Fun at Coney Island Music Festival
LOWAC provided face painting throughout the day at the Coney Island Music Festival, held July 30, 2023, raising just over $200 in donations. Special thanks to our all star face painters Henri, Lumi, Erika Olson, Aneira Olson, and Shauna DeGagné. It was a fun day being a part of this great local festival.
Call for Board Members
LOWAC has gained renewed momentum over the past few years staging Arts@Home, a virtual arts classroom run during the pandemic, and ArtsFest, a successful celebration of the arts held on The Muse grounds in 2022 and 2023. This has been possible through the dedicated efforts of a small but mighty Board of Directors and volunteers.
We are at a crossroads with some wonderful Board members staying on for another term, but also the retirement of some great officers and directors. We can only continue to fulfill our mission “to foster and promote the spirit of creativity in the City of Kenora and the surrounding area of Lake of the Woods” with a strong, dedicated Board and volunteers. Staging events like ArtsFest and ongoing fundraising through grants and events requires more hands on deck!
We are looking for a new President, Vice-President and Membership Chair
This is an exciting time to become an officer or director with LOWAC! Leanne Fournier, who has served as president for four years, needs to step back for personal reasons, but is planning to stay on the Board as past president to offer guidance for a new candidate and to continue with grant writing and communications. Carolyne Lynch, also retiring, is willing to provide training for a new Membership Chair. Carolyne will be continuing as the coordinator the Paterson Clinic art exhibition. We would consider combining the President and Vice-President roles into a shared role between two officers (Co-President).
Our heartfelt thanks to both Leanne and Carolyne for their generous contributions as officers.
You don’t need to be a practicing artist for any of these roles!
With the support of the Board and some well-established processes, all you need is a passion for the arts and a willingness to contribute a few hours a month during the regular season, with some additional hours prior to ArtsFest or other planned events and activities.
If you don’t wish to be an officer but would still like to play a role, there is a spot for you! Directors attend monthly board meetings, share ideas, take on tasks as needed, and have voting rights on matters put before the Board. Marylou Goodwin, who has served as a member at large for a few years has recently retired from the Board. We thank Marylou for her invaluable wisdom and positive energy.
This is a great opportunity to gain some experience in arts advocacy and promotion and is open to anyone of any age or experience.
Officer terms are three years. Nominations are required in advance of our Annual General Meeting, scheduled for November.
You can read more about our current Board of Directors and the responsibilities of officer roles at lowac.ca/board-of-directors.
If you are interested in any of these roles email Leanne at president@lowac.ca.
We need you!
Annual General Meeting
LOWAC’s 2023 Annual General Meeting is planned to occur via Zoom, in November. We are just finalizing the date but it will likely be a Tuesday at 7 p.m. A Zoom invitation and agenda will follow in October. We’ve decided to do a Zoom meeting to accommodate members outside of Kenora and the potential of winter driving conditions. We’ve found conducting a hybrid meeting (live and Zoom) is difficult for those joining online. We look forward to “seeing” you and will also be looking for opportunities to bring people together to experience art and connection over the winter.
Here Be Dragons – an exhibit by one of LOWAC’s founding members, Irene McCuaig
Irene’s exciting exhibit, drawing on her four-year exploration of dragons, opens Sept. 30, 2023, at the Douglas Family Art Centre. Grand Opening will be held October 14, 2-4 p.m.
Irene has long been intrigued by the stories of dragons in every culture around the world, including her own Celtic heritage where dragons are guardians to the gates of the afterlife and are tasked with protecting the secrets of the universe.
Guided by the question, ‘What if…?” Irene asks, “What if…instead of winning a goldfish in a plastic bag at the fair, you won a dragon? What if dragonflies were really dragons? And what about snapdragons?”
Here Be Dragons is an exhibit which celebrates those ancient creatures and the wonder of their magical realm.
Irene would like to thank Ontario Arts Council for the grant that helped with the expense of the project as well as Sophie Lavoie at the Muse for her mentorship.
Find out more at themusekenora.ca/exhibit/irene-mccuaig-here-be-dragons/
There are many great installations already up or coming soon at The Muse. Find out more at https://themusekenora.ca/exhibitions.
Did ArtsFest inspire some new work?
We are doing our reporting for the grants we received for ArtsFest 2023 and would love to hear if any new works were inspired by your participation in ArtsFest. Email president@lowac.ca or post it as a comment on our Facebook page. Please send photos if you have!
Have news to share?
We want to hear from you! Send any news about upcoming exhibits, projects or events to lowacdirectors@gmail.com with the subject line – Please put in your newsletter! We also regularly share calls for artists and other updates via our social media.