough space in the venue. “This was an awesome event that many people wanted to see,” says Taylor. “This is just another reason why Edson needs a new theatre.”
This summer ACES is again proud to promote the Rotary Sundays in the Park. The group will be seen volunteering at the August 13 event, however they openly encourage members of the public to go all the events this summer that are sure to be a great time.
• Rotary Sunday in the Park
o June 25, 2017; Centennial Park
• Canada Day Celebrations
o July 1, 2017; Centennial Park
• Rotary Sunday in the Park
o July 16, 2017; Centennial Park
• Rotary Sunday in the Park
o August 13, 2017; Centennial Park
• Canada Day Celebrations
o August 27, 2017; Centennial Park
• Canada Day Celebrations
o September 10,
2017; Centennial Park
• Canada Day Celebrations
o October 1, 2017; Centennial Park
To learn more about the work ACES has done visit our website www.artscentreforedson.ca and follow our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/artscentreforedson