The first Orillia Regional Art and Heritage Awards nominations are in and we couldn’t be more proud. Join me in warm applause for the nominees:
Education in the Arts, Culture and Heritage Award: This year’s nominees are Leanne Young, Orillia Secondary School; and the Otter Art Club run by Naomi Woodman and Travis Shilling.
Emerging Artist Award: This year’s nominees are Craig Mainprize and MaryJo Pollak.
Heritage: Restoration, Renovation and Publication Award: This year’s nominees are Friends of the Washago Water Tower.
Event in the Arts, Culture and Heritage Award: This year’s nominees are the Chippewas of Rama First Nation Annual Pow Wow Committee, Mariposa Folk Festival, Orillia Heritage Centre, and Starry Night Studio and Gallery Tour.
Qennefer Browne Achievement Award recognizes an individual or group of individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the cultural life of their community. This year’s nominees are Leslie Fournier and Linda Tiffin.
You will have to come out to the arts and heritage awards night to find out who the award recipients are, so mark Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at the Geneva Event Centre on your calendar now. There will be refreshments, music by the Little Big Band and a cash bar. And, of course, a chance to fete the creatives in our community, so don’t miss it!
In case you have been sleeping for a few weeks, big news: Irish Mythen is coming to town! The show is this Friday, Nov. 8 and don’t wait to grab tickets at the door, it will sell out. Tickets are $34.50 available online only right here. Doors opem at 7 and the show starts at 8 p.m., at St. Paul’s Centre, 62 Peter St. N.
Also Friday night, in case you missed out on those Irish Mythen tickets or she isn’t your cup of tea, The Carmichael Canadian Landscape Exhibition opening is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Orillia Museum of Art & History (OMAH), 30 Peter St. S.
This is a juried art show with almost 40 works of art in various media, expressing our Canadian landscape in many different ways. Local artists in the show include Peter Stranks, Patti Agapi, Ronald Regamey, and Janine Wheeler among others. The show runs until Jan. 22 if you don’t make it to the opening this week.
Speaking of OMAH, welcome to the Drawliday Festival, a replacement for the old Festival of Trees fundraiser. In Drawliday, artists are invited to paint on a 6x6 piece of hardboard, while patrons are invited to buy tickets to a special reception where they will get to pick their choice of art from the hardboard pieces submitted.
Tickets for patrons are available now at a special early-bird price of $65 until Nov. 15 only, when they go up to $75. You can grab your tickets online here.
This year, Drawliday will raise money for the OMAH’s youth educations programs, buying upgrades to the Dorothy Macdonald Creative studio, such as lighting with track lights using LED bulbs, a metal art basin, a dedicated laptop, custom storage, easels, and a new smartboard. Over $5000 is needed for these upgrades, so grab your ticket today!
There are several upcoming workshops in the arts world in Orillia, so here are the deets:
On Nov. 7, Sarahannedipity is hosting a $50 gemstone bracelet workshop, and Nov. 10 there is a sterling silver stacking ring workshop for $100. Nov. 12 you can make a necklace and earrings for $60. These are awesome workshops for the money with quality materials and professional instructors. You can check out all of Sarahannedipity’s workshops and sign up here.
Another space that is also putting out a variety of great workshops is Harold and Ferne, just down the street from Sarahannedipity. Nov. 7 you can make a Seven Chakra Mala while Nov. 20 sign up to make a simple yet beautiful acrylic shelf. Check out all the Harold and Ferne Workshops here.
Patti Agapi of Mad with Rapture Studio is hosting a workshop on making Fibre Art Nests on Nov. 10 at 1 pm. Cost is $25 including materials and you can make and take your own decorative bird’s nest. To register, email [email protected], but hurry, space is limited.
And finally, Hibernation Arts is hosting an Instagram for Artists workshop with local social media guru Mehreen Shahid. Instagram is tricky to navigate in terms of making connections and broadening your reach, so Mehreen will unpack all the ways artists can use it to successfully grow their business. Cost is $50 and the workshop is on Tues. Nov. 12 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Hibernation Arts. You can sign up by emailing [email protected].
Don’t forget about the ecumenical choral service featuring John Rutter’s Requiem, this Sunday, Nov. 10 at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Centre. Admission is by freewill donation to Hospice Orillia, a great cause and a great band and choir of very talented musicians.
Also a heads up to another great concert coming to St. Paul’s, The Singing Soldiers, on Nov. 16. Graham Trude and Chris Earl are the real deal, both retired soldiers who also happen to be award-nominated country musicians in their own right.
This concert is a fundraiser for Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Foundation as well as their own, A Song Is Forever Foundation. Tickets are only $25 and can be found here. These soldiers get rave reviews wherever they play, so don’t hesitate to check them out!
On Saturday, Nov. 9 the library is having an interactive Remembrance Day exhibit. Drop by and check that out starting at 10 a.m.
A reminder that Mariposa Arts Theatre’s production of Urinetown is starting this Thursday and running Thursday to Sunday, this week and next. Grab your tickets to this hilarious and outstanding production through the Orillia Opera House website here.
Music in the bars this weekend includes, at the Brownstone Café Nov. 8 Evangeline Gentle; at the Hog ‘n’ Penny, Nov. 8 Charlotte Unplugged, Nov. 9 Jakob Pearce. At Simcoe Yardhouse Live at the casino, Nov. 8 Dan Clancy Duo, Nov. 9 Ben Hudson Duo. At the Casino Rama Entertainment Centre, Nov. 8 Bay City
Rollers, Nov. 9 Tanya Tucker. At Fionn MacCool’s, Nov. 8 Jakob Pearce, Nov. 9 Darcy Windover.
Send your arts news to me at [email protected] by Tuesdays at noon and enjoy your weekend.
