By Brennan Phillips
Special to the Western News
A wide variety of artistic mediums will be on display at the Shatford Centre for the Okanagan Valley Art Fair.
“We’ll have a number of well known artists this year,” said event organizer Bill Everden. “There’s a great watercolour artist, Cecille Derkatch, from West Kelowna; Linda Lovisa, who owns the New Moon Gallery in West Kelowna; and Kindrie Grove and Renee Matheson, who own the gallery on Martin Street here in Penticton.”
The art fair takes place May 5 and 6 at the Shatford Centre, admission is by donation. On Saturday, the event will open with a reception with wine (cash bar) and food from 5 to 9 p.m. On Sunday, the fair will open at 10 a.m. and run until 4 p.m. Attendance for both days will be by donation, with proceeds going to the Shatford Centre and the Penticton School of the Arts.
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The event highlights the range of mediums in which art can be made, and the different styles in those mediums.
“There will be one artist with jewelry there. There will be a woodcarver there. Most of the artists are painters, but they all are different; some do watercolours, some do acrylic and some do oils. There will also be a sculptor working on a piece during the show; that’s Kindrie Grove actually,” said Everden, who is a board member of the Okanagan School of the Arts. “There may be other artists painting as well. I really hope people come by to take a look at the art, and support the Shatford Centre and the Penticton School for the Arts.”
While it is the first time the fair will be at the Shatford Centre, it has been running for five years. It previously was held and organized by the former Westbank Rotary Club in West Kelowna. Everden came up with the concept when he was a member of that club. Despite the change in location, the event is still popular with the local artist community.
“The artists were happy, they kept coming back every year, and a lot of them are coming to this show. The first year we had 12 artists, this year we have close to 30. ”
It’s hoped the event will become an annual fundraiser for the Shatford Centre. With the centre’s location, there’s a great deal of space to expand into, and Everden hopes to see that space eventually filled with art.
“The Lake Country Art Walk, it has hundreds of artists, and people walk from one building to another. With the Shatford Centre being on the campus of Pen-High, when we grow, we can expand this into the other buildings of Pen-High and people can go between them.”
The art at the fair will also be available for purchase, with pieces ranging from $150 to $1,000. A portion of the sales will go to the Shatford Centre, with the majority going to the artists themselves.