Arts Carleton Place was there for the Mississippi Lakes Art Festival Gala Wine and Cheese on Friday May 5, 2006, which took place at the Upper Hall of the Carleton Place Arena. The evening began with a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the event. After a short speech from Dale Scott, who organized the event, it was time to have some wine and chat with area artists.

Arts Carleton Place was very happy to be included in this event. Dale Scott donated a portion of the upper hall at the arena to showcase some of the work of the visual artists from the Arts Carleton Place Artist Database. The evening was the first chance for some to show their work.

We thank Dale Scott for this opportunity and also the Artist Promotion and Artist Development Sub-Committees for their hard work in making this event a success!

The weekend of May 5th marked the first annual Mississippi Lakes Fine Art Festival organized by Dale Scott. The event was held at the Carleton Place arena upper hall. Dale generously reserved the stage area for Arts Carleton Place to promote artists from our database. We thank Dale for all of his hard work and for offering this space to our members!

Seven Arts Carleton Place database artists participated in the weekend: Stacey Cassell, Melanie Ingram, Kellie Oliphant-Burns, Jess Ryan, Shirley Sheinfield, Rivka Waas and Rose Wilson. Fun was had by all at the Friday evening gala and throughout the Saturday our artists took turns painting on a group canvas!

Organizing our area would not have been possible without the help of our Artist Development and Artist Promotion sub-committees. A special "thank you" goes out to Victor Maltby (and his mother!), Rose Wilson, Marilyn Sellers, Jess Ryan, Melanie Ingram and Lorrie Beaton. This group of dedicated volunteers truly made the event a pleasure!

Discussions surrounding development of a multi-use recreation and arts centre as well as other happening around town are discussed in this month's Art's Alive article. Take a minute and check it out!.

Stop in at Page and Turners to check out the fabulous artwork by our online Artist Database member Stacey Cassell!

Stacey Cassell is a self-taught artist who creates colourful, inspirational and intriguing pieces. You must see his paintings! For more information on Stacey, you can find his profile on our Artist Database page.

Thank you to Page and Turners for featuring this Arts Carleton Place artist! Page and Turners is located at 135 Bridge Street, here in Carleton Place. Their website address is pageandturnerscarletonplace.com.

Please contact us if you are interested in joining our Artist Database or for more information, click on "Artist Database" and see the details at the top of the page!

Artwork on display

More artwork

This is our opportunity to show that the arts are important for the future of Carleton Place and your opportunity to show your support!

In our Strategic Plan, we spoke about becoming a community liaison, by "collaborating and partnering with key local groups". We felt that working with local business and our town council was important.

We had proposed as part of our five year plan to, "lobby the town for a true community centre that would house a youth and senior centre, a daycare, offer night classes, with a fixed seat auditorium, art gallery and an outdoor stage".

Keeping in this vein, some of our board members have been attending the breakfast meetings/workshops offered in Carleton Place. The Business-Building Attraction and Retention (B-BAR) group is a community-led group involving industry, retail, professional services, educators, general public, artists, and retired business leaders from Carleton Place.

B-BAR is going to be presenting at the Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 in the Town Hall Auditorium at 7 pm. Their presentation to our Town Council is to commission a study to get a clear and comprehensive vision for economic growth for Carleton Place. There will also be a request for a project budget. The presentation will be about 30-40 minutes long.

One of the key areas is supporting and developing the arts, to develop a multi-use recreation and arts centre, and to have Carleton Place as an event-centred destination. Arts Carleton Place has been identified as a key player in this process with other citizens who believe in the arts.

This is your opportunity to voice your opinion and show your support for this kind of facility.

Please come out to support this proposal. The more of us there, we can show Town Council that this town needs the arts to be a vibrant part in the growth of our community.

The 13th Annual Country Lanes Studio Tour takes place Victoria Day Weekend from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm each day. Fourteen studios from Carleton Place to Perth, Otty Lake, Rideau Ferry and Pike Lake will show the work of 29 artists. You will see pottery, sculpture, glass, painting, floral design, jewellery, designer clothing, photography, woodworking and carpentry.

Brochures with maps are available at local merchants and restaurants, or at the tour website.

You will also find some interesting faces from Arts Carleton Place and our Database in the mix: Victoria Jenkins, Craig Angus, and Peggy's Passions.

This is just a reminder that the deadline for the Arts Carleton Place Opportunity Award and the Student Bursary Award is May 15th, 2006. Applications and award information can be found on our website.

The Opportunity Award offers funding to encourage the development of artists in any artistic discipline. This recipient will receive $1000 to enable the artist to enhance their education, creativity and growth.

The student bursary award will offer $500 to a student at Notre Dame and Carleton Place High to further their education in the arts!