Well, we are coming up on the one-year anniversary of the beginning of our area’s pandemic dance…open, close, open, close, kind of open, sort of close…and of course our creatives are taking it all in stride, and shifting and pivoting like mad, while likely getting kind of tired of it, too.
Creative Nomad Studios (CNS) had a bunch of workshops set up for in person starting in March, but are holding off until things settle a bit. Don’t worry, if you have signed up for any of them, your ticket will be honoured, but the date will change. Events will go ahead, at some point!
In the meantime, as part of the shifting and pivoting part, Creative Nomad has several fun virtual events, sure to entertain and educate, lined up this week. And, bonus, they are all free. And, other bonus, the links stay up after the live event, so you can access them at your leisure if you can’t make the live event.
First up, as part of their ABT2 CRe8 series, Let’s Try Gouache, a free virtual workshop with artist Steph Whalen. You can learn by watching, try it with your own gouache, or get the Try It kit from the CNS online shop. The workshop is Thursday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m., and you can access it here.
Second up, is a two-part series, part one of which is Thursday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. This series is titled Colour Theory for Artists and is run by Anitta Hamming. Again, you can use your own materials or buy the kit from CNS, which will have everything you might need. The link for this workshop is here.
Creative Nomad’s third event this week is a fun virtual event for everyone, artist or not. Titled Shifted Virtual, it’s another free live event, featuring four artists who start a piece each, then have to shift after 12 minutes, to the next piece.
Audience participation is a must, as audience members get to throw down an idea, colour, or subject and artists must add it to their work. At the end of the event, there will be four unique works of art, each created by all four artists.
Featured (and brave) artists for the event this week are Robert Kenneth Kavanagh, Raune-Lea Marshall, Nancy Johnstone and Laurie Herd. Tune in this Friday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. for this hilarious and entertaining event, here.
In addition to art kits for its workshops, Creative Nomad also has Unbox It kits. Each kit has material for a one- to two-hour project. To check these kits out, click here.
Congrats Anitta and Steph for very creative and fun ways to pivot during this trying time!
Speaking of pivoting nicely, Inside the Music and The Songwriter Series are pivoting and presenting a virtual music festival, this Friday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. And yes, it is free as well!
Featuring awesome musicians such as Serena Ryder, Skydiggers, Mundy, Haviah Mighty, Kaia Kater, Lydia Persaud, and CBC Searchlight winner Shawnee, rap artist Shan Vincent de Paul, B. Knox and Sam Johnston. The show will be hosted by Tom Power, who hosts the national arts and entertainment program q on CBC Radio. You can register for a reminder here. I will be attending, so, “see” you there!
Both the Orillia Museum of Art and History and the McLaren Art Centre in Barrie are hosting virtual art auctions right now. OMAH’s QuarARTine art show is ongoing, and features new, 6x6 inch pieces every two weeks. McLaren’s is running until March 5 only and there are a variety of art works to bid on.
For more information on OMAH’s auction, head here. To check out the McLaren’s event, click here.
Again, congrats on the pivot thing, McLaren and OMAH. Given that all the regular ways of fundraising are gone gone gone this year these creative ways to bring in some money to our special spaces are really something. Well done!
Just a couple of other notes. The Orillia Public Library is continuing with curbside pick up for at least this week, while we see what Dr. Gardiner has to say about our pandemic numbers.
Hibernation Arts new group show is now up, with a potential cautious opening date of Saturday, March 6 from 1 to 3 p.m., but the gallery is open for now, so feel free to check it out beforehand. And remember, as of time of writing, all of our galleries and small businesses are open, so please carefully go and give them some love, while you can.
And lastly, the Gravenhurst and other Muskoka public libraries have teamed up to present a virtual author’s talk, featuring Canadian author Jennifer Robson. Robson has written books such as The Gown, Goodnight from London, and Moonlight over Paris, and will be discussing her newest book, Our Darkest Night. The talk will be free, on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. Please email [email protected] to register.
Stay home, stay safe, and send your arts news to [email protected] by Tuesday at noon to be included.
