Studio Tour

County artists welcome visitors this weekend

After having had to postpone the popular Studio Tour last year, County artists are getting ready to welcome visitors this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For some artists, their studios are spacious enough to safely accommodate visitors, while others have set up outdoor spaces or have even temporarily converted their garages or outbuildings to display their artworks. Tour co-chairs Dale Wainwright and Heather Kerr are happy that this year’s tour is taking place. “We were so disappointed last year to have to cancel, and this year we had to make our decision before we really knew what was going to go on,” says Kerr. “And we just decided we were going to do this if at all possible, because art is meant to be seen live, and as artists we’re craving to show our work. It’s not the same as showing it online.” The organizers have ensured that all COVID protocols are in place at each of the participating studios, and say there is a great deal of enthusiasm for this year’s tour. “The artists are pretty excited and our brochures are being grabbed up like crazy, and we keep having to replenish them, and we distribute them in about 150 places across the County,” says Wainwright. “We’ve even had people email us and say ‘Where can I get tickets?’. We tell them it’s free and they can just map out their own route.”

Studio Tour co-chair Heather Kerr is also one of the participating artists. All of her paintings include a circle motif, which she says represents wholeness.

The brochures this year have been recycled from last year, with stickers for the 2021 dates added, and include a small insert showing the studio locations and names of participating artists. There are nine new artists on the tour this year, and a number who were scheduled to be part of last year’s tour are not participating this year. The artists taking part are located from Carrying Place to Cressy, and from Rednersville to Athol Township. Quite often there are several studios in close proximity, so that it’s not necessary to drive long distances to catch a good cross-section of the offerings. There is art that will appeal to almost everyone, from landscapes to portraits, abstract representations as well as three-dimensional works in glass, stone or fibre. A number of artists are sharing their studio space with guest artists, which adds to the diversity of works on offer. “The Studio Tour creates this amazing experience, and it’s another draw to Prince Edward County, which is becoming a bit of an arts and culture Mecca for people from different cities,” says Kerr. “And it’s also just about being part of this artistic community, that gets to share a creative experience with people. They come and ask us questions, find out about our creative process, and get into the mind of the artists. And I think some people get encouragement to do art themselves after the tour.”

There are 32 studios on this year’s tour, and 40 participating artists. Almost one-quarter of the artists will be taking part for the first time. Susan Moshynski is one of those new participants, although she has taken part in the Rednersville Road Art Tour for a number of years. She paints semi-abstract landscapes, mostly in acrylics, but also does some oils and pastels. She’s had a career as a graphic artist and political cartoonist, and is constantly pushing the boundaries of her art.

“There’s always something new to learn, and I change my styles a little bit all the time, and if you come to my studio you’ll see there’s a variety,” she says. Another new artist is Petra Lepage from Mountainview. She has a degree in fine arts, and is now studying for a master’s degree in aging and health at Queen’s University. “I’m studying the effects of art on stress in older adults and how it can reduce stress and improve people’s lives. I have a very much healing, holistic approach to art. I’m informed by meditation and yoga and spiritual practices, and I use that to inspire my artwork,” she says. Colleen Manestar creates three-dimensional artworks that combine modern technology with a touch of the Victorian era. “It’s called steampunk and it combines alternate technologies. I’m working on a bunch of steampunk vehicles right now, some small boats and the Opticopter, kind of like the vehicles from Mad Max,” she says. “I have a background in IT and I’ve always collected pocket watches and vacuum tubes and the early computer chips and my art is a reflection of our technology.” Co-chair Heather Kerr is also a new participant on the tour. She is a mostly self-taught artist who found a new direction for her life after a career as an international tax lawyer. A February vacation in Paris some years ago during which she spent a lot of time in near-empty museums and art galleries kindled a passion for art. “I started imagining myself painting canvases, and nine months later I ended up leaving my job to teach myself how to paint,” she says. “I’m a life coach, and all of my paintings are in circles, which represent wholeness. And the women in each painting are in what I consider to be a joyful pose, either dancing or in meditation, so it’s a joyful expression.”

Wainwright and Kerr are grateful for the support they’ve received from the Arts Council and from community partners such as the Drake Devonshire and the Waring House, which hosted a preview of the Studio Tour in August. “We’ve had a lot of supporters, and they’ve been just great to us, and that’s really important. The Waring House is our platinum supporter, and the Drake continues to support us, and the Local Store, and we couldn’t do without the support of the Arts Council, which is the umbrella organization, and we couldn’t do it without them.” The Studio Tour runs this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For more details and the locations of participating studios, please visit pecstudiotour.com.