Donald
Teuma-Castelletti
NORWAY BAY Aug. 2, 2017
The culmination of six weeks worth of crafts and workshops ended in last Wednesday’s Big Art Show.
Held at a private residence along River Road in Norway Bay, guests were invited to not only check out the artistic fashioning of the area’s youngsters, but to meet the artists leading the workshops as well.
Set up within the confines of a carport – so as to hide from a tremendous, breezy storm from earlier – art hung in a row, murals lay against the furthest wall and a centre table housed framed art, homemade baskets and various prints and works.
Over 50 guests came out to enjoy the art, taking in both the stylings of the younger generations and the more honed craft of the teachers.
Some, mingling with the artists, learned some tips of the trades. Kate Aley, one of the Get Art instructors, happily introduced some folks to the simplicity of print-making. She showed them how to design their foam cut-out into the shape of an animal, then glue it onto wood, attach a handle onto the back and stamp away. The work she showed these guests were samples from the students and one parent who got heavily into the crafts, going on to make over 20 prints.
Other guests found works they couldn’t resist, purchasing it on the spot.
Ron Bell was one such guest, purchasing a landscape painting of a lake, crowded between two inlets and shadowed by a tumbling mountain. The piece was created by Katherine Fletcher, another artist who helped teach the class.
“It’s the type of picture you’ll keep enjoying for a long time,” said Bell, a summer resident of Norway Bay.
All in all, after the end of the summer art programming, event coordinator Sarah Murray was happy with the turnout.
“The wire pendant class was a huge success, we had 17 students in total” said Murray.
The rest of the events, from basket weaving and artist trading cards to gourd painting and linocut print making averaged seven to 12 kids per class.
The weekly classes were put on by Get Art, an organization that teaches art classes with various mediums, depending on the needs and wishes of the event organizers. The artists featured over the last few weeks included Michael Peterson, Aley, Fletcher and Tanya McCormick.
“I’m so grateful to Kate Aley and the other artists for being open to this collaboration and bringing the arts to the area,” said Murray.
Billed as a bring your own beverage event, guests were invited to participate in a potluck, too. Though the stand out favourite of the food table were the Mexicana dishes contributed by Chantal Labrie, owner of the food truck along chemin Wharf. Labrie provided tortilla chips and various dips, as well as taquitos.
Donations were collected to benefit future art events and projects in Norway Bay, although Murray was happy to announce that the Norway Bay Municipal Association had already made a profit off this year’s work. She’s planning to put that money into ensuring next year’s art events and musical theatre are bigger and bolder than ever.
Going forward, Murray already has big ideas for next year. She’s planning to keep all the workshops on Tuesdays from 4 till 6 p.m., and open to all generations, not just the younger crowd.
“I hope to do an art show every year,” said Murray, laughing as she added whether her husband knows it yet or not.
