Where Do Lottery Funds Go?

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When you buy a ticket for Lotto Max or Lotto 6/49, where does that money go?

The answer, indirectly, is the Cultural Exchange. We’re one of the over 12,000 groups across our province who benefit from the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation. Funding administered by SaskCulture makes what we do in this province possible.

So next time you’re buying a lottery ticket, know part of your money is going towards improving the cultural life of Saskatchewan. For more information on this topic, go to Saskatchewan Lotteries’ website.

Queen City Rocks Off and Running

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We’re not quite at the halfway point yet, but a lot of Queen City Rocks has already passed us by.

Every year, 104.9 The Wolf gathers local bands together for a huge battle of the bands spanning weeks. For the fourth year running, Regina’s rock station is giving out prize packages including cash from Jim Beam, gift cards to Long and McQuade and Taco del Mar, and tons of airplay on the Wolf.

Weeks 1 and 2 have already taken place. Amongst crowded fields of talent, Circles and Revolution and League of Wolves were the two winners who’ll be moving on to the Grande Finale.

That still leaves an awful lot of music left to go, with Week 3 happening on February 26 –– the only Friday date this year –– and Week 4 on March 3, with the Grande Finale coming up on March 24.

If you’re looking for action past, present, and upcoming, there are plenty of places to find that! Kamiki Piks Photography covered the second week of QCR this year, and has an album up on Facebook. The Wolf posted a video of just how they figured out the playing order for Week 3. And be sure to keep an eye on the #QCR16 hashtag for continuing updates.

(Also, while you’re at, why not follow us on Instagram? We’ve posted some of our photos from QCR and pop in with show updates on occasion!)

Queen City Rocks continues on February 26 and March 3 and 24. Doors for each night are at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. $10 at the door with funds going towards Music Heals, a charity devoted to music therapy. All ages and licensed.

Recently Announced: Pop Evil

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104.9 The Wolf and the Cultural Exchange are proud to present Pop Evil on April 3. After over a decade of existence, it’s about time the Michigan rock band made their way to the Exchange.

The quintet was formed by lead vocalist Leigh Kakaty. He’s led them through five albums so far, the most recent, 2015’s Up, having a pair of charting singles, “Footsteps” and “Ways to Get High.” They’ve supported those records with a hard-touring live show, driving fans to their hard rock sound across North America.

“The energy from being onstage is the addiction and having your fans sing your songs back to you is any musician’s dream,” Kakaty told Loudwire.

This is the latest partnership from 104.9 The Wolf and the Cultural Exchange. Regina’s rock station keeps bringing new and emerging bands to light, whether it’s on the air or through their long-running annual competition, Queen City Rocks, now in its fourth year.

Pop Evil are in the Exchange on April 3. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available at the door barring a sell-out. All ages and licensed. Advance tickets are now available online at Ticketfly and will be in stores at Vintage Vinyl and Madame Yes soon.

Outreach Program in Humboldt

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On February 5 and 6, the Cultural Exchange was in Humboldt, making memory journals with seniors. The Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils and Common Weal Community Arts have a touring exhibition of such works, Hello in There/Hello Out There, so Outreach Coordinator Rowan Pantel took the opportunity to bring Project Artist Chrystene Ells to Humboldt for an artist’s talk and workshop.

The Humboldt Journal was there to document the occasion. From the article:

Cognisantly, she had a lot problems with memory and felt really depressed where she was. But she loved playing with her cow box that she made, says Ells.

“You could see her change from being sad, depressed feeling out of place, missing her former life even though her husband is there. It’s almost as if she’s in a really dark place and this box with the cows in it was a light beam into her experience.”

Look out for much more in the future from the Cultural Exchange’s Outreach! Go to the program’s page for more on this and upcoming initiatives.

Recently Announced: Jason Collett

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The Cultural Exchange is proud to present Jason Collett in the Exchange on Tuesday, April 19.

Collet’s got a career to reckon with, his releases counting six albums to date along and his collaborators in the dozens and dozens. He’s been a part of Broken Social Scene and has bounced around the Toronto music scene for years, hooking up on and off with the likes of Bahamas’ Afie Jurvanen and Zeus.

Those partnerships carry through to his latest, Song and Dance Man. Jurvanen produced and played on the record, helping bring out a bouncy, dancier side to Collett’s singer-songwriter musings while keeping true to his songwriting voice. Members of Zeus also joined him in the studio, and that Toronto-based rock group will be with him on tour as his backing band.

Advance tickets will be available at Vintage Vinyl, Madame Yes, and online at Ticketfly. Be sure to keep an eye on our page for the event for any other further information!

Seniors Memory Journals in Humboldt

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Humboldt, SK
Artist’s Talk –– Friday, February 5 at 7 p.m.
Workshop –– Saturday, February 6 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The Cultural Exchange Outreach Program in partnership with the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC) is presenting a workshop and artist’s talk. This goes alongside the OSAC and Common Weal Community Arts touring exhibition Hello in There/Hello Out There. The exhibition is under the direction of artist Chrystene Ells and will be on display at the Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery from February 1 to March 23, 2016.

About the Project Artist
Chrystene Ells has a Masters of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies and is currently completing a post-Master’s program in Art Therapy at the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute. She has been working intensively with seniors for the past two years, and was inspired to begin this work when she was caregiving her father in hospice and palliative care and learned of the loneliness and lack of engagement that can be experienced by older adults in personal care facilities. The Hello In There/Hello Out There project is her response as an artist and an effort to bring connection, engagement, and the joy of creating into the lives of older adults.

Artist’s Talk
Friday, February 5 at 7 p.m.
Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery, 601 Main Street, Humboldt, SK
Chrystene will share her experiences with seniors in permanent care and seniors’ centres. She will “introduce” the artists and explain their processes during the making of the memory boxes currently on display in the museum. She will also share some of the ways that this project has deeply impacted the artists and their families, and its terrific reverberation in the community at large.

Workshop for Families and Seniors
Saturday, February 6 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery, 601 Main Street, Humboldt, SK
This half-day workshop asks participants to arrive with a senior family member to begin the process of making a memory journal. The focus on this project is to allow each senior an opportunity to share his or her personal story with others. This is a great chance for families to ask questions and learn from the older generation.

Come to the workshop to reminisce on family folklore, and hopefully hear stories that have not been shared before. Participants will create a unique memory collage or other visual arts piece around memory.

To register please contact the Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery at (306) 682-5226 or humboldt.museum@sasktel.net.

The Cultural Exchange Presents Act of Defiance, Twice

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For years, the Cultural Exchange has presented artists in a variety of venues and formats, from shows at the Exchange and the Club in Regina to our Workshop Tours and more. The Cultural Exchange Presents is moving into new territory now, co-presenting Act of Defiance in Saskatoon on February 8 and in Regina on February 9 with Zandra Productions.

The Los Angeles, CA foursome is made up of metal veterans, finding members from Scar the Martyr, Shadows Fall, and, most notably, Megadeth. The extreme metal group’s latest release, Birth and the Burial, came out in 2015.

We’re teaming them up with a pair of Saskatchewan bands. Saskatoon’s own Untimely Demise will be playing with Act of Defiance at both dates, while Moose Jaw’s Northern Fallout will be joining them in Regina.

This is an exciting, new effort here at the Cultural Exchange, and we’re looking forward to what’s coming next.

For more information, go to our individual posts about the Saskatoon date and the Regina date.

Holiday Office Hours

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The offices of the Cultural Exchange are taking a quick break. From December 24 to January 3, our offices at 2431 8th Avenue won’t be open regular business hours. If there are any questions or concerns during this time, please email zandra@culturalexchange.ca or james@culturalexchange.ca. We’ll be back to regular hours starting January 4.

During this period, the Exchange and the Club will still be going strong. Go to our Events page to have a look at the many upcoming events you can see through the holidays.

Whatever you’re celebrating this December, we wish you all happy holidays! We’re looking forward to telling you what we’ve got ready for the new year.

Yukon Blonde 2016 Headlining Tour Hits the Exchange

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“…every song on the Vancouver rockers’ second album is an utter and complete summer jam: 10 euphoric exercises on saccharine, psychedelic pop fit for the cottage, the patio or for turning up so loud in your car that people on the sidewalk start to walk in sync with the uplifting synth notes and frantic high hats.”
–– CBC Music (Top Albums of 2015)

Two weeks ago, Vancouver’s Yukon Blonde returned home from a tour with Hey Rosetta! that saw them travel clear across the country playing sold-out shows at historic venues like Massey Hall, The Vogue, National Arts Centre, the Jack Singer, and more. Now, they’re ready to do it all again. Beginning February 5 at home in Vancouver, the JUNO Award-nominated and twice Polaris Music Prize-listed band will take to the road for a month long tour that makes sure to stop in almost every province along the way.

The tour hits the Exchange on February 16, 2016. Tickets for the Cultural Exchange Presents show will be available at Vintage Vinyl, Madame Yes, and online. Tickets will be in stores on Friday, December 11. We’ll be updating the event in our website listings with all the details, including special guests as soon as they’re announced.

Out now via Dine Alone Records, Yukon Blonde’s On Blonde, produced and mixed by Tony Hoffer (M83, Beck, Foster the People, Air, Depeche Mode), gazes wistfully away towards the more shadowy elements of pop production, soft synthesizers, punching bass lines, crushed drums, 80s cosmic pop compositions, and saturated psychedelic guitar effects. It’s more dynamic, more visceral, instantly accessible, and sonically denser than its predecessors — an ambitious, fully realized psychedelic pop record from a band truly in its ascendancy.

Visit Yukon Blonde’s website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed, and Dine Alone Records website.

Thanks for a Successful Annual General Meeting

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Once year, the Cultural Exchange gets an opportunity to share our accomplishments from the past twelve months and our plans for the next. It’s our Annual General Meeting, and we held one on November 21, 2015. We’d like to thank the almost two dozen people who showed up to learn more about our organization and help guide it in the right direction. Your participation means the world to the staff and board.

In part of the meeting, elections were held to form our new Board of Directors. Seven directors from 2014/2015 were acclaimed for new terms: Barbra Bailey, Dawn Brown, Jesse Chatterson, Nick Faye, John Fettes, and Billy Patterson. Additionally, we welcome three new directors who were acclaimed at the meeting: Steven Dribnenki, Jon Josephson, and Caelan Reilly. Watch the Staff and Board section of our website in the near future to learn more about all our current board members.

As we welcome new faces, we say goodbye to old ones. Thanks goes out to outgoing directors Keegan Duck, Dylan Ludwig, and Josh Morrison. Their service to the Cultural Exchange has been invaluable.

This was also our opportunity to share our annual report, where our staff and board talk about the health and goings-on of the previous year. You can find a copy online here.