Catching Air With Vancouver Opera

So what the heck is up with Edel Rodriguez visiting Vancouver Opera, other than the fact that he’s the artist who designed the 2009/10 golden anniversary season’s artwork, and therefore, why not?

Well, we can let the cat out of the bag now…

VO had New Jersey-based Edel fly to Vancouver to personally sign the four custom designed snowboards we created with his images on them. One snowboard for each of our productions: Norma, Nixon in China, The Marriage of Figaro and Madama Butterfly.

The idea for the snowboards was conceived earlier this spring, as a way to commemorate our 50th anniversary season this year.

So why snowboards?

The reasons were myriad:
1. The Winter Olympics are just around the corner
2. We ARE a city of snowboarders, and skiers and outdoor lovers
3. Edel’s bold, vibrant and eye-catching artwork lends itself to be the perfect fit for snowboard graphics.

But most of all, we just thought they’d be super cool!

In the summer, we started working with Prior Snowboards, a snowboarding manufacturer located just outside of Whistler, to design the top sheets that would go on the fully functional snowboards.

We got the call just over a week ago that the snowboards were ready for pick up. Managing director Christopher and I took an afternoon off to drive up to Whistler to see with our very own eyes how fabulously the snowboards all turned out.

Must say, our staff LOVES them.

And coming December 1, these one of a kind snowboards will be up for grabs on VO’s eBay charity auctions website. Profits from the sale will go towards mounting new operas. With only four in the world, these boards will certainly appeal to both the snowboarder set and the art collectors. So ride the boards or hang ’em up; that, we’ll leave up to you!