West Vancouver's Harmony Arts Festival: a retrospective appraisal. Ron Falcioni ART REVIEW T OBVIOUSLY requires a considerable expenditure EH of time, energy and money to mount the West Vancouver Harmony Arts Festival each year. Art exhibits, crafts displays, free public concerts, drama, lectures — not to mention a diverse array of activities ranging from Creative Kids Day to the Harmony Art Auc- tion — must all be carefully woven into the fabric of the week-long event. For six months numerous com- mittees and more than 200 volun- teers have been hard at work behind the scenes te ensure that this annual summer extravaganza is as successful an event as possi- le. Just what constitutes this success can be measured by a variety of criteria, not the least of which should be the esthetic: value of the art selected to reflect the creative talents of the community at large. Or so one would assume! But consider a moment the scope of the art provided for our delectation. The juried exhibit at the Ferry Building was no less disappointing this year than last. With one or two possible excep- tions, we were witness to a prosaic cross-section of works that ranged from the imaginatively uninspired (and at times even unselfconsciously derivative) to what right be considered ‘‘just competent’ technically. [FUTON BLOWOUT =. 675 Mon.-Sun. 12-7 While quantities last. Factory Futon auction on Sunday afternoon in John Lawson Park. One hardly wonders why the show, organized, publicized and adjudicated by women, consisted very largely of the work of women, a fact that smacks of un- premeditated sexism. Generally lacking in that distinc- tiveness that invests art with real merit, these works had, for the most part, little to recommend them to discriminating viewers. This year as last, the ArtBeat street gallery exhibit, while feaner - than a year ago, proved superior in quality to that of the Ferry Building Gallery, though the absence of exemplary artists of the stature of Blair Drawson, Ron Woodall or Grahame Gilmore was an obvious oversight. The ArtBeat presentation ranged from the mundane metaphysical realism of Gordon Findlay, whose QUEEN ONLY SIZE reg. $800. 259 ra st St., N. Van. (REAR ENTRANCE} ®84-45 04 FINE ITALIAN DINING ... an alluring combination of top quality Italian Food and elegantly intimate atmosphere and decor. EXP. SEPT. 6/93 | | { l | | 922-6282 BS [sat 1747 Marine Dr., W. Vancouver [BeCrape Timothy Renshaw North Shore News * Max, - 6 people + Food only ¢ Applies Mon.-Fri. for lunch * MONDAY-SATURDAY / 7 for dinner Yee pega, OFF LUNCH or DINNER ** Ristorante Italiano paintings rernain as tightly over- worked as ever, to the neo-WPA mannerisms of Ross Penhall, whose new landscapes demon- strate a slow but constant process of growth and.assimilation. Also noteworthy was Lisa Strecko’s simulated stained-glass creation, Ghost Among the Or- chids, a unique work which, like Beatrix Schalk’s Positive Connota- tions series of paintings juxtapos- ing natural and human forces, demonstrated a high degree of technical inventiveness. The capricious humor of Sa Boothroyd in such prints as Food Groopies and The Ordinary Cana- dian was equalled only by the VENTURA Pad Lock JUMBO Eraser Set 2 pk. BLISTO PLUS Stapler & Siaples JR.JADE Back Packs asst. VENTURA Pen & Pencil case VENTURA 24 pk Quality HB Pencils VENTURA Water Color Set 16 pk, ‘$400 $