American author/actress/socialite/designer Gloria Vanderbilt is establishing a literary prize for Canadian short-story authors. The prize is dedicated in the memory of her son Carter V. Cooper, who committed suicide in 1988. So, she's responsible for real life hottie Anderson Cooper, fictionally related to hottie Nate Archibald, and giving to the literary community in Canada? Gloria Vanderbilt is some kind of magic.

Christie Lake Kids is looking for an immediate volunteer for their Monday and Tuesday art classes at their Caldwell location, at 1475 Caldwell. Monday classes are from 5-6:30 and Tuesday classes are from 4 -5:30. There are currently 3 weeks left of classes. Interested volunteers should have a criminal record check, and contact Kristin at: kaubrey@christielakekids.com
For more information about Christie Lake Kids please see: http://www.christielakekids.com/home/index_e.asp
Christie Lake Kids offers recreational and skill development programs at no cost to economically disadvantaged children in the Ottawa area between the ages of 6-16 years old. Our catchment area is parallel to the City of Ottawa city limits. Through our programs, Christie Lake STAR (Skills Through Activities and Recreation) and Christie Lake Camp we assist children and youth to develop skills in the arts, recreation and athletics, which in turn builds leadership skills, self-confidence and the positive outlook that they need to break out of the poverty cycle and become young people contributing back to society.

Artists for Haiti
An art auction and sale
Tuesday, February 9th
CUBE GALLERY (7 Hamilton St. N.)
Preview and sale of artworks begins at 11 am
Reception at 5:30 pm
Auction at 8pm (minimum bid)
$5 entrance fee
Join our hosts Adrian Harewood and Oni the Haitian Sensation for an evening of Action for Haiti. Over 60 artists, poetry, drumming, and music throughout the evening.
Light refreshments, including Haitian patties, will be served.
AfrikArt Konnection and Paul Dewar, MP, in collaboration with Cube Gallery invite you to help raise funds to provide food, water, shelter, clothing and first aid to the people of Haiti through the Canadian Red Cross.
With over 80 artists including:
Barbara Gray
Beth Levin
Bruce Garner
Chikonzero Chazunguza
Cynthis O’Brien
Don Monet
Doris Lamontagene
Hawa Kaba
Heather Campbell
Ivan Petrov
Karole Marois
Nattawadee Panikom
Norman Takeuchi
Paula M Zoubek
Rollande Dufault

There are so many arts things happening in town tonight that it just seems like a better idea to combine them in one post than to keep posting them separately. Duplicate info will be deleted shortly.

ABSTrACTS/RéSuMÉS: An Exercise in Poetry
Thursday January 28, 7 pm
Performances at 7:30 pm
Club SAW, 67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa
Free admission (donations are welcome)
In the context of the exhibition Fibred Optics, the Ottawa Art Gallery and The A B Series present a reading by six poets who transform Michele Provost's installation into an evening of performance poetry. Provost's visual art installation references text from contemporary art criticism and forms the raw material for the commissioned poets' projects.
The A B Series specializes in presenting readings of performance, sound and experimental poetry by professional local, national and international artists. For more on The A B Series, please visit www.abseries.org.

THE CFI IS PROUD TO PRESENT:
ATOM EGOYAN IN PERSON with THE ADJUSTER (1991)
Screening and Book Launch
Thursday, January 28
7:00pm
Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington)
$10 Students, Seniors, CFI Members
$15 General Public
No Passes
Atom Egoyan in person! Restored 35mm scope print!
Throughout 2010, the CFI will be celebrating its 75th year with special cinematic events.
The first of these will take place on January 28, when Atom Egoyan – who showed his first feature film, NEXT OF KIN, at the CFI way back in 1984 – will come to Ottawa to introduce the CFI's screening of a restored print of his 1991 film, THE ADJUSTER.  This screening will also feature the official Ottawa launch of  the book, ATOM EGOYAN’S THE ADJUSTER, written by CFI Executive Director, Tom McSorley, and published by University of Toronto Press.

While we've all seen film crews blocking pedestrian pathways around town from time to time (I once did a double take after seeing a checkered cab and a U.S. payphone on Metcalfe), Adrian Langley took it a little further and filmed an entire feature here in Ottawa with a local cast and crew. The result, Donkey, is playing two shows tonight at the Rideau Centre Cinema at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.. It's unusual that Empire is making room for a little picture like this (especially since it's Avatar that they are bumping out of the theatre to make said room), so, if you can, head over there tonight to support local cinema.

There have been rumblings about this in Dylan cirlces for a few weeks now, but I guess I didn't really believe it was true!  Well, the awesome folks over at Columbia Records sent (Cult)ure the following press release this morning:

Christmas In The Heart will be the 47th album from Bob Dylan. Songs performed by Dylan on this new album include, "Here Comes Santa Claus," "Winter Wonderland," "Little Drummer Boy" and "Must Be Santa."

All of Bob Dylan's U.S. royalties from sales of these recordings will be donated to Feeding America, guaranteeing that more than four million meals will be provided to more than 1.4 million people in need in this country during this year's holiday season. Bob Dylan is also donating all of his future U.S. royalties from this album to Feeding America in perpetuity.

Additionally, Bob Dylan is partnering with two international charities to provide meals during the holidays for millions in need in the United Kingdom and the developing world, and will be donating all of his future international royalties from Christmas In The Heart to those organizations in perpetuity. Details regarding the international partnerships will be announced next week.

Bob Dylan commented, "It's a tragedy that more than 35 million people in this country alone -- 12 million of those children -- often go to bed hungry and wake up each morning unsure of where their next meal is coming from. I join the good people of Feeding America in the hope that our efforts can bring some food security to people in need during this holiday season."

Christmas In The Heart will be available for pre-order starting today on Amazon.com

Friday

Peter Gordon (#4 from his "In Branches" series, pictured) has a photo exhibit on tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at BodyMind Wellness Studio (309 Cooper between Metcalfe and O'Connor).  Admission is free, and 10% of the proceeds go toward Parkinson's research.

Artengine, Club SAW, and House of PainT present Graffiti Research Lab Canada, who will be putting on a subversive, interactive show with the help of DJ Huggs and Ghetto Blast Sound System. Graffiti art + innovative technology + DJs = an amazing party where graffiti will truly become an elevated art form.  It's on tonight, July 24, at Club SAW (67 Nicholas) starting at 9 p.m. More info.

On Thursday my friends and I stopped by the Metric show on our way over to see Iron & Wine. Metric wasn't known to me at the time, but they put on a good show. That Emily knows how to rock.

As we danced and maintained what we thought was a respectful distance between our group and the people in front of us, a pair of Titans and their Amazonian girlfriends decided that to fill that space. At 8:30. For an 8 o'clock show. Yes, four people who were 5'10" at their shortest decided the very best place they could stand when they showed up half an hour late was directly in front of three women who are 5'4" at their tallest. 

Shouting things like, "EXCUSE ME!" "WHAT THE FUCK?" and "COULD THEY BE ANY TALLER?!" produced no results (let it never be said that Metric plays too quietly), so that's when you stepped in, White T-Shirt. You had been there the entire time, moving gracefully on your own at a respectful distance. You knew injustice when you saw it.