On June 20, many creatives in our area are participating in a country-wide National Arts Drive, organized by RAW Artists and Orillia native Michelle Bylow. This event was originally scheduled for June 5, but has been moved to later in the month.
Creatives in all areas —art, music, performing arts, film, fashion, photography, craft, beauty — as well as cultural institutions and local restaurants nation-wide are invited to showcase their work to a driving, socially distanced audience for attention, tips, and hopefully sales.
Local musician Olivia Duck will be participating, along with various other drop-in members of the band, Hobo Jam.
“We will be located at 77 Lewis Drive in Orillia. It will be a Hobo Jam collective performance featuring myself, Jakob Pierce, Jamie Drake, and Dennis Rizzo. Perhaps other drop-in musicians as well. We will do a variety of music which will be jammed out as we aren’t officially rehearsing at this time for obvious reasons," said Duck.
Several artists and galleries along Peter Street between Mississaga and Colborne streets will be out, including Patti Agapi, MJ Pollak and Molly Farquharson from Hibernation Arts.
“We will have tables out showcasing our art, and of course participants are welcome to stop, park, and safely come into the gallery to view and purchase,” Farquharson said.
RAW artists executive director Bylow is excited about this first-time event.
“We have expanded the event to include local eateries and food trucks,” Bylow said. “We have partnered with the Orillia District Arts Council to spread the word to local artists.”
Anitta Hamming’s Creative Nomad Studios will also be participating, through the gallery’s 2020 Unlimited show, on display now in the windows of the gallery.
She said "2020 Unlimited is all set up for an event like this. We have over 30 works of art in the windows of the gallery and drivers can safely purchase through our website. We hope to see lots of drivers out and are excited to be part of this event," said Hamming.
The event will be live in our area on June 20 from 4 to 7 p.m., and the map will go live the night before. There is also an app you can download. For this and other information about the National Arts Drive, go to their website.
Would you like to support art and an important cultural institution in our town? Orillia Museum of Arts and History’s (OMAH) online art auction, QuarARTine is now live!
This auction will run from now until the end of September. Twenty new pieces of 6-inch by 6-inch art will be posted every 20 days. You can purchase art outright for $30 or bid on it and see how high it goes!
All proceeds will go towards OMAH which of course is suffering in these pandemic times. Many items of the first 20 are already sold, only three days in, so check in often to get your first choice. For more information and to bid, go here.
This week’s Essential Concert series will feature Sean and Bayze Murray, of the local band, Reay. Reay’s debut single, Lemondrop Girl, is available for download and you can purchase the band’s debut album, Butterfly Tongue Revisited, here.
Tune in to listen to Sean and Bayze live on the Essential Concert series this Thursday at 8 p.m. here.
Local dance therapist Miriam Goldberger is involved in an amazing event this week to celebrate Seniors’ Month. Young at Art presents Golden Hour this Thursday June 4 from 2 to 3 p.m. This is a virtual interactive event for older adults, presented through Zoom.
There will be an interactive sing-a-long with music therapist Thyra Andrews, an improv dance with Miriam, and a co-created art experience with Tonya Hart. You can get your Zoom invite by emailing [email protected]. Enjoy!
Have a sunny first weekend in June and send me your arts news by Tuesday at noon, to [email protected].
