We need RECYCLED art!!

Hey all you artists out there!!  Pay attention now…we need recycled art!  Interested?

Boundary Bay Brewery will be curating a RECYCLED art show where 100% of the commission returns to the artists themselves! The intention of this show is to raise awareness about recycled and sustainable art. All items in the show must be created with some element of recycled material…the more the better!  The art show will be hung November 28th and will be part of “Shop Where Your Heart Is” — a Downtown Renaissance Network event that happens Nov. 28th and 29th as well as the Downtown Gallery Walk, which takes place on Friday, December 5th.  All artists interested in being part of this show should email a photo of artwork being submitted along with the dimensions of the piece(s) and an explanation of the recycled elements within your work.

Please keep in mind that Boundary Bay is a family friendly establishment and will not accept submissions that contain explicit graphic and/or sexual nature. All emails should be sent to amy@bbaybrewery.com by November 10th.

Earlier this year, Boundary Bay partnered up with Sustainable Connections and made a commitment to move Toward Zero Waste.  As part of our efforts toward being the change we’d like to see in the world, we thought an art show exclusively featuring art made from recycled materials would be a great way to raise awareness, have fun, and highlight alternative uses for what might get thrown away.  As we enter into the holiday season, we here at Boundary Bay wanted to encourage supporting local businesses, supporting our community, and most especially, finding ways to celebrate the holidays that do not have adverse effects on our environment.

p.s. ( Ten Thousand Villages is going to participate in our art show as well as lots of great local artists.  We can’t wait!!)

Art and Beer

Last Sunday, Solace Wonder came up from Seattle to hold a live art show and an art exhibition at Boundary Bay Brewery.  He spent the afternoon down in our beer garden creating one of his signature pieces…using acrylic paints, spray paints, and even leaves from our very own garden.  There was beer and pizza to keep the viewers sated and coloring pages of Solace’s characters to keep the kiddies entertained.  Oddly enough (and my favorite part of the whole event!) it turned out that while watching Solace create, every single person who was watching ended up picking up a marker or a crayon and working on those coloring pages themselves.

I think that says a lot about Solace Wonder…that simply his act of creation inspired an entire beer garden full of art and beer lovers to create right along with him.  What better function of art is there?  And what better beverage to accompany such antics than beer?  =)

We are hoping to have more art functions in both our brewery and in our beer garden.  Contact us with samples of your work if you are interested in showcasing your talents!

Salmon at The Bay

Salmon at the Bay is a fundraising event that features a salmon-inspired art show and a kick-off salmon bbq held at Boundary Bay Brewery every year forthe last six years. Salmon at the Bay is Northwest Salmon Enhancement Associations‘s largest fundraiser and all proceeds from the event go directly to funding streamside habitat restoration projects throughout Whatcom County.

This year’s theme was Common Waters: Connecting Salmon and People. One of the best things about Salmon at the Bay is the way this event really brings the community together and highlights the beauty of this unique and iconic species. Local artists were asked to create and donate salmon and water-inspired pieces of any medium to be displayed and sold gallery style at Boundary Bay through August 24th. This year more than 50 local artists, including featured artist Laurie Potter, donated their time, talents, and masterpieces to Salmon at the Bay. The vast majority of the participating artists live right here in Bellingham, and every artist resides in Whatcom County.  To see a slideshow of the art from this year (as well as the past two years!), click here.

People who are interested in supporting NSEA in our endeavors to restore sustainable wild salmon runs to Whatcom County can support NSEA in a variety of ways; by becoming an individual or business member of NSEA, by volunteering at a community stream restoration work party in the spring or fall, by adopting a restoration site to maintain with friends and family on a regular basis, by attending NSEA events, and by making lifestyle choices that minimize harmful impacts on local watersheds.

Salmon are a keystone species here in the Pacific Northwest and are an important indicator we have of the health of our coastal ecosystems. Salmon are extremely sensitive to changes in water quality, water quantity, and trophic webs. The more intact, diverse, and productive a freshwater ecosystem is, the healthier the salmon stocks will be. A decline in the ability of a stream or river to support the rearing of young salmon indicates a decline in the overall health of the ecosystem. Salmon carcasses provide rivers and streams with large amounts of marine-derived nutrients that feed aquatic insects, eagles, humans, and even the trees and shrubs growing along the banks. Timothy Egan wrote that, “the Pacific Northwest is any place a salmon can get to,” and I’m inclined to agree.

written by:
Lindsay Taylor
Volunteer Coordinator for NSEA