WHITEHORSE – On Jan 3 Mt. Sima launched a community fundraising campaign that includes a rolling ball sculpture and painted mural, with all funds raised going towards the new Pelly Construction Chairlift.

The official name of the program is the Rolling Ball Sculpture, Community Fundraising Campaign.

"We're very excited about the program we've created that will allow the community to show their support for the new chairlift,” said Patti Balsillie, member of the board with the Great Northern Ski Society (GNSS), operators of Mt. Sima. "This is a fun and unique program, which allows people to see their contribution for years to come,” Balsillie added.

The rolling ball sculpture was created by Philippe LeBlond and the mural was painted by Halin de Repentigny.

The project lead was Nerissa Rosati with Copper Moon Gallery and project financial contributions were made by Waterstone Leisure Products.

Community Fundraising - Program Details

• People can purchase a ball for $50, $100, $250 or $500.

• Each time a ball is purchased Mt. Sima will add that ball to the sculpture.

• Purchases can be made anytime online at www.MountSima.com or at the Mt. Sima ticket office during operating hours.

• There are only 400 balls available to purchase.

• Once all 400 balls are sold Mt. Sima will display the names of all contributors in the order of the contribution amounts.

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Mt. Sima - Background

The Great Northern Ski Society operates Mt. Sima, a year-round outdoor recreation facility.

The new Doppelmayr fixed-grip quad chairlift, named the Pelly Construction Chairlift, complete with loading carpet, has the capacity to both upload and download passengers.

In the summer of 2012 Mt. Sima will introduce downhill mountain biking, alpine hiking, a one kilometre ZOOM Zipline and a four-acre Monkido Aerial Adventure Course. The ZOOM Zipline and Monkido Aerial Adventure Course will operate as WildPlay Yukon and form part of the WildPlay Elements Park brand found throughout British Columbia.

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Artists Bios

Philippe LeBlond

Born and raised in Vancouver, Philippe came North to work one season in the early nineteen nineties. Had he been told then that he would be living in Yukon a couple of decades later, and as an artist, he would have probably laughed.

Philippe has recently graduated from college with a diploma in mechanical technology with a goal to design bicycle parts. With his penchant for recycling, fabricating his active imagination, and the need to survive through the Yukon winter, he started making weather-vanes. He also created Dog carts, but that is another story, there are a number of stories.

That foray into art eventually led to more and more complex and abstract sculptures. Most of his work is kinetic, he enjoys the chaotic and temporal aspect movement can impart. Interactivity is also a common aspect of his work, art that you do something with tends to make a lasting impression and gives a mutability to the piece.

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Halin de Repentigny

Halin de Repentigny was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1959. As a boy he demonstrated an interest and natural ability as an artist.

He started painting with watercolours when he was six, and began using oils at 10. Exposure to the styles and techniques of French-Canadian impressionists Maurice Lebon and Marcel Farreau made a significant impact on Halin.

He abandoned a conventional education, and without formal training, merged his extraordinary skills of observation with canvas and oils, and began to record the world around him.

Halin spends most of his time in the bush where he inhabits cabins of his own construction, runs sled dogs, traps and paints. He sometimes call his lifestyle ‘pressurized living' referring to the demands of day-to-day existence.

This immersion is captured in many of Halin's paintings, which are testimony to his unique lifestyle, as well as vision.