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Deadline looms for studios to be included this year

Guide will be on ferries, visitor information centres, motels, hotels and other businesses

Volunteers with the Artist Studio and Gallery Guide are looking for artists and artisans with a solo or shared display space who want to be included in the guide.

Sometimes known as the “Blue Brochure”, the guide has been produced by the district Community Art Council since the 1970s.  Potter Betty Assaf has been involved in the guide both as part of a craft co-op and as a solo studio, and is a volunteer organizer again this year.

The purpose of the guide is to enable tourists and locals to easily find studios and galleries they would like to visit. It is an opportunity for the public to shop locally for unique items, and also meet the creative artist. Artists set their own hours and open days, but usually they welcome people to make appointments for other times that are convenient to them.

Six thousand guides will be printed.  They will be distributed on the Horseshoe Bay and Duke Point Ferry runs, Visitor Information Centers, motels, hotels, bed and breakfast inns and other businesses throughout the mid-Island area.

As was done in prior years, the participating artists and galleries share printing and ferry distribution costs.  In 2012 the cost was $200 per studio, and Assaf estimates this year to be the same or less, depending on the number of participants.  The administrator at the Oceanside Community Arts Council will manage the financial aspects of the project.

To be included in the guide, or for more information, call Betty Assaf at 250-468-7468 before the April 15 deadline.

 

— Submitted by Betty Assaf