The journey an artist goes through is a long and weary one.
Red Deer’s Bruce Jacobson hopes to help people better understand that journey at his At Your Service presentation at the Red Deer Public Library (RDPL) downtown branch next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Jacobson will combine live music with literary and visual arts in a tribute to the life and works of Yukon poet Robert Service at the Friends of the RDPL’s Let’s Talk About the Arts event.
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Jacobson, a self-described “amateur expert” on Service, said he wants people to know how all artists relate to “Bard of the Yukon.”
“When you begin working on art, you never know where you’re going to wind up,” Jacobson said. “I want to touch on the process of getting inspired to take the next step as an artist and why things pull you in one direction or another.”
The presentation will have live music performances from Jacobson; there will also be works from local artist Paul Boultbee shown accompanied by Service’s poetry.
Jacobson has performed Service presentations for 10 years.
“He lived such an interesting life and it was beyond the Yukon poetry – that was what made him a poetry rock star, but his life was much more beyond that,” said Jacobson.
“I want to keep Robert Service alive,” he said. “He needs someone to champion for him.”
The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee are two of Service’s best known poems.
A few years back, Jacobson went to Whitehorse, Yukon, where he sat in the Robert Service Campground and wrote poetry.
“I was egged on by his spirit. Those are the kinds of things [artists] don’t share … and I’m hoping to let people know the processes an artist goes through to get to the end result,” he said.
Jacobson said the presentation will have something for everyone interested in the arts.
All profits made at the event will go towards the Friends of the RDPL.
“I’m a real library fanatic,” Jacobson said. “There’s nothing like sitting down and reading a good book.”
Jacobson said he was honoured when the Friends group asked him to perform.
Tickets are $10 and can be bought in advance at the downtown branch or at the door.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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