When people can’t go and see artists there is only one recourse to making things right.
You bring art to the people instead.
Enter the 2020 version of the Art at the Gate Festival taking place virtually from the scenic coastline of Twillingate and New World Island.
After a successful first run of the Art at the Gate Festival in 2019, organizers wanted to keep things going in 2020.
That was before a global pandemic and the subsequent restrictions snuffed out any semblance of a normal festival season.
Still, organizers were keen.
“We wanted to keep the name alive,” said festival chairperson Kathy Murphy-Peddle. “We wondered if we could come up with something creative.”
This year’s Art at the Gate festival is vastly different than its first edition.
With the inability to gather in person and appreciate the work being done by artists in the province, the festival turned online.
Work started in August to put something together for this fall.
As such, the Art at the Gate Festival is giving supporters the chance to paint along — or just watch — two of the province’s finest Plein air (outdoor) painters do what they do best.
In September, well-known landscape artists Jean Claude Roy and Clifford George visited Twillingate and completed an outdoor session in the region.
That session was recorded for the Art at the Gate Festival. Both of those sessions will be launched in the next week as the festival kicks into gear.
Each will be free for anyone who registers at the festival’s website. After you register, you will be emailed a YouTube link to each session that you can access on and after the launch day.
Roy’s session will air virtually on Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. Newfoundland time, while the session featuring George is scheduled to go online on Nov. 1 at the same time.
At time of writing, the Art at the Gate festival had more than 300 people registered, some of them will be viewing the sessions internationally.
“The interest is amazing,” said Murphy-Peddle.
George’s session landed him in Jenkin’s Cove portion of the region. He said there was strong wind as he got about to painting and shooting.
“If there is a plus (to the pandemic) is that it forced us to think outside the box. We’ve probably reached a bigger audience.”
“It was excellent,” he said of the session. “It was a wonderful place for scenery.”
When George was asked to be a part of the event, he was quick to say yes and lend his style.
The idea is for the viewer to be completely immersed in the painting as it unfolds in front of them.
Murphy-Peddle said how people choose to enjoy the experience is completely up to them.
They are encouraging people to settle into their studios or their homes and paint along. There will be reference photos posted on the festival’s website to help with that process.
Those who do paint along are being encouraged to send in photos of their completed works.
For those who might not be artistically inclined, they’re being encouraged to sit back and enjoy watching the paintings slowly come into focus.
“If there is a plus (to the pandemic) is that it forced us to think outside the box,” said Murphy-Peddle. “We’ve probably reached a bigger audience.”
Nicholas Mercer is a local journalism initiative reporter for central Newfoundland for SaltWire Network.