Very late March Newsletter

February and March have been busy months with a focus on membership, applying for funding for our programming and operations, onboarding some of our new board members, and promoting local events!

ARTSFEST 2023 – July 15, The Muse Grounds

The LOWAC team has been busy applying for and securing grants for ARTSFEST 2023 and other tasks to once again stage this celebration of the arts on The Muse grounds in downtown Kenora. This is a quick update with many more announcements to follow in April!

We have secured funding from two funders (soon to be named) to make it possible to present the festival on July 15, 2023. The move to one day was driven by feedback we received from many of the artists and volunteers and available funding. We also elected to move the event up by a week to allow more time between our festival and Sioux Narrows Arts Festival for those artists who want to have/create inventory for both events.

Call for artists

ARTSFEST of course rests on the spectacular variety of artists and performers we have in the region. As a rule, we wait for the call for artists for Sioux Narrows Arts Festival to close before we issue ours. We are just finalizng the application and should have that posted within the next week. Watch for the post at lowac.ca and in your inbox!

Volunteers needed

We are planning to hold our next ARTSFEST committee planning meeting mid-April. Thanks to those who have already responded but we need many more hands and would love to have you join us! ARTSFEST is about a lot more than just the day of the festival. Months of planning go into making it a standout event. We are looking for volunteers for:

Site Setup/Takedown
Artist Coordination
Volunteer Coordination
Green Room
KIDSZONE
Marketing/Communication
Fundraising

If you’d like to join this fun gang, email LOWAC at lowacdirectors@gmail.com.

LOWAC is also looking for volunteers to be involved in other activities and fundraising, which is essential to make events like ARTSFEST, Arts@Home and other LOWAC initiatives possible. We are also
looking for sponsors who will help fund some of the programming costs so if you have any connections there we’d love to hear from you!

Freelance event coordinator – Deadline to apply is this Friday!

Applications are currently open for a freelance event coordinator to work with LOWAC’s board, volunteers, event participants, and community partners to optimize relationships and deliver on all project goals related to activities over summer 2023. This includes ARTSFEST (July 15), Matiowski Market, and potentially ConeyFest (July 30). The Freelance event coordinator role is posted at https://lowac.ca/lowac-is-looking-to-contract-a-freelance-event-coordinator/. Deadline to apply has been extended to Friday, March 31, 2023.

LOWAC Director Helena Devins speaks more about the coordinator role and LOWAC’s plans for ARTSFEST with Sallie Hunt on Shaw Spotlight at: https://youtu.be/IE2Z7Xe4UMU

Membership fees are now due

LOWAC’s membership fees help us fulfill our mandate to foster and promote the spirit of creativity in the City of Kenora and the surrounding area of Lake of the Woods; inspiring unity, joy and opportunity through the arts. Your membership renewal is now due and will expire in December 2023. We are grateful for your continued support. It’s how we offer programming, scholarship and operate in the community with additional support from grants. Our Board has made the decision to raise our membership fees to $30 for 2023, the first increase in over a decade!

You can update your membership now using our handy PayPal option, or mail your $30 cheque payable to Lake of the Woods Arts Community to: PO Box 10002 Harbour Postal Outlet, Kenora ON P9N 4T1.

Patron of the Arts

We have also introduced a new opportunity to support LOWAC’s activities by becoming a Patron of the Arts. If you wish to make a donation of $100 or more, we will list your name on a new Patrons of the Arts page, being developed on our website. These contributions will go toward LOWAC’s ongoing operations, scholarships and programming. Email lowacdirectors@gmail.com if you wish to support us in this way.

Member Feature – TryTych Concert and Opera

The World Premiere of TryTych’s “Opera on the Lake” video series, held Monday, March 17 at Seven Generations Education Institute was a great success. Production crew included Edward Franko, Producer/Director; Matthew Ward Kennedy, Director, Editor, Videographer; Steven Wolfe, Sound Engineer; Forbes Brown, Costumes. Instrumentalists included Ruth Girard, Piano; Julie Husband, Flute; Norman Reintamm, Organ. Vocal performances by Edward Franko, Lenard Whiting, tenors; Olivia Whiddon, Soprano; Erika Rasmussen, Mezzo-Soprano; Brenda Shodin, Soprano. Various locations included Sioux Narrows, Ontario, Mark Mark Mcleod‘s camp on Galt Island, Lake of the Woods, St. Alban’s Cathedral, Knox United Church, Kenora, Ontario and miscellaneous sots including the Lake of the Woods ice road (Edward in a tux). Visit TrypTych’s facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TrypTychConcertandOpera for more details about each video.

OMBRA MAI FU