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A showcase of Island artists

The 61st annual Saanich Peninsula Arts and Crafts Society event is a showcase of work from artists from all over
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Donna Jean

By the time the weekend was over, more than 1,500 people were expected to have walked into the Mary Winspear Centre for a huge arts and crafts show.

The 61st annual Saanich Peninsula Arts and Crafts Society event is a showcase of work from artists from south of the Malahat, to the Saanich Peninsula and from the Gulf Islands. Show Convenor Donna Jean, who has been with the event for six years (and a member artist for seven), says the Arts and Crafts Exhibition gives the community access to local artists’ work.

The weekend exhibit had no less than 360 hanging works of art, plus tables containing even more. Member artists gave demonstrations and guest sculptor Andreas von Zadora-Gerlof presented his gem creations on the main stage.

“This is a venue for members to sell their art,” Jean said, adding judges from the Society volunteer to award top marks to pieces in a variety of categories.

There are around 290 members in SPAC (www.spacsociety.com), Jean said, and they pay a $20 hanging fee to get into the show — making it affordable to members. They had to be fully paid members as of Dec. 31 to qualify for the big exhibition.

“The Mary Winspear Centre,” Jean continued, “is a nice place that reaches a lot of people. We’ll have had more than 1,500 people through.”

editor@peninsulanewsreview.com