The inaugural year of Art in the Park in Magnetawan was so well received in 2022 that the municipality is repeating the summer-long event.
Deputy Clerk Laura Brandt says the 2023 edition of Art in the Park will run every Saturday from July 8th to the Saturday during Labour Day weekend.
A call for artists is now out and emailing Brandt will secure a spot for them at the Village Green next to the LCBO on Biddy Street.
However, Brandt says the Burk's Falls Arts Club has already committed to having various members of its club at Art in the Park every other weekend beginning with the kick-off weekend of July 8th. She says this means the earliest non-members of the Burk's Falls Arts Club can reserve a site at the Village Green is July 15th.
Brandt says Art in the Park covers a cross-section of art forms including painters, pottery makers, wood carvers, photography and sculpting. Brandt says artists are encouraged to interact with the public when viewing their work.
“So if you paint or draw, you're encouraged to talk to the people so they get a sense of how you create your art,” Brandt said. “We also ask the artists to let the viewing public pick their brains about what they are doing. We want our community to be known for its culture.”
Brandt adds artists can also sell their finished pieces at Art in the Park.
Brandt said the event was created to give local and area residents one more thing to see and to give tourists another reason to visit the small tourism community.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. which is the same time that the Magnetawan Farmers Market takes place nearby at the Magnetawan Lions Pavilion. Brandt says the timing is deliberate because the goal is to have both events complement one another.
To take part in Art in the Park, Brandt says artists need to be from the Almaguin Highlands. The first year attracted about two dozen artists from the region and Brandt is hoping to build on that number this season.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
