By Sharon Stock Feren,
Huntsville Festival of the Arts director
Artists encouraged to ‘leap out of the box
into infinite imaginative opportunities’
The Huntsville Festival of the Arts is proud of its tradition of excellent main-stage performances. How lucky we are to enjoy this high calibre of entertainment within our own community.
As a member of festival’s Fringe Committee, I am motivated by our president Kareen Burns and her effervescent manner of encouragement to “think outside the box” in our creative endeavours to showcase the talent of local artists. We often leap beyond the containment of four walls and a stage into the act of installing, or performing, a show in amongst the people rather than waiting for a formal audience to assemble.
Artist Sharon Stock Feren is very active on the HFA Fringe Committee and board of directors. [Photo by Jon Snelson.]
Take, for example, the interactive, two-day extravaganza put on by the Edge of the Woods Theatre Festival on the downtown riverfront. There were clowns, music, dancing and the opportunity to experience stilt walking or puppet making. All ages were delighted with the spectacle as it unfolded into the crowd.
Beverley Hawksley’s Subplot mesmerized meandering onlookers, who witnessed fantastic costumes and thought-provoking vignettes enacted at every turn of the path through the woods.
Visual art is highlighted in many aspects of the festival. Our annual image artist creates a piece of work to grace the cover of the summer brochure of events. This work will catch the eye of thousands of people, whom we hope will be curious to see what the Huntsville Festival of the Arts is offering its public this year.
We endeavour to feature art from a broad range of mediums, created by artists who enrich our community with their craft and commitment to high standards. It is exciting to have such a rich pool of talent in our midst.
Art and education crossed paths with the successful Kaleidoscope program at Spruce Glen Public School, where local visual and performing artists and school kids collaborated to create and showcase their production. The Group of Seven mural project involved 40 students, who worked with muralist Gerry Lantaigne to paint 20 murals, which were added to the town’s outdoor mural gallery.
Art Splash invites everyone, young and old, to try their hands at various arts and crafts, while Arts Walk is a gathering of craftspeople eager to demonstrate the intricacies of their trade. Add to this, the festival supports Music at Noon at Trinity United Church, Jazz in the Garden at Tall Trees, dock concerts, a Poetry Cafe and the Muskoka Novel Marathon.
With thanks to our volunteers, sponsors, patrons, the Arts Council of Muskoka and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we are able to leap out of the box into infinite imaginative opportunities. I like to think of ‘fringe’ as a wonderful embellishment to an already magnificent creation.
This year will bring more surprises outside the main stage, as the creative juices flow through the ever-increasing numbers in our talent pool. More information about the Huntsville Festival of the Arts can be found at www.trumpeterhfa.blogspot.com, or www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.
