YLW Connection - Winter 2010 - (Page 20)

FROM VINEYARDS ROM TO JUNGLE In Pursuit of Public Art (and a few other things) | B Y CA R ME N H ILD E B R A N D H ere I am in Belize, overlooking the emerald green Sibun River. This is my first visit to inspect 20 acres of jungle my husband and I bought in partnership with another couple. I laugh and say to my friend: “If someone had told me 10 years ago when I moved to the Okanagan Valley that I would marry an artist, travel the world, and buy a piece of jungle, I would have told them they’re crazy.” I first met my husband Jock Hildebrand, an International sculptor, during the 2002 Okanagan Thompson International Sculpture Symposium (OTISS). This event, which he founded, brought 22 international sculptors and 80 local sculptors to the Okanagan-Thompson region to work on monumental pieces of public art. These pieces are now displayed in 8 separate communities. Some of Jock’s own pieces can be found as close as Bernard Avenue in Kelowna, and Dobbin Road in West Kelowna, and as far away as China, Vietnam, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic. Now we are in Belize because our friends convinced us to share a piece of jungle, which we bought based on pictures. When I mentioned this to a couple we chatted with on the bus ride from Cancun, they gave us a bit of an odd look. “You did what?” “Yep, sight unseen.” What we found when we got here was far more spectacular than any pictures our friends had shown us. Belize is a small country south of Mexico with a population around 300,000. The Altun Ha: Ruin near Black Orchid. true heart of the Caribbean, it is a melting pot of cultures with a large Creole population. The style is laid-back and the people are friendly. What is most impressive is the sense of harmony with which people from all backgrounds live, work and play together. Our home base (where we built a small house while we figure out what to do with our piece of jungle) is the Black Orchid Resort, situated on the Belize River. A half hour drive from Belize City, it is a great location from which to explore this country. Everything from snorkeling with stingrays to visiting Mayan ruins, as well as river and jungle tours can be arranged here. With a goal of spending a few months out of the year in Belize, we got busy looking for opportunities to continue Jock’s passion for public art, while contributing something to this lovely country. A meeting with the director and some of the staff from the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) facilitated just that. NICH was created by the government of Belize to bring together diverse government departments designed to preserve and promote Belizean culture. It oversees the Institute of Archeology, Institute of CreativeArts, Museum of Belize and House of Culture, as well as the Institute for Social and Cultural Research. We proposed the idea of a sculpture symposium, utilizing local materials (Belize is rich with limestone most suitable for carving) as a spring-board to a local public art collection. Symposiums provide an YLW CONNECTION

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of YLW Connection - Winter 2010

YLW Connection - Winter 2010
Contents
Airport Services
Taking Care of Business in Extreme Travel Conditions
Imagination Leads to Career in Aviation
Hitting the Slopes
Boeing Boeing Gone - But When?
Safety Equals Security at YWL - Airport Watch Program
Mexico Fiesta at YLW
Be Merry and Pack Smart This Holiday Season
Okanagan Impact on 2010 Olympics
From Vineyard to Jungle
Aloha!
Okanagan Estate Wine Shoppe
YLW News
Trivia & Games

YLW Connection - Winter 2010

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