The Sidney Fine Art Show is coming together.
The Chair of the Sidney Fine Art Show Committee, Diane Thorp, said all of the sponsors from last year and more are confirmed and the planning is going ahead for opening night.
The volunteer committee has close to 400 people but “we’re always looking for more volunteers,” she told the PNR.
For those interested in becoming a volunteer, they can visit the website at sidneyfineartshow.com.
Running from Oct. 14 to 16 at the Mary Winspear Centre, the show will see a variety of artists and their works.
The show ran into difficulty earlier this year and at one point, the discussion among organizers and members of the Community Arts Council of the Saanich Peninsula (CACSP) turned to cancelling this year’s event. But Thorp said that was due to one issue — communication.
“The problems that we had last year were basically a lack of communication,” she said.
On April 21, an election was held as part of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for CACSP and Thorp was voted in as president, taking over from Danny Daniels.
In terms of the Sidney Fine Art Show, Thorp said communication has opened up.
“And the really positive thing was with the help of the Town of Sidney, the arts council ... could communicate and sit down and discuss issues and come to a resolution of how we could work together,” she said.
Thorp will be working with the council in an inclusive way, she said, ensuring that there is clear communication. She said this is a positive message, and that everyone is on side.
“And the really important thing is that this show is vital for the Town of Sidney as well as for the artists in the whole of Vancouver Island, south Vancouver Island ... but we do have artists coming from farther away.
“It’s a very important event and we would not want it to disappear, so it’s been a really positive outcome,” she added.
Working together with CACSP, Sidney Fine Art Show and the Sidney Business Improvement Area Society (SBIA) for the Art Sea Festival and Show, community members can look forward to another great year.