What’s up: Enchanted Forest, J.D. Renaud, art auction, Jo-Ann Roberts, Casual Friday

The Enchanted Forest

• Babs Asper Display House, The Leaf, Assiniboine Park
• Until Nov. 16
• Included in the $15.30 admission price to The Leaf

Suspend your disbelief as you step into the transformed Babs Asper Display house, where fairies may very well flutter amongst the leaves and gnomes scurry along the shrub-and-fern covered forest floor.

Celebrating the magic and majesty of trees and the role they play in sustaining life, the enchanted forest features more than 30 live trees including Norfolk pine, black hill spruce, lilac, oak, birch, and cedar, and bog plantings such as Venus Flytraps and pitcher plants to represent the layers of a forest ecosystem.

This temporary departure from reality and into the ethereal has been designed to inspire and encourage visitors to learn more about about the dedicated planting initiatives, forest restoration and protection of trees taking place at the park.

The trees at Assiniboine Park, many of them decades old, continue to face mounting threats from climate change, disease, soil stress and aging. These towering elms, maples and oaks perform a vital function in keeping cooling the air, anchoring biodiversity, storing carbon, and offering shade and shelter to millions of park visitors.

— AV Kitching

 

J.D. Renaud live comedy recording

• The Handsome Daughter, 61 Sherbrook St.
• Sunday, 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m.
• Tickets: $20 at 3common.com

Winnipeg comedians are feeling specials lately: last week at Luci’s — located inside Exchange District bodega Ashdown Market — Spencer Adamus recorded his, while Matt Falk drove down to Winkler’s PW Enns Concert Hall to tape his own hour.

This Sunday at the Handsome Daughter, alt-comedy mainstay J.D. Renaud takes the stage. “I need a packed house for both shows, and I’m not afraid to beg,” posted the comic/artist, the creator of the kaleidoscopic bathroom wall collages at the Dave Barber Cinematheque.

An oddball performer and fringe festival standout, Renaud will share his best laugh lines in a set that promises to be as personal as it is unpredictable. “If you’ve never seen me do comedy and you’re shy — don’t worry — I’ve written actual material (and) I guarantee you no crowdwork. Hell, possibly even no eye contact.”

Renaud takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Catch one set or catch both.

— Ben Waldman

 

Art from the Attic auction

• St. Vital Centre, 1225 St. Mary’s Rd.
• Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m.
• Free to attend, visit grandsnmore.com for more information

Looking to add a Wanda Koop original to your wall? Or a print from William Kurelek?

Grands ‘n’ More Winnipeg is hosting a live pre-sale art auction this Friday ahead of its annual Art from the Attic fundraiser on Sunday, Oct. 5, at St. Vital Centre.

The pre-sale auction features 25 lots of donated paintings, screenprints and mixed media work by local and international artists, including Cam Cross, Cori Jacobs, Jackson Beardy and others. The catalogue features mid- and high-end pieces, with sale price estimates ranging from $50 to $2,000.

Auction artwork will be displayed in the southwest wing of the mall, near the former home of The Bay. Bidding begins at 7 p.m.

Next weekend’s Art from the Attic fundraiser runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the same location. Prices start at $5.

Grands ‘n’ More is a local volunteer group helping raise funds and awareness for grandmothers and grandchildren in Africa impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

— Eva Wasney

 

Jo-Ann Roberts at Thin Air 2025

• Bill & Helen Norrie Library (15 Poseidon Bay — Friday) and Artspace boardroom (424-100 Arthur St. — Saturday)
• 3:30 p.m. (Friday) and 1:30 p.m. (Saturday)
• Free (Friday) and pay what you can, suggested $30 (Saturday)

Jo-Ann Roberts has stood for elections on four different occasions, running for the Green Party in both Victoria and Halifax. And while she went 0 for 4 in her bids to cross the finish line first, her experiences on the campaign trail, and as interim leader of the Green Party in 2019-20 — as well as her time as a reporter covering politics for CBC for 20 years — led her to put pen to paper to write about electoral politics in Canada.

Published in March by Nimbus Publishing, Storm the Ballot Box: An Insider’s Guide to a Voting Revolution offers Roberts’ suggestions on how to get more people voting, what keeps people from voting (or gets them to vote strategically), the power of polls and more.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

Roberts returns to Winnipeg — where she and her husband lived for nine years, and where their three daughters were born — as part of Thin Air, formerly known as the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, for a pair of events.

On Friday she’ll be at the Bill & Helen Norrie Library at 3:30 p.m. as part of the fest’s Big Ideas series, in which she’ll give a free talk about Storm the Ballot Box and politics in Canada with former CBC host Terry MacLeod.

Roberts will then be at the Artspace boardroom on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. as part of the Writer Studio series, and will discuss being both interviewer and interviewee, offering tips for folks on both sides of the mic. Admission is pay what you can, with a recommended contribution of $30 — tickets are available at wfp.to/iJK.

For more on Roberts and the remaining Thin Air events, see thinairwinnipeg.ca.

— Ben Sigurdson

 

Casual Friday

• Featuring Alumni of Mama Cutsworth’s DJ Academy
• Little Brown Jug, 336 William Ave.
• Friday, 7-11 p.m.
• Free

Sarah Michaelson, who spins under the name Mama Cutsworth, is a pillar of Winnipeg’s dance scene.

Curator, music educator and DJ, Michaelson has been behind the decks for some of the city’s most memorable parties over the past 20 year or so.

She’s shared the stages with the likes of Boney M., Naughty by Nature and Salt ‘n’ Pepa. In recent years, she’s thrown her momentum behind rearing the next wave of femme and gender non-conforming DJs in the city.

In partnership with the Manitoba Conservatory of Music, she coordinates a DJ Academy that aims to “upend gender imbalances on the turntables.” Every season or so her students throw a recital to show off their new sets; in effect, a big dance party affiliated improbably with a classical conservatory.

This season, the student DJs are Diamonddubz, DJ DeLulu, DJ Blaurock and Golden Boy — the recital unfolds at the Little Brown Jug brewery.

Famous for its wholesome rave-like parties, LBJ will warm things up for Nuit Blanche festivities in the neighbourhood on Saturday.

—Conrad Sweatman