Arts Festival to replace Studio Tour
For the first time in more than two decades, the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society will not run its annual Fall Colours Studio Tour this September. In place of the stalwart event, this year the organization will try something new – something that, with the right amount of support from the community, could become a defining feature of the area’s cultural calendar.
The Creemore Festival of the Arts, taking place from Friday, September 21 to Sunday, September 23, is being spearheaded by Simon Heath, a theatre and arts administration veteran who moved to Dunedin three years ago and was immediately struck by two things: the sheer number of artistic types in the area and the strong sense of community on display here.
Jaded by the competitive nature of the arts scene in Toronto, where he’d most recently spent time as acting artistic director and board member at Theatre Passe Murraille, Heath was attending the inaugural Harvest Festival at the New Farm in Maple Valley when inspiration hit. “There was a play, followed by a concert, and it all took place in a barnyard, and there were kids running around, and there were chickens and turkeys, and I thought: this is how art should be,” he recalled. “It should be about community.”
Since joining with the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society, which happened to be contemplating a new direction for its annual autumn event, Heath has taken that sentiment and designed the Festival of the Arts to be, above all, multi-disciplinary and community-based.
The festival will have three main components. Throughout the weekend, the Station on the Green will play host to a marquee exhibit by Drawnonward, the nationally celebrated Collingwood/Toronto artist collective that features local artists Steve McDonald and Gordon Kemp. From 5 to 7 pm on Saturday night, the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society will host a cocktail reception at the show; following that, the venue will play host to a community party, complete with live music.
The second component of the festival will be a juried art show, on display at Creemore Springs and one other still-to-be-determined location. A panel consisting of one member of the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society, one Toronto-based gallery curator, one specialist in non-painting forms, one youth and one local artist is currently selecting pieces for this show.
The third component, and the one Heath is perhaps most excited about, will hopefully come from the community at large. “We’re hoping that anyone and everyone with a creative instinct will come forward, and basically fill the town with art,” he said. To that end, a few things are already planned: some sort of theatre performance at the Log Cabin courtesy of Heath’s connections in the city; a Sunday Gift of Music performance at St. Luke’s Anglican Church; a children’s arts/dance activity at Cardboard Castles; and author signings at Curiosity House, the library and the Farmers’ Market. Beyond that, Heath is hoping that as many artists as possible will open their studios to the public, as many businesses as possible will offer up something arts-related; and as many artistically inclined people as possible will find creative ways to engage the public – through public installations, street improv, busking, interactive exhibits… anything goes.
“We’d like to see a real outpouring of creativity,” said Heath. “The more community buy-in this festival has, the more successful it will be in the long run.”
Those wanting to participate in some way can call Heath for more information at 705-466-6180. The 2012 Creemore Festival of the Arts will also be the kick-off event for Clearview Township’s participation in the Canada-wide Culture Days initiative. For more information on that event, see www.culturedays.ca.
