Originally published: The Record (Waterloo Region) - Entertainment, Tuesday April 1, 2003, p. B4

By Martin De Groot

April arrives, once again, packed with promises.

To begin with, April is Brush With Art month. Having only just finished organizing a major event called Packing Promises at Centre in the Square last month, it is a wonder the Brush With Art crew has the stamina to immediately launch into another annual campaign. But today, for the fifth year in succession, volunteers begin venturing out into the community with paint brushes, mints and gift packages in hand to raise funds to support the visual arts in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Also worthy of note: Photographic April, an ambitious new undertaking from The Photo Arts Collective (PAC). Working with partners throughout the Waterloo-Wellington area, the group has organized a month-long program of events designed to showcase the state-of-the-art of photography in the central Grand Valley. There are shows in Cambridge, Guelph, New Hamburg, Kitchener and Waterloo; in galleries, bars, cafes, a hair salon; even the K-W Humane Society is involved. For details, visit the the group's Web site at www.photoartswaterloo.ca.

We have to wait until May for the return of Open Ears, Kitchener's Festival of Music and Sound. But April is Open Ears Month at the Kitchener Public Library. Details have just been released on a series of workshops, talks and special events -- a series so extensive that it almost constitutes a festival in itself.

It starts tomorrow evening, when Waterloo composer Jascha Narveson presents the first of four weekly sessions during which he will create an electronic piece based on KPL recordings. Everyone is invited to observe and ask questions as the music gets put together. (April 2, 9, 16 & 23, 7 to 8 p.m.).

Thursday at 7 p.m. the Canadian Hearing Society is offering a public lecture on the prevention of hearing loss. On Saturday, April 12 the CHS mobile audiology van will be on hand to offer a preliminary test to measure "how your life on this noisy planet has affected your hearing."

On Saturday at 1:30 p.m., there's a Deep Listening Workshop with Toronto musician Anne Bourne. Hearing is involuntary, but listening is active engagement with one's aural environment. Deep Listening furthers this process by expanding your attention to the relationships between the sounds around you.

Also in the series: Sonic Geography: Imagined and Remembered (Monday, April 14 at 7 p.m.). Ellen Waterman from the U of G Music Department discusses her ground-breaking work examining acoustic ecology from a cultural studies perspective. Drum -making Workshops with Peter Jarvis. Children learn how to make, decorate and play their own drums. (Saturday, April 19).

Taiji and Ting Jing Workshop with Steve Higgins is Ting Jing, the ability to listen to the subtle energies in your body and your environment. This is an important part of Taiji, better known as Tai Chi. (Saturday, April 19 at 2 p.m.). Contact Improv Dance Workshop with Tanya Williams and Colin Umbach is a cross between meditation, martial art and dance. Contact improvisation explores spontaneous conversation expressed through the body. (Saturday, April 26 at 10 a.m.).

There is also Chime Time Workshop with Guelph percussionist and instrument builder Jesse Stewart. Participants will create chimes out of reclaimed and recycled materials. (Saturday, April 26, 2 p.m.).

For more information about these and other Open Ears events, visit www.kpl.org and www.openears.ca.

There is plenty more to look forward to: the New Quarterly's annual Canada Book Day reading on April 23, which will be held at the Kitchener Public Library this year; the announcement of the 2003 One Book One Community reading selection, also scheduled for the 23rd; the Charlie Awards honouring the best in Waterloo County student film at the Princess on the 24th, and the third annual Waterloo Festival of Animated Cinema, which opens the following day.

A final note for artists working in the visual arts and literary fields: the deadline for submissions to both the 1st KW Art Gallery juried exhibition and the 2nd WRAConteur Literary Competition have been extended from yesterday to the middle of April.

The KWAG bi-annual juried is open to all artists in the Waterloo Region and all adjacent counties. For more information, visit the new K-W Society of Artists Web site at www.kwsa.ca or contact KWAG curator Allan MacKay at (519) 579-5860 ext. 15 or ahmackaykwag.on.ca.

The literary competition welcomes entries in five categories: short fiction, non-fiction, poetry, cultural journalism (any article on an arts-related subject) and published books. Call (519) 744-4552 or go to the opportunities page at www.waterlooregionalartscouncil.on.ca for details.

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Martin DeGroot is executive director of the Waterloo Regional Arts Council. He comments on arts and culture Tuesdays in The Record. You can reach him by e-mail at: mdg@golden.net

© 2003 The Record (Waterloo Region). All rights reserved.