The Culture Days weekend launches September 25-27 with a focus on craft as a key contributor to Canadian culture

TORONTO – This year, the sixth annual Culture Days weekend coincides with Craft Year 2015, a year-long, nation-wide festival promoting craft as a key player on the Canadian cultural landscape.

To mark the occasion, Ontario Culture Days has teamed up with Craft Ontario to encourage craft makers to offer free hands-on craft activities to the public during the Culture Days weekend that launches on September 25-27^th. More than 150 free craft activities are offered across the province.

According to Citizens of Craft, craft products contributed $2.8 billion to the national economy last year. Not only are craft-makers a vibrant part of our economy, they add vitality to our local cultures and communities. These sophisticated creative entrepreneurs are feeding the general public’s insatiable appetite for unique handmade products.

With a growing consumer consciousness and appreciation for how and where our food, fashion, furnishings and other products are made, there has never been a better time for craft-makers to share their creations.

With the massive success of artisanal shows and technological advances such as online commerce and social media, there has also never been an easier time for the public to access and learn about craft. It is within this context that Culture Days celebrates the diversity of craft from time-honoured traditions to contemporary interpretations.

During the Culture Days weekend, the public are not only invited to see impressive works from some of Ontario’s finest craft makers, but as Emma Quin, Executive Director, Craft Ontario comments, “Culture Days is a great opportunity to experience craft, to learn about local makers and explore unique and enduring handmade traditions.”

The public will be invited into the workshops of these makers, and in many cases they will be encouraged to roll up their sleeves and try a variety of craft techniques for themselves, learning directly from accomplished artisans for FREE. Come find out why making crafts is the most popular creative activity engaged in by the general public* and possibly fall in love with a new past time.

 

*Building the Case for Business Support of the Arts, A study commissioned by Business for the Arts, February 2015.

Here are just a few examples of Culture Days activities with a craft-focus:

·         Teresa Seaton will demonstrate copper-foiling technique for stained glass at her Burlington gallery.

·         Jaroslav-Jerry Vrabec merges his engineering and aviation training with his artistic sensibilities to create striking metal and mixed media sculptures. Tour behind the scenes at his Metal Works Studio in London.

·         Paint your own clay tile at the Gardiner Museum during the Bloor St. Culture Corridor Hub in Toronto.  

·         Celebrate 55 years of the Thunder Bay Weavers and Spinners Guild with demonstrations, workshops and displays of weaving looms, spinning wheels and other equipment.

·          In Gravenhurst, Linda Kristin Blix will host a drop-in family-friendly introduction to printmaking, using simple techniques and materials.

It’s easy to find other craft-related activities in your communities by selecting “craft” as a search category on the Culture Days website.

About Culture Days

Culture Days invites everyone to create, participate and share in arts and culture in every community across the country. Over 7.5 million Canadians have participated in 33,000 Culture Days activities hosted by 5,000 Canadian artists, cultural organizations and groups in some 900 different Canadian cities and towns since 2010. The 6^th annual Culture Days weekend will take place on September 25, 26 and 27, 2015. Once again, the event will feature free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind the scenes”—and to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers at work in their community.

To find out what activities are happening in your community visit www.on.culturedays.ca and plan your Culture Days weekend using the Bright Spots Schedule, presented by Sun Life Financial. Connect with Culture Days on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube and join the conversation @ONCultureDays.

Ontario Culture Days is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Ontario Arts Council and the Government of Ontario in recognition of Celebrate the Artist Weekend.

-30-