Artists in Communities Create in Local Neighbourhoods

Riley Park/Hillcrest artist Lisa g Nielsen and artist intern Lisa Walker will be gathering stories from local residents to capture the history and flavour of this unique neighbourhood. In addition, they will work with community members to set up a production studio at Riley Park community centre, sharing tips on everything from digital photography to short story writing, filmmaking to creating your own blog, and everything in-between.

Come and make YOUR memories matter! In this welcoming atmosphere, explore how you would like to share your personal connection to the community, whether humourous, anecdotal or thoughtful. No story is too small! Learn the software skills that can expand your creative world. If computers scare you, no worries! If you only want to share photos that you found in your attic, come on by! Have a short poem to share? We want to listen! Got a hankering to make a short video? This is your moment! All participants will receive a free DVD copy of the finished collection and be invited as special guests to the celebratory presentations. You will also be able to send links of your stories, images, and videos to share with friends and family around the world. www.rileyparkstories.blogspot.com 

Lisa g Nielsen

Lisa g Nielsen is a multidisciplinary artist who has enjoyed expression through photography, performance and the written word. As graduate from Vancouver Film School Lisa g has been focused for the last 10 years in the digital media realm. Her short videos (live action and animations) have traveled the globe and collected awards along the way. Obsessed by real stories by real people, Lisa g finds herself exploring the history of Riverview Mental Hospital through a trilogy of tales combining Super 8 film and interviews. Lisa g has been teaching digital storytelling workshops with the National Film Board of Canada all over BC and the Yukon for the past 5 years.

Lisa Walker

Lisa Walker is a photo-based artist born in the small town of Kitimat in Northern BC, Canada; she is currently living in Vancouver. She holds her BFA in Photography from Emily Carr University. Walker examines identity, self-representation, history and race through her artwork. She displays her inner thoughts and personal struggles through a visual language, which often results in images from her daily life, images of herself, and of her family. As a half Haisla First Nations and half British female, Lisa attempts to comment on binaries, barriers, and explore duality in identity. Often her work is a very personal comment on how it feels to learn about the histories of her family, the history of Canada. Photography offers Lisa the chance to record each moment, and to archive her own history. She attempts to bridge unspoken gaps, to reach out through imagery in order to encourage others to relate, to remember and to create dialogue.

Riley Park Community Centre liaison staff for this project is
Tony Syskakis, Programmer, phone: 604.257-8643, e-mail tony.syskakis@vancouver.ca