“Art on the Water” at Perch Bay Resort – Mix & Mingle in support of LOWAC!
We are always looking for ways to bring artists and art lovers together and were super excited when Elise at Perch Bay Resort approached us to have some arts fun at her beautiful, renovated resort at 50 Darlington Drive! We are just finalizing details but are planning for an April date so stay tuned! This is a combo LOWAC fundraiser and opportunity to see this gorgeous facility. Tickets will be available via Eventbrite soon.
There will be appetizers, cash bar, silent auction, live entertainment, and the opportunity for artists to display and chat about their work.
We are requesting donations for the silent auction. Your generosity is sincerely appreciated and will support ArtsFest 2024 and other ongoing LOWAC expenses. Silent Auction donations can be dropped off to Shelby at the Douglas Family Art Centre or email lowacdirectors@gmail.com.
It’s a great chance to get together, meet some of the LOWAC Board and members and see what LOWAC is all about…also pssst a chance for you to renew your membership if you haven’t already!
We’ll share more details as they are finalized on Facebook , Instagram and email.
Membership are now due
Thanks to many of you who have renewed your 2024 membership but we are still pushing to get all of our members renewed. We continue to apply for grants to fully fund events and progamming such as ArtsFest, but require membership to cover some of our operating costs, which are generally not covered by grants. Your membership helps us achieve our purpose: 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.
Please renew now at https://lowac.ca/membership.
If you’d like to make a donation as a patron, you can find out more about this opportunity at: https://lowac.ca/donate.
Once you’ve renewed, we’d love to add your artist profile (if it’s not already there) at https://lowac.ca/artist-profiles-and-venues.
We need you!
We are still accepting nominations for a new president and vice-president. We would consider having two people share either of these responsibilities.
In the interim, past president Leanne Fournier will continue to assist with grant writing and communications and the LOWAC Board will determine how other duties will be handled.
You can read more about our active board and board responsibilities at https://lowac.ca/board-of-directors. If you’d like to join us, please reach out to lowacdirectors@gmail.com.
ArtsFest 2024 – July 20 & 21, 2024
ArtsFest 2024 is happening once again – Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21 in advance of the Coney Island Music Festival and Sioux Narrows Arts Festival. Fingers crossed we get the funding we need to stage a two-day event! We have been successful in our grant application to the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation and have also submitted applications to the Ontario Arts Council, Canadian Heritage Fund, Experience Ontario, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and Kenora Hospitality Alliance with the goal of returning ArtsFest to a two-day festival in 2024.
We need volunteers to join our planning committee to help make ArtsFest 2024 the best it can be.
Pre-festival, we need volunteers for programming, volunteer coordination, site setup/takedown/logistics, and fundraising. It’s a fun gig and an opportunity to be part of bringing a great family and tourist-friendly event to downtown Kenora during our beautiful summer. Email lowacdirectors@gmai.com if you’d like to be a part of it!
We are hiring! 2024 Event Coordinator
LOWAC is looking to contract the freelance services of an event coordinator for the 2024 spring/summer season to work with our board, volunteers, event participants, and community partners to optimize relationships and deliver on all project goals related to our activities over the next several months – including ArtsFest (July 20, 21), Matiowski Market, Coney Island Music Festival, membership, and fundraising (ongoing).
The deadline to apply is Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Submit a brief proposal outlining your skills and how you’ll approach the contract along with a resume and 2 references to lowacdirectors@gmail.com. Please use subject line: Freelance Coordinator Contract 2024. Questions can be directed to this email as well.
Under the direction of the LOWAC board and with the assistance of project volunteers, the contractor will carry out the following duties:
- Coordinate and communicate with event volunteers, participants, and partners.
- Work to keep events on schedule, within stated budgets, and running smoothly.
- Organize, confirm, and schedule event exhibitors, feature presenters, and KIDS ZONE activities for ArtsFest. Assist with site map, including tent and activities layout.
- Communicate with visual and performing artists for ArtsFest (approximately 35 to 40) while managing artists’ needs and expectations, including setting reasonable boundaries.
- Organize and host LOWAC table at the Matiowski Market (May 18, July 1, and July 10)
- Organize volunteers and participation at ConeyFest 2024 Sunday, July 28 (details to be confirmed).
- Reach out to community members and businesses to procure event sponsorship as well as partnerships, participation, and value-added incentives.
- Schedule and organize planning meetings (both in-person and on Zoom).
- Assist in marketing and communications.
- Assist with post-event follow-up tasks including sending recognitions and thank you notes.
- Support ongoing membership and fundraising activities.
- Attend monthly LOWAC board meetings (the second Wednesday evening of each month).
- Track and report hours on a weekly basis.
- Attend a weekly check-in with board representatives.
Assets
- Flexible, open-minded, and passionate about the arts, and about supporting the experiences of diverse participants in the arts and our community.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including effective verbal and written communication abilities.
- Comfortable contacting and communicating with community members, businesses, and organizations to seek donations, participation, partnership, sponsorship, volunteers, and other involvement.
- Ability to handle multiple, competing tasks and deliver work on deadline and within budget.
- Competent computer skills, including a familiarity with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) or similar products (Pages, Numbers), social media (Facebook, Instagram), Zoom, Google (Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Surveys), and WordPress. Training and support available.
- Access to a computer, internet, and local transportation is required. These expenses are not included in the contract, but can be discussed.
- Previous grant-writing experience would be considered an asset.
Contract start/end date
To be determined based on successful candidate’s availability, but ideally beginning no later than April 15 and continuing through July 31, 2024.
Compensation
$25/hour for a total of $10,500 invoiced and paid monthly. Monthly billing amounts will be confirmed once start date is finalized. Living expenses and accommodations are not included. Additional hours will be added as new funding comes in. This will be discussed with the contractor.
The contractor is responsible for making their own remissions to the government as required (GST, etc).
This posting is also available on the LOWAC website at lowac.ca/lowac-is-looking-to-contract-a-freelance-event-coordinator.
And the winner is…
After much debate amongst LOWAC judges Stephanie Chale and Leanne Fournier, Kelley Morrell was the winner of the 2024 Snow Sculpture contest. It was very tight race with Kelley’s Ninja Turtle coming ahead for Degree of Difficulty, Creativity and Composition. Lorne Dubois was a close second, standing out with his outstanding Use of Snow.
Kelley’s Ninja Turtle brought to mind the famous Michelangelo quote when he was asked how he went about the sculpting process and replied, “I saw the angel in the marble, and carved until I set him free.”
Kelley envisioned the Ninja Beaver in the snow and freed him to “walk and swim softly with a big stick”! Ninja Turtle was a beautiful execution of the Canadian Wilderness theme, bringing awareness and concern for the value of natural habitats.
Congratulations to all of the sculptor’s who did an outstanding job bringing the Canadian Wilderness to life!
Lorne Dubois – True North
Eli Bosser – White Winter Wolf
Nature Symphony – Jim Neidermeyer, Marty Duerinckx, De-Ann Holmes, Gary Foidart
Featured Artist – RC (Cecil) Burns
Since its release in 2021, RC Burns’ debut album “Full Circle” has been garnering acclaim and awards world-wide. Prior to the album’s release one of the songs, which was still in production at the time, “Me & Elvis & Jesus” was named as a Country Finalist in the 2019 Great American Song Contest. The same song was named a Top 10 Traditional Country Finalist at the Winter 2023 World Songwriting Awards (WSA) and just recently won for best Country Song in the 2023 UK Songwriting Contest. Other songs from the album have received accolades; “At My Daddy’s Knee” (WSA Top 10 Traditional Country Finalist, Spring 2023), “Rock of My Ages” (WSA Top 10 Traditional Country Finalist, Summer 2023) and “Don’t Let the Whisky Do the Talking”(WSA Top 10 Traditional Country Finalist, Fall 2023).
RC Burns has been nominated for several International Singer Songwriters Association, Inc. Awards (ISSA) which will be presented at the ISSA Awards show in Atlanta, Georgia this coming August. The categories are: International Male Vocalist of the Year, Rising Star, Songwriter of the Year and Emerging Artist. Fan voting begins on April 2 to determine the 25 finalists in each category. Finalists will be judged by music industry professionals. He will be reaching out over the coming weeks to let everyone know how they can vote and support his nominations.
RC Burns is currently working on his second album with his life-ling friend and producer JK Gulley. The new album is tentatively entitled “Country Love Songs”, which he hopes to release later in 2024.