Ottawa’s Murder Plans are on a role! Those lucky enough to have caught them live this past Friday probably learned the band will be playing their first Bluesfest in July.  They also released their first official music video for the single, “Tell a Lie” this past week. The video features 30+ of their friends, family and fans singing the song in a four-square jump-cut style of video.  The backdrop is from the 2010 Good Omens LP of the four musicians against the dismal looking Ottawa River. Directed by bassist/vocalist Michael... | Continue reading article

Calling all blossoming art-collectors! It’s time for the Ottawa Art Gallery’s (OAG) annual fundraiser, le pARTy – a chance for art enthusiasts to simultaneously support local artists, assist the OAG in the funding of their youth programming, as well as (potentially) bring home your very own original work of art! For sixteen years running, organizers at the gallery have invited artists to submit original pieces in a variety of mediums for the silent art auction. This year, you will have the chance to bid on work by The Latest Artists... | Continue reading article

My ancestral homeland’s colourful celebration continues this weekend, but because we’re not spotlight hogs, we’re sharing the weekend with our neighbour to the east. They’re putting on a film festival, so if it’s at all rainy, you’ll probably want to head over to Library and Archives! If you’re in the mood for music tonight, head down to Raw Sugar to hear Alicia Hansen and Sarah Hallman’s haunting voices, or out to the Black Sheep for Jeremy Fisher‘s catchy tunes. On Friday, those of you who’ve always dreamed of being on... | Continue reading article

Hopefully you all aren’t getting tired of us posting the City’s arts policy papers yet, but we’re really hoping to inspire you to share your thoughts on what the city government can do to help make Ottawa a more fun city (more food posts next week, we promise!). Today we’re looking at the Emerging Cultural Voices Paper, which shares some of the city’s ideas on what it can do to support emerging artists, immigrants and cultural diversity. While it’s great to see attention being paid to new professional artists and... | Continue reading article

It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for Chinatown Remixed, since May seemed to sneak up on us pretty quickly this year. But this is not to say that Chinatown Remixed is an unwelcome event – to the contrary! How could anyone disagree with a month-long celebration of art, music and food in one of Ottawa’s favourite neighbourhoods? Last year’s event brought art installations and other creative projects to Somerset West. This year, there are similar events planned, with pieces lining the walls and windows of various vendors for... | Continue reading article

As citizens of this fine city, we all have a profound responsibility. No, I’m not taking about paying your taxes or voting in elections. This is something much more important: making sure that Ottawa is a fun place to be. With the establishment of  their second five-year arts and heritage action plan, City Hall is doing its part to help funkify the NCR. We’re hoping you’ll help out as well by sharing your ideas with the city. Towards that end, we’ll be posting one of the city’s twelve discussion papers on ideas to help support... | Continue reading article

The Enriched Bread Artists (EBA) building is one of those spots you should visit. It’s made up of several floors of small studios, spread throughout an interesting warehouse-looking building on Gladstone Avenue. The EBA have become famous for hosting super-fun open house events where you can meet the artists and see whatever they happen to be working on most recently. Thankfully, they’re starting to open their doors a little more often. This weekend from 11am-5pm, both Saturday and Sunday, you can see EBA artists Jean Halstead, Gayle Kells, Marika Jemma,... | Continue reading article

Update: We’ve got a winner! Congrats to Rusty, who knew the answer was Flin Flon – it’s a major copper mining centre, was named after a character in a science fiction novel, and was the site of a medicinal marijuana production facility. (It’s also where the above picture was taken.) The first few days of Prairie Scene (note our ongoing coverage in the top right corner of the site, y’all) have been a windy, blustery affair – though perhaps that’s appropriate, given that as a kid growing up in Saskatchewan,... | Continue reading article

Editor’s note: Throughout the week, Apartment613 will be giving away Prairie Scene tickets and other awesome stuff on the site, on Facebook, and on Twitter. The first giveaway is today – click through for more details! Every year, I lay down 800 bucks or so on a plane ticket and make my annual pilgrimage back to Saskatchewan. While I can get a bit negative about certain aspects of the trip – my parents’ suburban home makes it near-impossible to get around without a car, for instance, and the mosquitoes are... | Continue reading article

Yesterday was really the first real day of Spring. People were out and about and reader Milan Ilnyckyj offered to share some of his photos from his walk across the city.