Stir Pairing: Some of B.C.'s best in art, food, and wine to tease the coming of summer
This edition features ARTS 2022 at Surrey Art Gallery, BC Farmers’ Market Trail, and Blasted Church Vineyards
Vladimira Fillion-Wackenreuther, Thermal Vision in Golden Ears Park, handwoven tapestry.
Eileen Fong, Arbutus Trees on Rocky Cliff, 2022, acrylic on canvas
Blasted Church Vineyards Cabernet Franc 2019.
Glorious Organics.
Every week, Stir Wine Pairing suggests locally available wine and food to go with a local arts event.
The event
ARTS 2022 at Surrey Art Gallery to July 24
The food
BC Farmers Markets
The wine
Blasted Church Vineyards
Robert Drew, Clouds Over Howe Sound, 2021, digital photographic print
The lowdown
Painting, drawing, fibre art, sculpture, photography, stop-motion animation, and more: ARTS 2022 is the Arts Council of Surrey’s 38th-annual juried exhibition of works by established and emerging visual artists from across the Lower Mainland.
Jurors were tasked with selecting from over 200 entries to identify the final 52 pieces. This year’s jury included local textile artist Diane Roy, Surrey School District art teacher Jane Silversides, and Surrey Art Gallery’s volunteer-program coordinator Chris Dawson-Murphy, whose criteria included technical skill, innovative artistic thinking, and strength in addressing a chosen theme.
The show is now on online and in-person at Surrey Art Gallery (admission is free), while ARTS 2022 award recipients will be announced at the gallery’s summer-opening reception on June 19.
“ARTS 2022 is a critical part of Surrey’s creative community,” Surrey Art Gallery assistant curator Rhys Edwards says in a release. “It provides an opportunity for artists of all backgrounds and experience levels to exhibit their work in a professionally curated and hung exhibition space and to be recognized by their peers. There’s nothing quite like seeing your art hung up on the wall alongside other quality pieces, and we look forward to providing that experience every year.”
Casa de Nata.
The food
Farmers markets are set to return in full force all across the province after a couple of pandemic years of scaled-back operations.
Among the scores of noteworthy local vendors this year are Nina’s Pierogi, makers of handmade pierogies in gluten-free or organic unbleached dough and The Banana Bike, which serves frozen bananas dipped in small-batch chocolate. Then there are gelato and cheese from the family-run Tesfa Farms, home to grass-fed water buffalo (and an ethos of hope); and Casa de Nata’s freshly made Portuguese custard tarts; and farm-fresh, salmon-safe seasonal greens, salad mixes, vegetables, fruit, and eggs from Glorious Organics.
Raw honey, seafood, craft beer, coffee, kefir, craftspeople, live music, and tons more: you can search more than 145 farmers’ markets across 10 regions throughout B.C. via the BC Farmers’ Market Trail, a free online tool.
“BC farmers’ markets have always been known for supporting local food and foodlands,” Heather O’Hara, executive director of the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets says in a release, “but people may not realize that farmers’ markets are where thousands of BC’s most beloved businesses get their start, including local favourites like The Juice Truck and Spread Em’ Kitchen.”
Blasted Church Vineyards’ Pinot Gris 2021 Skaha Bench.
The pairing
Since we’re going with some of the best B.C. has to offer, we’re turning to Blasted Church Vineyards.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Okanagan Falls winery on the Skaha Bench has a new team and has earned notable accolades of late, like being named #2 winery in B.C. and #3 in Canada in the 2021 WineAlign National Wine Awards. And while we know you can’t judge a wine by its label, we love those from the Renaissance Series, which feature photos taken across B.C., a joint effort of Brandever and Vancouver photographer Alastair Bird, superimposed with figures from classical paintings plucked from their holy surroundings and placed into modern-day scenarios by Shreya Shetty, a Los Angeles-based concept artist.
There’s cheeky humour across the branding for the winery named after a house of prayer that was dismantled and rebuilt in 1929—consider the web copy for the sold-out OMG 2016, “and on the 8th day, pop, fizz, clink!”, for instance, or the Nothing Sacred 2017: “After scouring Hell’s half acre for the finest grapes, we stopped at nothing to make this heavenly sin”. Then there are wine names Unorthodox Chardonnay, Holy Moly, and Big Bang Theory. But winemaker Evan Saunders, who has a degree in microbiology from University of Victoriawho studied grape and wine technology at Brock University, is serious about what goes in the bottle. The Cabernet Franc 2019 won platinum at the prestigious WineAlign awards, while Hatfield’s Fuse has become iconic in itself. The Pinot Gris 2021 Skaha Bench is perfect for a hot summer day. Made from three blocks of hand-harvested, estate-grown Pinot Gris with long, cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks (90 percent) and neutral French-oak barrels (10 percent), the blend has flavours of stone fruit and citrus and goes especially well with salty cheese and grilled fish.
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