The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Some of ttiem liave included parades, kid's parties, artist talks, demonstrations and even a garden show. Notable exhibits have featured local talent as well as shows from Austria, Tehran, Iceland, Chile and Cuba. According to Linda, a great strength of the organization is its collaborative approach to seeking out creative partnerships and a genuine belief in "the intrinsic value of art to make a difference, one person at a time." While the positives are many, there are challenges. For a non-profit organization witti a volunteer board, the future is always uncertain and both vision and courage are needed to maintain stability and growth, There are always ongoing financial issues, since at the government level, art rarely ranks high on the list of funding priorities. THE FUTURE. Despite the challenges, Linda Feil Is optimistic. "The North Shore has a very vibrant and healthy arts community. It is looked to as a model by other regions of the province. The new Office of Cultural Affairs for the City and District of North Vancouver carries a voice for the arts to the municipal management teams, all very positive indications of a higher profile for the arts in the future." CITYSCAPE GALLERY - RENT ART! The North Vancouver Community Arts Council (NVCAC) has run its art rental program for almost 30 years. This twice-yeady salon style show displays over 115 new works, by eighty-five artists. More than 300 works, in watercolours, acrylics, oils, pastels, photography and mixed media, are available year round for rent at modest fees ranging from $8-$35 per month. Take home your favourite piece and if you find yourself reluctant to part with the work you can buy it. A "meet the artist" opening reception will be held January 10th from 7-9p.m. Three women artists, (Lois Klassen, Pamela Cambiazo, Madeleine Wood) respond to unfinished, neglected or abandoned domestic landscapes. The somewhat melancholic theme is repeated through video, stills, needlework and brushwork. The woman is absent from the domestic scene, yet her presence is felt as observer and artist. Homes and traditional duties are abandoned. There is a reconsideration of familiar routines, a reinvention of our relationship to home-making. The historical perspective is both personal and communal. Klassen constructs large installations of conceptual work. She spends hours recording her own engagement in traditional handiwork. Her works are part of, yet clash with, the fantasy of developer floor plans advertised in brochures and newspapers and aimed at the contemporary home buyer. The public can participate in a sewing circle to tie blankets that will be donated to Klassen's "Comforter Art-Action" project for internationally displaced people. Madeleine Wood's oil paintings of unmade beds are sumptuous and intimate. The viewer, placed in the picture, feels the absence of the sleepers more provocatively. Shapes and shadows, heat and scent are now only memories on the sheets. Pamela Cambiazo's watercolours of stacks and stacks of unwashed dishes, though cheerfully presented, create a sense of foreboding at the magnitude of work left undone. WHAT Women's Work WHEIM: February 1st-23rd. Opening reception January 31,7-9p.m. WHERE: CityScape Community Art Space. 335 Lonsdale Avenue W O M E N S 'W O R K Plasma T V {gallery installation, detail} - Klassen WHEN: January 10th-26th 2008 WHERE: CityScape Community Art Space, 335 Lonsdale Ave. Gallery open Tuesday-Satiirclay. noon to 5p.m. Highrise - Monument to a lost social gospel (gallery inslaltalion). Photo tiy ttlechelle Lymbumer www.arts-alive.ca