Pemberton Arts Council hires new executive director

The Pemberton Arts Council (PAC) has a new executive director.

Brayden Pawlik assumed the role in January, not long after moving to Pemberton in 2023. The St. Catharines, Ont. native has a bachelor’s degree in design and illustration from the Ontario College of Art and Design University under his belt, as well as experience as a graphic designer and freelance illustrator dealing with various businesses in Vancouver, the Sea to Sky and beyond. 

Perhaps the largest name on Pawlik’s resume is Pabst Blue Ribbon, the lager beer company based out of San Antonio, Texas. 

“I’m pretty excited to get started with the Pemberton Arts Council,” he says. “Just being able to work within this community and show off all the local talent here will be a lot of fun for me.” 

More than just a commercial man, Pawlik has been involved with the fine arts for many years. He is accomplished at drawing, oil painting and working with aerosols, and has stuff on display at the Maury Young Arts Centre. 

This side of his career tends to be more introspective than his graphic design portfolio, and Pawlik branches out a lot in terms of subject matter. His thesis in school was themed around expressing the mental aspects of sport into a surreal environment and visual style. 

Speaking of sport—Pawlik isn’t just an artist. He began skiing competitively at age seven, which culminated in half a dozen years on the Nor-Am Cup circuit. The Ontarian proceeded to add 14 years of high-level coaching on top of that, and is Freestyle Whistler’s head moguls coach at the moment. 

“I find that [skiing and art] go hand in hand, honestly,” says Pawlik. “One side is a very physical, athletic pursuit, and the art side allows me to be very creative and explore a more thoughtful side of things, experiment a bit with visuals and stuff. They balance each other out a lot more than I thought they would.

“With the way my schedule balances out right now, I’m able to do PAC work through the early parts of the week and then be right on the hill Thursday to Sunday. My work-life balance is perfect, because neither of those things feel like work to me at all.”

‘Personal and personable’

As a lifelong skier, Pawlik has always been attracted to the towering, white-capped peaks here out West. COVID-19 delayed his move, but he got out to British Columbia as soon as travel restrictions began to ease in 2021. 

He landed in Pemberton two years after that—and there’s no buyer’s remorse. 

“The art scene here is very personal and personable, and it’s just very grassroots,” Pawlik says. “I love that aspect of it. That’s a big [factor] which attracted me to this role. 

“I really want to get to know the arts community here. I know Squamish and Whistler, and the artist community is very apparent in those areas. Pemberton, I haven’t been here that long, and I want to start making a lot of art friends here.” 

Much as Pawlik balances the sporty and creative aspects of his life, he also juggles fine art with his more commercial pursuits. The two may not line up in terms of straightforward subject matter, but can indirectly inspire one another with regards to aesthetic: colouring, composition, typography and so forth. 

“They both excite me in very different ways,” he reveals. “[Fine art] can be more expressive, while [design and illustration] gets me more analytical—almost like a math equation visually. 

“Then, it can flip flop. You can take certain elements of graphic design and make them very expressive, and you can take elements from fine art and make them much more concrete—I wouldn’t say sterile, but more solid and structured.” 

One of the largest items on Pawlik’s agenda is the upcoming Mountain Muse Festival, with which he hopes to continue a beloved legacy. Beyond that, he encourages Sea to Sky folk to stay tuned for all kinds of local art initiatives over the next few months. 

Visit pembertonartscouncil.com for more information on PAC programming.