Interviewed Marian Donnelly the other day for an article in our annual Fall Arts & Culture issue on the sorry state of Regina’s arts infrastructure. One fast fact: the Neil Balkwill Arts Centre is stuffed way past capacity, so much so that in a Recreation Facility Plan adopted by City Council in April 2010 its was fast-tracked for an expansion to double its size, yet it has a darkroom sitting empty. The Balkwill teaches photography, but most people work digitally now, so a darkroom is useless, yet no coin’s available to renovate the room and put it to another use. Nice!

Donnelly is the driving force behind Creative City Centre, a new arts incubator that’s opened in downtown Regina on the top two floors above Loggies. While I was leaving after the interview, I noticed four posters for upcoming gigs on the wall. Overall, a pretty impressive line-up.

Here’s a link to Creative City’s website, you can read more about them there.  And here’s a list:

Tonight: Ann Vriend with Rebecca Lascue (8:30 p.m. $8).

Friday: The Sumner Brothers (pictured) with Steve Brockley and Black Drink Crier (8:30 p.m., $8).

Saturday: Reuben Bullock with Danny Goertz (8:30 p.m. $8).

Sept. 22: T. Nile & Adrian Glynn with Susu Robin (8:30 p.m. $8).

To give you a taste, here’s Vriend’s video for “Grafitti on My Heart”. And here’s the Sumner Brothers with “When You Dig My Grave”. And here’s T. Nile with “Trees”.