For the past three months, Port Coquitlam writer and editor Nicole Hillman has welcomed guests into her "Living Room."
Thing is, it's not exactly hers.
Her "Living Room" is what the performance/exhibition space in the Gathering Place used to be called before the city changed it in January to recognize former city councillor - and arts champion - Michael Wright.
But it's the room where Hillman has felt most comfortable, from a professional standpoint, as she has chatted with visitors to the Leigh Square Community Arts Village and had her creative juices flowing all winter long.
From the start of 2015 until mid-March, Hillman was PoCo's official artist-in-residence - a little-known program that has brought in professional local artists to ply their craft over a three-month stint. And in the past year or so, the "Living Room" has hosted artists working and teaching in a variety of disciplines although Hillman is its first scribe.
A graduate of the Southbank Writing Program and The Writer's Studio, Hillman has had a wealth of material to choose from her array of visitors. She's had people walk through the gallery to admire the current exhibit by the Spanish duo Olliemoonsta. She's had comments from parks staff and passersby who have shared stories or posted magnet poetry messages on her community board or tickled the ivories or take note of her funky purple typewriter. And there have been a few vagrants stroll in to take a nap in her "Living Room" as well. "It's been really wonderful just soaking in the atmosphere," she said, looking around the light-filled circular gallery during her last week of residency. "In fact, it's been one of the best things I've ever done. I've had a lot of inspiration."
Though artists-in-residence tend to use their time to produce a body of work for a future show, Hillman said she isn't quite sure yet what she'll make out of her three months. But distilling it for a publication is top of mind for Hillman, who is also a Friends of Leigh Square board member and is now curating an exhibit focusing on stigma, with PoCo visual artist and friend Diane Moran.
The city considers its artist-in-residence program a success, a chance to give local artists a boost while also allowing the public to "bump into art" at a civic facility with the aim to make art more mainstream and less intimidating, a spokesperson said. Artists lucky enough to win a three-month spot are specifically asked to interact with the community as much as possible - whether it be to watch the artist work in a live setting, take part in an activity or simply talk about current and future projects and cultural trends.
PoCo resident Jennie Easdale, the co-artistic director of the Calgary-based Green Fools Theatre Society, said her group is looking forward to taking the next residency slot.
From April 1 to June 30, the non-profit ensemble made up of "writers, musicians, painters, sculptors, inventors, teachers, singers, actors, acrobats and clowns" - but mostly Easdale - will create, perform and teach physical theatre arts.
Though it's known for touring the world, the municipal residency will be a first for Green Fools.
"We will be designing and constructing masks and puppets for the main portion of the residency," Easdale said, noting the May 20 to June 5 period will include music composition and rehearsals in the lead up to a June 6 preview; the following week will be the formal performance of an all-ages show, titled Peep.
Easdale said she'll need volunteers to help paint and construct sets. "As well, we encourage the community to watch the production in process and provide their thoughts and ideas to the piece," she said.
To check out Green Fools' work, visit the Gathering Place at Leigh Square on weekdays (except Thursdays) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. from April 1 to June 30.
