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Castlegar Art Walk set for 16th year

Castlegar's Art Walk is ready to take the city by storm for the 16th straight year.
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Last year's Castlegar Art Walk opening celebration was well attended.

Castlegar's Art Walk is ready to take the city by storm for the 16th straight year. The annual event features local art work featured in local businesses from June 26 until Sept. 16. Art Walk kicks off with an exhibit/social on June 26 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Castlegar Community Complex.

"We're getting ready to have our opening celebration for Art Walk," said organizer Jacquie Hamilton. "There's no charge. It's open to the public. Each artist brings one piece of work, so it's an opening exhibit with 27 pieces we hope. There's a little light entertainment and some non-alcoholic refreshments. Everybody has a good gabfest and we celebrate Art Walk."

This year's Art Walk will feature 27 artists in 25 venues throughout the region.

"It's a collaboration between artists or groups of artists and businesses throughout the community," said Hamilton. "What the Arts Council does is invite the artist to be part of Art Walk and then goes and finds businesses that are willing to host the art for the summer."

One of the businesses hosting Castlegar Art Walk is our own Castlegar News office, which will be featuring art from Louise Kipstead from Trail.

"This is her first year in Art Walk," said Hamilton. "She's got maybe four or five paintings so she applied to come in. We have artists all over town from West's Fashions downtown, to the Castlegar Sculpture Walk office, that's a neat office, the Castlegar & District Library, Mother Natures, and many more. Some of these businesses like Oglow's Paints have been venues for 16 years. So the support we get is just fantastic."

The artists and the business pay a small amount to participate, which covers the cost of the brochures that lead people around and the door signs.

"It's a way of getting tourists, and locals around town and into different stores," said Hamilton.

In addition to the many great paintings, there are also sculptures, hand-woven fabric, jewellery, and photographs.