ARTSFEST 2022 is shaping up to be a grand celebration of the arts on the shores of Lake of the Woods in downtown Kenora on Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The flagship event of the Lake of the Woods Arts Community (LOWAC) will take place in Memorial Park on the grounds of The Muse, 300 Main Street South, as a lead-up to the Gail Konantz Art Education Fund Reception, happening the evening of July 23 at the Douglas Family Art Centre.
“The lawns of The Muse will be transformed into an artist’s hub where creatives and community members will come together to demonstrate, exhibit, perform and explore different art forms,” said ARTSFEST co-coordinator Aimee Baldwin.
The schedule of events will have live performances throughout both days, which currently include The Sunset Swing Band, TrypTych Concert & Opera, Enchanté, Olivia Whiddon, Esmé Boon, Here & Now Theatre for Young Audiences, and Missy Jacobson. The art exhibits that will fill the festival grounds bring together artists from many disciplines including painting, pottery, beading, jewelry, writing and digital art. Visitors will have an opportunity to learn along with the artist during demonstration of their practices.
“Our goal for this event is to create an immersive and accessible art environment for the community of both artists and art lovers alike. After two years of running Arts@Home, LOWAC is so excited to showcase some of the artists that have helped people explore their passions at home,” said Everette Fournier, also a coordinator. “Now at ARTSFEST we can celebrate those artists as well as new artists of LOWAC, some who are exhibiting their work for the first time!”
Promoting arts to children and youth has always been a priority for LOWAC. The ARTSFEST Kids Zone will run both days with drop in arts activities such as water-gun painting, facepainting and more. There is no admission charge but some activities, like facepainting, may ask for an optional donation. There will also be admission by donation to The Lake of the Woods Museum and Douglas Family Art Center during both days of the Festival. The Muse will also run activities in the studios of the Douglas Family Art Center for kids and families to enjoy.
Watch for updates at lowac.ca/artsfest and on Facebook and Instagram!
Volunteers are needed!
We need you to help us make ARTSFEST the best it can be! Volunteer needs for ARTSFEST entail setup early on July 22 and take down after 5 p.m. on July 23, assisting vendors with their booths, Greenroom, performers setup, site hospitality, a Kids Zone with various activities, security, first aid, and cleanup. Each volunteer shift will be 3 to 4 hours. Volunteers will receive a commemorative ARTSFEST 2022 t-shirt available thanks to the generous support of Harbourtown Biz!
Register to volunteer now by filling our our volunteer form at https://forms.gle/svuoyYHn4fbuZ4to9.
Send any questions to lowacdirectors@gmail.com.
Talking it up
Posters (see above) and postcards are available to help promote ARTSFEST and make it a successful event. Our coordinators Everette and Aimee will be visiting businesses and venues throughout the region to get the message out far and wide. If you would like them to drop by with some postcards and posters email lowacdirectors@gmail.com.
A special thank you to the Lake of the Woods Cottage Guide, Kenora Stuff, Lake of the Wood Area News, 89.5 FM The Lake and Q104 for their generous assistance to help us get the ARTSFEST message to visitors, locals and summertime residents.
Performer’s lineup
While dates and performance times are still being finalized here’s sneak peak of the wonderful local performers who will be doing 45 minute sets on the lower pad in front of the museum (tents will be provided for viewers). Should the weather turn nasty, performances will take place in the “parlour” in the lower level of the museum.
- Enchante
- Esmé Boon
- Here & Now Theatre for Young Audiences
- Missy Jacobson
- Olivia Whiddon
- Sunset Swing band
- TrypTych Concert & Opera – Two Tenors and a Piano
Fine art & craft market exhibitors
Stroll by and check out works and demonstrations by artists from all disciplines. There’s sure to be something for everyone! Here’s whose booked so far. Check updates to the ARTSFEST page for exhibitor dates and details. Not all artisans are exhibiting both days.
- Cindy Baron • Painting & Pottery
- Marielle Benson
- Esmé Boon • Harps
- Cecil Burns • CDs & Songwriting
- Jena Brisson • Beadwork
- Susan Bulman • Painting
- Phynix L. Caskey • Mixed Media
- Keifer Floreal • Pottery
- Marylou Goodwin • Painting
- Alicia Kejick • Painting
- Kenora Moving Forward • Art & Information
- Kenora Writer’s Group • Writing
- Carolyn Lynch • Painting
- Irene McCuaig • Painting & Sculpture
- Christine Norris • Painting
- Ralph Rogers • Sculpture Painting Pottery
- Laurie Roos • Painting
- Shannon Stack-Lucas • Jewelry & fasteners
- Tersoo Tsvende • IBOJU Project
- Charles Weiss • Prints
- Rose Wiley • Painting & Cards
The Muse – Douglas Family Art Centre and Lake of the Woods Museum – will have admission by donation during the festival.
ARTS@HOME
And that folks is a wrap! Our 2021/2022 season of Arts@Home concluded with two super engaging workshops – Bud Vase Pottery with Aimee Baldwin and Savvy Singing with Sue McIntosh.
Presenting Arts@Home to the community throughout the pandemic has gone far beyond our expectations in achieving our goal of bringing artists an art lovers together when we had to be apart. I think we all agree that the pandemic has revealed what an invaluable role the arts plays during challenging times.
LOWAC would like to extend our sincere thanks – on behalf of all of our members and all those who turned out and were inspired and informed – to the amazing artists who made this session a great success: Aimee Baldwin, Cecil Burns, Elsie Nuefeld, Olivia Whiddon, Tammy Zebruck, Irene McCuaig, Enchante, Sue McIntosh, Tersoo Tsvende and Joan Thomas.
We’d also like to acknowledge these accomplishments that are the result of the hard work of our small Board to bring Arts@Home to the community:
- We presented the works of 12 artisans from a variety of disciplines – pottery, painting, writing, drawing, vocal and instrumental.
- Participants had the opportunity to explore new art forms, create their own artwork, ask questions, pursue professional development, and gather as a community.
- The media presence, as well as active promotion on our website and social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) helped raise awareness of LOWAC’s mission and contribution to the arts community. This extends beyond Kenora to surrounding areas in Ontario and Manitoba. We have even had participants from as far away as Toronto, Halifax, Florida and Mexico join our sessions.
- Feedback collected through our post-session surveys was overwhelmingly positive – participants thanked us again and again not only for the opportunity to come together to experience art but also for providing a welcome reprieve from isolation. We regularly heard comments like: “This was such a gift, what a great session, it was fantastic!”
- Special thanks to the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation who are always there when we need them. Also the Ontario Arts Council for their support and finally to Monica Baumgartner, a past LOWAC Board member who has been an invaluable co-host and lead Zoom programmer. We couldn’t have pulled this off without all of this wonderful and generous support!
You can read the full Arts@Home wrapup at lowac.ca/artshome.
What did you create during Arts@Home – Please share!
The report we are required to submit for our Ontario Arts Council grant asks “Number of new works created by professional artists”.
We want to know if the Arts@Home session you led or attended inspired any new works. Even if you don’t consider yourself a “professional artist” (yet), we’d love to hear from you by July 10 if possible. Please let us know and you can even send along photos for us to share using the subject line “MY ARTS@HOME INSPIRED PROJECT”. Many thanks!
Matiowski Market
Plans are also shaping up for a beautiful art-inspired raffle prize that will be featured at the LOWAC table at the Matiowski Market on the Harbourfront July 6, 13 and 20. We’ll also be featuring some work by our volunteer Board members and updates for ARTSFEST 2022. Stop by to get a ticket and say hello to our summer coordinators Aimee and Everette! If you have an art piece, art supplies, cards, etc. you’d like to add to the raffle prize please email lowacdirectors@gmail.com before July 1. All raffle prize donors will be named on our site poster, website, social media and other promotion.
Artist profiles
We’ve been pleased to see that our promotion of ARTSFEST 2022 has brought in some new members and a few more artist profiles! A bonus of being a LOWAC member is having an artist profile on our website. The details of how to get set up are at lowac.ca/artist-profiles-and-venues.
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