Spring is in the air and the Hants County Arts Council is itching to get growing!
2013 proved itself to be an incredibly exciting year for our group, seeing us participate in the most events to date; 14 if anyone is counting!
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| 2nd Annual HCAC Group Show at Bread Gallery, March - April, 2013 |
We kicked off the year with our second annual, end of winter show at the Bread Gallery in Brooklyn. In April we joined forces with the Avon River Heritage Society to bring you the 15th annual Great Little Art Show in Newport Landing, which turned out to be the first of many collaborations with this group throughout the summer.
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| 15th Annual Great Little Art show, April 26th - 28th, 2013 |
Together we applied for funding from the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage to revive the museum’s Heritage Artisans in Action, extending the event into a series of themed demonstrations.
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| Heritage Artisans in Action: Metal, July 28th with G.A. Jank and Steve Veinot |
In July we were invited by the Hantsport Area Revitalization Committee to help revive the town's event, Paint the Port, a plein air painting event.
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| Carol Morrison on location at Paint the Port in Hantsport on July 20th, 2013 |
In September, many members came out again to create art on-site in Windsor in support of the 6th annual, Paint Windsor.
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| Jessica Uhlman onsite at the Spitfire Arms pub as a part of Paint Windsor, Sept 8th, 2013 |
October saw our 7th annual Harvest Festival of Art and the awarding of the 2013 Hall of Fame award to Pat Gould-Thorpe, presented by Dr. Avery Vaughan. Sponsor T.A.N. Coffee in Windsor also invited our members to participate in a month-long exhibition held in their Water Street location as an additional means of promoting the weekend-long festival at 69 Cedar St.
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| Hall of Fame Awards at the Harvest Festival of Art, Oct 11th, 2013 |
We were barely into the new year before we began planning for our 3rd annual group showcase at the Bread Gallery which opened on February 15th and continued until March 30th. This highly anticipated show welcomed over 20 artists to participate, showcasing a wide variety of mediums and styles. The end result was a very lively and colourful showcase, introducing many new artists from our ever-growing membership.
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| Opening night at the HCAC's 3rd annual end of winter group show at the Bread Gallery, Feb 15th, 2014 |
Thanks to the continuing surge of local support, we have decided to devote this year to building on our community collaborations. We recently received approval for funding through Support4Culture to facilitate a creative cultural collaboration with the Avon River Heritage Society, who will in turn be providing the council with a permanent home, which will act as a venue to host cultural events and activities.
We will be kicking off this collaboration on May 9th with the opening of the 16th annual Great Little Art Show, which will also coincide with the reveal of our communal studio space and the launch of our Artist in Residence program.
We will once again be presenting the Heritage Artisans in Action series by hosting five themed events throughout the summer, which will focus on artists and artisans who work in traditional and contemporary styles.
This September we will officially be adding Paint Windsor to our event roster. This annual passion project, now in it’s 6th year, has previously been organized by beloved local painter Kelly Mitchelmore. With Kelly’s upcoming departure from the community, our group hopes to continue on in her footsteps. We plan to build on the strong foundation she has created with this annual celebration of our artistic community and the people who together make it a unique and special place to both live and visit. We wish Kelly the best of luck in Montreal and we will definitely miss her valuable contribution to the local arts community.
We have once again aligned our Harvest Festival of Art to take place during Culture Days, September 26th - 28th, and this year we are inviting our members to devise creative ways to interact with the viewing public throughout the weekend-long event.
For example, a group of local fibre artists will be on site, creating a hooked rug depicting a local historic building. Visitors will learn the basics of rug hooking and they will be encouraged to join in and contribute to the creation of the piece. Artists with ideas for other interactive activities are encouraged to contact us.
The Avon River Heritage Society and The Hants County Arts Council recognize the support of the Province of Nova Scotia through the Department of Communities, Culture & Heritage. We recognize funding from the Support4Culture, a designated lottery program of the Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corporation. We are pleased to work in partnership with the Culture Division to develop and promote our cultural resources for all Nova Scotians.
It is through the support of our members, community and volunteers that we are able to provide this ongoing programming and we are grateful for everyone’s time and effort to make our events so successful!
In 2015 we hope to be able to continue building on our collaborations and events, creating annual traditions that we as a community can depend on.
If you would like to play a part in the ongoing growth of the HCAC then please join us at our Annual General Meeting on April 30th at 7pm at the Superstore at 11 Cole Drive in Windsor or contact us by email at: tacha.reed@gmail.com
