In this newsletter:
- Save the dates for TISGB’s in-person events this fall!
- A Successful Porchside Festival + Introducing, The Knitting Pilgrim
- Get your tickets for this year’s Meaford International Film Festival
- Where Art and Business Intersect – Featuring Hello Pottery, Collingwood and Blue Gallery & Shop, Thornbury
Save the Dates for TISGB’s TWO in-person fall events!
Friday, October 20th
The Marsh Street Centre, Clarksburg
Sustainability and the Green Economy
Friday, November 17th
Meaford Hall, Meaford
Financing the Housing Affordability Gap
Stay tuned for more event details, including registration, in our September newsletters.
Theatre is alive and well in Collingwood this summer!
By Erica Angus, Executive Director at Theatre Collingwood
Picture this: It’s a beautiful summer’s eve in July. You stroll over to what looks like a neighbour’s home. You are greeted by Theatre Collingwood’s team and big, yellow, banners. You are helped to a yard by a porch, where you are instructed to set up your lawn chairs. Once you are set up you notice that there is a visual artist displaying their talents so you wander over to view the beautiful local art. Maybe you even decide to take a piece home with you. Back at your lawn chair you might decide to unpack a snack from a picnic basket you brought with you. You see some friends and decide to arrange your chairs together. You notice that the performance is about to begin and a Theatre Collingwood representative steps up to tell you the history of the home you are at. Very interesting! You realize you often wondered about this home as you passed it daily. Then an incredible performer, or performers, step onto the porch and for the next hour you are in awe of the talent you are witnessing in this intimate setting. You can smell the scent of the garden nearby and you are lulled by the peacefulness of it all. The performance ends. You and your friends pack up, and decide to chat further at a local establishment. THIS WAS THE THEATRE COLLINGWOOD PORCHSIDE FESTIVAL!
Throughout the month of July, Theatre Collingwood presented 12 different shows on 12 different porches. Each performed three times, for a total of 36 performances in one month!
These were not just any artists on these porches. They were carefully curated and exceptionally talented Canadian artists, many who have worked at The Stratford Festival, The Shaw Festival, Mirvish Productions and Broadway. The festival ran through to July 30th and was met with rave reviews!
Missed the Porchside performances? Not to worry! Theatre Collingwood is proud to present, “The Knitting Pilgrim”, at The Simcoe Street Theatre from August 16-19th. You’ll laugh, cry, and even participate in a little bit of knitting yourself as Kirk celebrates diversity, interfaith understanding, and the power of art to get us there. This multi-media spectacular includes one-of-a-kind fibre art woven together with modern creative tech and human performance art. This show is for knitters, students of theology, admirers of all types of visual, performance, and multi-media art, and anyone participating in the human experience. You do NOT have to know anything about knitting to enjoy this show – but you might walk away as a converted knitter yourself!
It’s time to get your tickets to the Meaford International Film Festival!
What: an international film festival that attracts people from southern Ontario to Meaford, now in its 17th year
Where: it is held at Meaford Hall with dinners in a dining tent adjacent to the Hall
When: annually on the Thursday thru Sunday of the Labour Day week-end
How: Meaford Culture Foundation, a not-for-profit group, organizes the event as a fundraiser to put money into promoting all things cultural in and around Meaford. We select films that have received recognition and then show them as an stand-alone afternoon offering or they can be viewed as part of a dinner and a movie offering in the evenings followed by an after-party back in the dining tent. Each day has a different meal provided by local restaurants/caterers. Patrons can also opt to just do the evening movie and after-party if they wish.
All tickets can only be purchased through the Meaford Hall Calendar (look for MIFF) or call 519-538-0463.
Where Art and Business Intersect – Small Business Features
HELLO POTTERY, COLLINGWOOD
By: Heather Burton
Hello! Back in March my husband, Jordie and myself decided to jump full head into purchasing Hello Pottery, a local ceramics studio from the former owner.
Both of us have held many different jobs since our teens and into adulthood. However, neither of us have ever been entrepreneurs before. We have been thrilled to jump into this new venture with so many ideas bubbling daily. We are two creatives at heart and have been dreaming of having our own community creative space since we got married 10 years ago.
The purpose of our studio is to be able to welcome locals and visitors in the area and to build connection through the fine medium of clay. We offer a variety of programming for kids, teens and adults. Many tourists enjoy our one-time ‘Try the Pottery Wheel’ or ‘Handbuild’ classes. Many of our locals start with a one-time class and enjoy it so much they sign up for multi-week classes and then become open studio members. We have a certain number of open studio memberships available where once you have completed a multi-week class you can join and come in to practice your craft on your own terms. It is so lovely to meet so many other people in our community that are craving a creative outlet. Ceramics, while still challenging and requiring practice, can be a non-intimidating, attainable art medium to dive into.
As new entrepreneurs, there is a lot that we are still figuring out, ie. how to stay on top of bookkeeping! And with a young family ourselves how to set our own boundaries so that we can have a healthy work/home life balance. Jordie has another job so is not in the studio space all of the time. Heather manages all of the day-to-day operations and asks Jordie many questions along the way. We have also been so lucky to have hired local artists, Jenny Nemes, a fine artist and ceramic lover, and Hilary Willson Ceramics to teach some of our ceramics classes. Sophia, our other employee, is studying art at university and has returned for the 3rd summer to teach and work in our studio.
We feel excited and hopeful to be entrepreneurs in Southern Georgian Bay. We think all art should be approachable, fun, and individualistic. We invite you to come and say Hello! And maybe even delve into a little pottery during your visit.
Hello Pottery is a ceramics studio and shop located in downtown Collingwood at 207 #7 Hurontario down Leeway Laneway.
BLUE GALLERY & SHOP, THORNBURY
By: Sarah Beveridge
BLUE Gallery & Shop is a new fine art gallery featured in the heart of Thornbury, Ontario. Curator + Artist, Sarah Beveridge alongside her business partner and husband, Chris Carvallo established BLUE Thornbury in 2021. The gallery is located at 19 Bruce Street, N in the “red house” just off the Georgian Trail and on the way to the Thornbury Harbour. The gallery features a curated collection of Canadian Contemporary Fine Art and Craft for your home and cottage collection. Including work by Beveridge and established artists, Rod Prouse, Victoria Ward, Gary Blundell, Jill Price, Frances Thomas, Tanya Zaryski, Michael Kilburn, Derek and Tracey Martin as well as highlighted artisans Kate Civiero, Infinite Glassworks, Heather Dynes Smit, Ceramics, Tim Laurin, one of a kind enameled Jewellery, plus many more.
This contemporary commercial gallery space comes with a rich history in Canadian art and one that has evolved for Beveridge over the last 20 years of her career as both a private and public curator. Sarah holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Western Ontario and a BFA from the University of Windsor. Her curatorial background began in Toronto in the late 90’s as a co-founder of Sis Boom Bah on Queen West. She has taught professionally in Georgian College’s Fine Arts Department and The School of Visual Arts at the University of Windsor. Blue Gallery formerly, SB Contemporary Art was first established in Barrie off of Dunlop Street in 2005, and later reopened in Windsor, Ontario at 1017 Church Street, 2011-2019. As a previous public curator of Exhibitions and Public Projects for the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie, ON, Sarah has had the opportunity to work with numerous Contemporary Canadian Artists over the years and the pleasure of writing several art publications.
With a strong commitment to connecting people and art, BLUE Gallery & Shop is excited to welcome you to their new location. To find out more about BLUE, the artists’ biographies, art consultation, and upcoming art education programming please visit bluethornbury.com and on social media @blue_thornbury.