Everyone in Prince George has been invited to see the cutting edge of the arts.
This city is the new home of a special division of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, one of Canada's premier facilities for teaching the elements of art and design. This division will focus specifically on the uses of wood, and will be housed inside the Wood Innovation and Design Centre (WIDC) downtown.
Today and tomorrow, Emily Carr will hold an open house for proper introductions with the public and their team of instructors, administrators and some of the students already in the program.
"This is the first time in the history of the building that all the citizens of Prince George are invited inside the WIDC building," said Emily Carr official Broek Bosma. "We will have a number of displays, about 10 members of our operation will be there talking about what we're doing, we will show some 3D printing and rapid prototyping, there is a display on wood design, one that displays some of the work the students did this summer in partnership with UNBC, and we are also going to have a live demonstration of aboriginal carving going on."
The event will show the public some of the differences behind carpentry and the design work students will be learning, or engineering and design, although there are elements of all those things incorporated into these specialist programs that will roll out inside WIDC.
Bosma said it was a chance to show the public some of what the program will do in Prince George, but it was also a time for Emily Carr personnel to collect comments from the public.
"We want to respond to the hopes Prince George has for our presence in the community. We want to be doing the things you want us to be doing," he said.
The open house happens today from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m., then 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. It is free to attend, all are invited, especially those with an interest in high-tech and high-art woodworking.
