The Handmade Feast, running from October to April 2020, is a project by the Ottawa Valley Creative Arts Open Studio (OV-CAOS) that culminates in a community feast next spring. Curator Anya Gansterer is working with artists Andrew Trull, Lydia Vanderstall, Eva Gallagher, Zosia Kosinski, Theresa Prince, Joyce Lorbetskie, Catherine Bloskie, Talli Chaimovitz, Tanya Lyons and Shirley Murphy to create an art installation based on “setting the table.” Free workshops are being held throughout the Valley to develop each element of the table settings which will constitute an art installation to be revealed at the springtime meal on Saturday, March 29. Above: an etched glass created at an earlier workshop with tutor Tanya Lyons
Sign up for free workshops
There’s still time to participate in these Handmade Feast workshops:
Friday Jan.10 (Barry’s Bay) Kashubian Embroidery with Zosia Kosinski, Theresa Prince, Joyce Lorbetskie and Catherine Bloskie
Use Kashubian embroidery techniques to create a napkin.
Opeongo Seniors’ Centre, 19 Stafford Street, Barry’s Bay
Friday January 10 • 1 to 3 pm (Rain date: tba)
Tuesday Feb.11 (Palmer Rapids) Candle-making with Talli Chaimovitz
Learn how to make dipped beeswax candles.
Palmer Rapids Community Centre, 2-62 Burnt Bridge Road, Palmer Rapids
Tuesday February 11 • 1–3 pm (Rain date: Tuesday February 18)
Friday Mar.6 (Killaloe) Mixed Media Collage with Wren Crossland and Jennifer Bennet Pond
Use mixed media collage techniques to create a placemat. With your permission we will scan your artwork and turn it into a placemat for the community meal.
Killaloe Friendship Club, 12 Lake Street, Killaloe
Friday March 6, 1–4 pm (Rain date: tba)
Above: Participants at earlier workshops learned how to weave on a loom with tutor Shirley Murphy and were taught by Eva Gallagher how to hand-build and decorate pottery
Workshop spaces are limited so pre-registration is necessary. These workshops are open to everyone. People over the age of 60 are given priority. OV-CAOS is leading this project with funding from New Horizons, in collaboration with Barry’s Bay and Area Home Support; CRC, Senior Active Living Centre; Killaloe Friendship Club. For more details about this series of free community art workshops email anya@ov-caos.org or click HERE to visit the OV-CAOS website.
Photos ov-caos.org
About the author: Anya Gansterer has more than 16 years’ experience as a cultural worker, with a career dedicated to enlivening space through culture. She is Co-Artistic Director at OV-CAOS. As Culture and Tourism Coordinator, she managed events and programming at The Railway Station for Madawaska Valley Township from 2003 to 2017.