DECEMBER 2009 (Tofino, B.C.) - The Pacific Rim's longest-running festival is pleased to announce Ucluelet's Angie Roussin as its 2010 poster artist. In its eleventh year of commissioning an annual poster image to a local artist, the Pacific Rim Whale Festival Society's Board of Directors selected Roussin's portfolio from a range of artists. Hundreds of Whale Festival posters are distributed and sold across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland as a means of marketing the festival, and the poster itself has become a collector's item in recent years. Roussin's custom design playfully captures the essence of the upcoming celebration - life on the coast - including the stars of the show, the whales.
Angie Roussin made a permanent move to Ucluelet in 2006, although she grew up in a commercial fishing environment and frequently visited the West Coast of Vancouver Island for month-long fish openings. She started taking art courses at age seven, and with current influences including the quirky aquatic images of Ray Troll and the satirical art of quasi-anonymous Bansky, she "was really lucky to have parents who encouraged me to paint on the walls as a kid."
After a few years of agency-based artwork in Vancouver, Roussin decided to pursue her dream of opening a studio and boutique featuring creatively self-produced art and eco-friendly clothing. After switching her snowboard for a surfboard, she is now at the helm of Piña Studio & Boutique on Peninsula Road, where days are spent "making art, printing shirts, drinking coffee and having big laughs."
The Pacific Rim Whale Festival (March 6-14, 2010) is in its 24th year of celebrating the migration of approximately 20,000 Grey Whales by the shores of Ucluelet, the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and Tofino. Fueled by volunteers, this 9-day kickoff to Spring on Canada's West Coast features signature events such as the Martini Migration and Wickaninnish Inn fundraising gala, alongside an array of educational and cultural activities for all ages - complementing whale watching from both the water and the shore.
