ARTSFEST 2023
Plans are well underway for ARTSFEST 2023, scheduled for Saturday, July 15, 2023 on The Muse grounds at 224/300 Main Street South in downtown Kenora.
One of the gifts of ARTSFEST is a reminder that art matters and the powerful effect it has on the well-being of everyone in our community. Our goal is to spread the love with an amazing lineup of exhibitors and performers and the opportunity for art enthusiasts of all ages to discover something new and maybe even get their hands “painty” with a new artistic discovery. Free hands-on artist demonstrations will be happening throughout the day along with a lively KIDZONE, facepainting, and more. While admission is free, donations will be gratefully accepted to help LOWAC continue to fulfill its mission through events like ARTSFEST, our scholarships, and other programming.
Call for Artists – Due May 12, 2023
ARTSFEST of course rests on the spectacular variety of artists and performers we have in the region.
Our call for artists is now open until May 12 to all artistic disciplines – Visual, literary, and performing arts!
You must be a paid LOWAC member to be considered for one of the available spots – so it’s a great time to renew your $30 membership if you haven’t at lowac.ca/membership! Based on this year’s funding, we will be paying a $100 honorarium to all exhibitors and $300 to performers.
Selection will be juried by the LOWAC Board to ensure a broad spectrum of performers, artists and arts disciplines to fit within the available space and performance schedule. Due to the limits of space, submission of an application does not guarantee a spot. We will have a waitlist for those who aren’t selected if anyone must cancel.
Get the application at lowac.ca/call-for-artists-artsfest-2023.
We’ve hired our event coordinator!
We are thrilled to announce that Shauna DeGagné (she/her) has been hired for our 2023 Event Coordinator. Shauna will 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. She will be the lead contact for ARTSFEST 2023.
Shauna worked at the Kenora Daily Miner & News as a journalist after graduating from Humber College in 2000. In the 20+ years since, she has traveled Europe, lived in the UK, had three sons, gotten married, and worked in adult education, as an elementary school librarian, and a freelance writer. In the summer of 2021, she wrote a series of articles about Kenora artists for the Lake of the Woods Cottage Guide. Shauna also writes short fiction, creative nonfiction, and maybe something resembling poetry. She enjoys acting and her most recent appearance was on the Trylight stage in Helium, alongside her then nine-year old son. Shauna is the current Contest Coordinator for the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop (NOWW). She lives with her family on Treaty #3 Territory, with a small lake in front and the forest behind.
Shauna can be reached at lowaccoordinator@gmail.com.
Volunteers needed
We are planning to hold our next ARTSFEST committee planning meeting very soon. 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 lowaccoordinator@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!
We’re looking for an emerging graphic designer
We’d like to support a local artist who can add their creative touch to some of our marketing materials – ARTSFEST posters, postcard, etc. If this is a skill you have or are looking to develop let us know by May 15 if possible. This is a paid gig! Email lowaccordinator@gmail.com.
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.
Special thanks to Susan Bulman, our first official “Patron”.
Indigenous Mural Artist Call
The Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls is inviting proposals for 2 permanent painted murals to be publicly displayed at the Northern Ontario Sport Fishing Centre. Specifically, they are looking for a larger fish inspired mural (size available is 36”x48”) and a smaller woodland themed border mural (size available 6” by approximately 30 feet). This call aims to work with indigenous artists to increase the local indigenous cultural presence within our municipality.
The proposals will be evaluated by a panel of local, and indigenous artists and arts and cultural professionals.
Project Goals:
- Increase public participation in placemaking and stewardship through arts and culture.
- Recognize and strengthen the role of artists in our communities
- Support the ongoing vitality of cultural heritage in our community.
- To create inclusive and engaging cultural spaces within the Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls.
More details and the call poster are available at lowac.ca/indigenous-mural-artist-call.
Proposal Deadline: Noon, May 15, 2023 Proposals must be submitted to: hgropp@snnf.ca.
Soak Up the Sun in Sioux Narrows – Canvasses available
Five 8 x 10 canvas boards have been provided for artists to use who are interested in participating in the “Soak Up the Sun” exhibit in Sioux Narrows this summer. Anyone interested can pick up a board at Inglenook Art Studio, 1051 Railway Street, Kenora.
Member Feature – Olivia Whiddon
LOWAC member, local songwriter, singer, musician and music teacher Olivia Whiddon has an exciting show at The Muse – Douglas Family Art Centre, running until July 6, 2023. Written by Water is a collaborative exhibition of music and paintings inspired by the textures, colours, and temperament of the water from the Lake of Woods region. This series was first conceived in music on the harp Olivia, whose music in turn inspired the paint brush of artist Teresa Bowyer. With a shared love of the outdoors, and especially water, Whiddon and Bowyer let the landscape speak to them in their own ways. With an intuitive approach they shared their expressions, inspiring the other as both artist and muse, weaving a story written by water.
Go to the Written by Water page on The Muse website to hear Dragonfly’s Minuet , a sample from the album Written by Water along with more details of the show: themusekenora.ca/exhibit/written-by-water.
Olivia was a favourite performer during ARTSFEST 2023 and for LOWAC’s Arts@Home virtual programming in 2021 and 2022.
She has spent more than half her life as a musician, both on stage and as a teacher. In University she majored in vocal music and had minors in theatre and violin. In her undergraduate degree she majored in vocal music, minoring in both violin and theatre, and then went on to her Post-baccalaureate in performance. Olivia also studied opera in Italy and French art song in France.
She is a registered music teacher and runs the Olivia Whiddon Academy of Music, which is dedicated in providing quality instruction in voice, piano, theatre and theory. She is also the creative director for the Kenora Opera Theatre. Olivia began playing a small Celtic harp (which she built with Esme Boone) about four years ago and in 2019 picked up her own 34 string lever harp. She moved into songwriting at her Bridge and Falls Creative Residency in Sioux Narrows in 2019 and received a grant in 2020 from the Ontario Arts Council as part of a collaborative music and visual arts project with painter, Teresa Bowyer to write and record Written by Water. She enjoys collaborating with artists of different disciplines and gains her inspiration from art and the natural world. You can also see Olivia in the current Trylight Theatre Production, Kingfisher Days, which runs until April 29. Tickets and details available at https://www.trylight.ca.
You can reach Olivia at olivia_whiddon@yahoo.ca or on her Olivia Whiddon Adacemy of Music Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KenoraOWAM.
If you’d like to be a Featured Artists in a LOWAC newsletter, send along 300 words or so with some photos and your contact information for lowacdirectors@gmail.com!
Members Forum
Are there any Plein Air painters out there?
LOWAC member Stephanie Chale is curious to know if there is a Plein Air painting group in Kenora. She has been in Australia where she joined the Sunshine Coast Plein Air Painting group while visiting. She would love to find a group of like minded artist here in Kenora.
Stephanie isn’t looking to lead but rather, bring people together to “come when you can, stay as long as you like, go for coffee afterwards if you want.” She has offered to facilitate the communication and has a tiny bit of paint and plein air experience under her belt. She envisions setting up one (or 2) paint days and times that suit a majority of the group, trying to stay consistent so people could schedule their week. she would post on FB and/or send an email to get a list of painting locations. Stephanie is relatively new to the community and doesn’t know all the ‘hidden gems’ yet, so hopefully others can weigh in with ideas. Once the list is compiled, it’s a matter of telling people where and when to show up. Everyone would be responsible for bringing their own supplies.
If interested contact Stephanie at schale65@hotmail.com or 250-427-0867. See more on Stephanie’s Plein Air Painters Facebook page.
Fundraising needed
While grants are great, they are a huge drain on energy and time and most don’t cover operations – things like storage, bookkeeping and insurance that are necessary expenses. This and the $500 scholarships we grant each year to Beaver Brae and St. Thomas Aquinas require some ongoing fundraising. We are thinking about ways we can generate revenues but also bring people together to create and experience art. If you have ideas for activities, an organization that might like to partner with us, or even be a LOWAC sponsor, we would love to hear about it! Email lowadirectors@gmail.com.