Inspired by the need for more arts, culture, community and connections in our small community of Halfmoon Bay, a group of community members planned and organized an Art Wheel/ Open House event at our local community hall.
Halfmoon Bay is a rural community of around 3000 residents, 12 minutes north of the city of Sechelt. It is a ribbon community, spread out along 10 kms of road and highway with few centralized places for gathering—especially in the dark winter months.
With the intention of bringing together artists, makers and musicians to share with the community and animate one of our few local community hubs, the Halfmoon Bay Cultural Cooperative was formed.
In collaboration with this emerging ‘cultural cooperative’ and building on the branding success of my small art and music studio (The Mudmoon Studio, which has hosted small music and art shows in the past), we contracted, sponsored and promoted this free community music event.
Performing to a pack house, the Soul Sessions brought a mix of soul, gospel and R&B to warm the spirits of community members.
The community response was overwhelming—free music offerings of this caliber are rare and this evening experience exemplified the suitability and desirability of our little community hall to host more diverse and frequent events in the months and years ahead.
The community was grateful to the Neighborhood Small Grants initiative for their financial support of this event. With the grant I was able to pay the band as well as professional sound person to ensure a successful and professional event. There were some additional costs which I incurred myself but overall it was worth it to bring these vibes and provide a warm, welcoming and inclusive space for our small community to gather and socialize.
The crowd was a mixed and diverse crowd with children and elders sharing the space, eating snacks, drinking tea, dancing and singing along.
In addition to the successes, we learned a few things about organizing a dynamic and diverse event. The timing was challenging for additional artists and food vendors (part of our original visioning of the day time open house portion of the art wheel) due to the abundance of community Christmas fairs. We anticipate another pilot event in the early spring with additional organizers and contributors to ensure high levels of community participation and a diverse experience.
Overall, the event was a resounding success and we look forward to another one in early spring 2025.
