Six String Nation comes to Victoria middle schools
For Immediate Release
April 26, 2017
Victoria, B.C. – The Victoria Foundation kicked off its contribution to the Three Things for Canada movement this week with a series of performances of Jowi Taylor’s acclaimed Six String Nation at Greater Victoria middle schools.
The Victoria Foundation is proud to be bringing the Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and his nationally-celebrated multimedia presentation for a week of performances for local students.
This presentation of Six String Nation is the first in the Victoria Foundation’s events planned as part of the Three Things for Canada initiative. This national movement encourages all Canadians to perform three acts of service, large or small, for Canada, as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations.
“Three Things for Canada is about helping to build a sense of community and belonging at a national level and we’re thrilled to contribute,” said Sandra Richardson, Victoria Foundation CEO. “Bringing Six String Nation to Victoria’s youth is a perfect fit and we know they’ll enjoy Jowi’s massively entertaining and enlightening performance.”
Six String Nation features an acoustic guitar called Voyageur, built from over 60 pieces of Canadian history, representing different cultures, communities and events from every corner of Canada. Materials incorporated into the guitar include a piece of gold from Maurice “Rocket” Richard’s 1956 Stanley Cup ring, a section of Iqaluit muskox horn and wood from Haida Gwaii’s famous Golden Spruce.
The project took 11 years to bring to life, and Taylor has been bringing his inspiring work to communities across Canada since its 2006 debut on Parliament Hill.
For its second “thing” for Canada, in May the Victoria Foundation will be bringing Victoria-based Kwagiulth artist Carey Newman’s Witness Blanket to the Community Foundations of Canada Belong 2017 conference in Ottawa. In September, the Victoria Foundation will cap off its Three Things for Canada by bringing back the extremely popular Victoria Foundation Day, which sees a variety of Greater Victoria attractions open their doors to the public for free.
For more information on Six String Nation visit sixstringnation.com
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Background
Established in 1936, the Victoria Foundation is Canada’s second oldest community foundation and the sixth largest of nearly 200 nation-wide. The Victoria Foundation manages charitable gifts from donors whose generosity allows them to create permanent, income-earning funds. The proceeds from these funds are then distributed as grants for charitable or educational purposes. To date the Victoria Foundation has invested more than $176 million in people, projects and non-profit organizations that strengthen communities in B.C. and throughout Canada.
Media contact
Kyle Wells, Communications Specialist
Victoria Foundation
P. 250.381.5532 E. kwells@victoriafoundation.bc.ca