Headwaters Arts

Sharing Recipient Stories

2023 Dufferin County Community Grant Recipient
$4,250

Sharing our grant story

The funds Headwaters Arts(HA) received were used to help implement Headwaters Arts marketing strategy aimed at enhancing program delivery and cultural and economic connections amongst the artist, the community, patrons of the arts, and sponsors.

Introduction

 As a not-for-profit arts organization, Headwaters Arts (HA) relies upon the support of its

funders, sponsors, and the sale of art to meet the objectives of the organization to:

• celebrate the visual arts and the importance of it in our lives through enhance marketing strategies and delivery.
• promote an active, healthy living for families, art lovers and people of all ages in the community by engaging them in the arts.
• advance the careers of our local artists by offering them the opportunity to show and sell their work to a wide audience of art lovers.
• build the Headwaters region as a desirable destination for visitors to explore both the arts and other area attractions.

A return to normalcy from the pressures of the pandemic enabled us to create a new, energetic, and thoughtful project for our Headwaters Arts community. Though economic conditions persist for many, our thought was to provide a venue that would provide meaningful, yet an economical outlet for all artists. This “easy to be a part of” event also helped us to grow the number of members. We want to celebrate and shine a huge light on the immense talent of Headwaters Arts/Ontario artists.

Thus, the 2023 Tapestry of Art and Music project was born.

Part I

We asked our Headwaters Arts members and the general art community to create on a 6”x 6”canvas. We encouraged all visual arts mediums, including printmaking, textiles, photography, oil, acrylic and watercolours, collage, metal printing, and a variety of others.

The theme was for the artists to combine music into their art. When artists paint, create, do they listen to music? Or does their art remind them of a particular music composition.

Who is their favourite composer? If they love classical music and does using an abundance of a particular colour evoke the tonal qualities of this music? Do they photograph famous musicians or do words of a song bring happiness or sadness? Headwaters Arts gave the artists a broad stage to create their art.

The results from this “call to paint” were superb and in many cases were tenderly presented, identifying a bond from the artist’s heart to the canvas.

Part IIWe enlisted the musical skills of the Achill Choral Society, located in the Town of Orangeville, Ontario. This community choir shares the joys of making music amongst its 100+ members and has been in existence for 40 years. Bringing communities together and vowing to make every voice matter as they move boldly in the future.

Under the direction of Shawn Grenke, he brings his broad training and experience working with some of Canada’s premier choirs. Shawn challenges the choral society to explore new works as well as those of the great choral composers. And most importantly, for the choral society to become a legacy within our area.

For Headwaters Arts, we asked them for a program that includes works known to all and songs with lyrical up lifting.

We curated and staged 70 works of art and it was set up in the outdoor arts space under the tented roof over Annex at the Alton Mill Arts Centre. The art was mounted to large grids that were arranged in a square. The walk-through was continuous and even repetitive to allow viewers to amply see all aspects of the art. Viewing took place before the Achill Choral Society performance with a reception following. Music flowed through the art and the art became music. It was truly a beautiful day for everyone who was there.

All the art was presented for sale at $40 each for 2 for $75. The response was overwhelming as every work of art was sold.

Our generous business sponsors, the majority of which are from Dufferin County, have also benefited from the on-line recognition of their businesses through the HA website and all the promotion/marketing materials produced and distributed for Tapestry of Art and Music including posts on all HA’s social media platforms, press releases, e-blasts, and posters. Headwaters Arts is proud to work with Dufferin County in the promotion and celebration of the arts and the recognition of the important cultural and economic role the arts play in Dufferin County. Tapestry of Art and Music stands as a hallmark for the collaboration between Headwaters Arts and Dufferin County. Headwaters Arts’ membership thanks Dufferin County for enabling us to launch this project. As a not-for- profit organization Headwaters Arts is grateful for the continued support of Dufferin County in promoting and supporting the arts and artists in the Headwaters region.

Prepared by:
Nancy Kluger
Events Committee Chair
Headwaters Arts