Don't be surprised if you bump into a painter, sculptor or even a comic book artist using a city sidewalk or stretch of grass as their studio sometime this week.
The first Visual Arts Festival, which kicked off Saturday with the opening of an exhibition at Government House, will see more than 50 artists deliver workshops and stage outdoor exhibitions at various locations throughout the downtown core from now until Sunday.
The festival is part of Fredericton's year-long celebration for being named a Cultural Capital of Canada.
"There are a lot of people here in the city that maybe don't visit galleries on a regular basis and they are missing out on a lot,'' said Angela Watson, cultural development officer for the City of Fredericton.
"I think staging this festival is great because it will make the art more accessible and if people drop by one of our outdoor venues, I think they will be surprised by the sheer variety and quality of artwork out there.''
Some of the highlights of the festival include artist demonstrations at the Barracks Shops from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, a symposium on the visual arts at 7 p.m. tonight at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and a day-long community painting session on the Green on Saturday.
Watson said the festival will be the most visible of any of the 14 projects the city has planned to celebrate its selection as a Cultural Capital of Canada.
"This is the most high profile event, especially since it is a community-wide event that we are really encouraging people to come out and participate in," she said.
"There has been a lot of exposure with things like the Beaverbrook gallery sculpture we commissioned, but that's more of a project whereas this is a whole festival."
Michael Maynard, principal of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design and one of the organizers of the festival, said he hopes the week-long event will strengthen an already strong arts scene.
"There is so much arts activity going on throughout the city and this will hopefully raise the profile of all that activity," he said.
"I know as a college we try to act as a catalyst for a lot of visual art, craft and design activity in the community and this is a tangible way to do that and help lead the development of future arts activity in the city."
A full schedule of events for the Visual Arts Festival is posted on the city's website located at
www.fredericton.ca. By CHRIS FOX
Posted By: Daniel Moss
Tuesday, June 30th 2009 at 5:50PM
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