Art of Transition Award Presentation
Last night I was invited to attend the private award presentation for music to Blue Rodeo member, Greg Keeler. The event took place in a 10-week old boutique restaurant on the fringe of Durham in Bowmanville called Tetra Kitchen & Vines. This restaurant is owned by chef James Chatterpaul, Mark Homer, Ryan Johansen and Penny Johansen featuring culinary creations by Chatterpaul, head chef of sister restaurant Chatterpaul’s in Whitby.
Several of the members of the award selection panel were in attendance, which gave it an air of exclusivity. Greg received his award to a flurry of flashes as the press was in good attendance including several local bloggers.
He was granted the opportunity to speak and was asked questions, which was actually something I would have liked to have seen at the official awards ceremony. It’s nice to hear from the winners.
Greg spoke a great deal of his love for the area he’s called home for the past 25 years and how it inspires him to write music. “The best source of inspiration for writing music is to go for a walk and with 25 acres, I do plenty of walking.” He said he even shot his latest video on his property in Bowmanville.
For my American friends who may not remember Blue Rodeo, they are a Canadian country rock group that hit the big time in the late ’80s especially in Canada with songs like “Lost Together” and “How Long”.
Later in the night, after things wound down and the paparazzi flashes tapered out, the music started up again and conversations flowed.
I spoke briefly with the dean of the School of Media, Art and Design at Durham College, Greg Murphy who suggested I look into teaching there. Then I ran into the organizers of Oshawa’s Space Invaders, Grant Cole and Steven Frank who had lovely things to say about my mom’s art and we discussed the vision for the arts in Durham. I chatted with the gang from Spark Centre, the executive director of BACD Theresa Shaver, as well as Art of Transition organizer Kerri King.
It was a lovely night full of vibrant and enthusiastic conversations with a collection of highly talented individuals all looking to make Durham a thriving creative centre. If we have anything to say about it, this the direction Durham is heading.