Over 2,500 people attended Glenhyrst Art Gallery’s second annual Grand River Arts Festival on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21, 2024.
According to Ana Olson, Director of Glenhyrst Art Gallery, there was a lot of great art, in many different mediums, happening on the grounds over the course of the two-day event.
“This is such an amazing park and it doesn’t actually get utilized all that much so for me it’s amazing to be here under the 100-year-old trees, enjoying the music, enjoying the art and just being with the community,” said Ana Olson. “Our mandate at Glenhyrst is to bring the arts to the community and make it matter and I think we’ve achieved that. We really want to grow this festival so it can become a real signature event but we know it may take a few years to really get it off the ground so for now we’re going to keep at it and we’re pretty happy with how it all worked out this year.”
The weekend-long gathering kicked off when around 400 people attended Friday night’s event, which featured live music from Miss Mae, intermission entertainment by the Hamilton Acrobats, and headliner act, the Blackburn Brothers.
Throughout the evening, residents took the opportunity to watch a variety of performance art pieces and explore the nearly 40 fine artists vendors who were onsite exhibiting and selling their artwork. From metal to wood, fibre art, paint, glass works and more, there was plenty of art to discover and admire.
As well, the Brantford Potters’ Guild presented several pottery demonstrations and were selling handmade one-of-a-kind works by around 18 artisans inside the Gardener’s Cottage.
Over in the Coach House, around 50 guests sat to watch last year’s 10-minute play competition winner, Trevor Copp, as he performed his full length prize-winning play “Searching for Marceau.”
For those looking to satisfy their palate, many stopped by one of the various food trucks for a bite to eat, or indulged in wine, beer and zero proof cocktails inside the Glenhyrst Garden Bar.
On Saturday, the art affair continued when around 2,000 people returned to Glenhyrst for day two of the event.
The over 50 artists were, once again, in attendance sharing their numerous works and throughout the afternoon, attendees enjoyed live music from artists Tabla, Mell & Grace, Killan Bamberg and Friends, Shebad, Sunjunkies, Tom Swick, Chris Strei, Days on Parade and Lowdown Dirty Mojos.
Back in the Coach House, 15 plays that were pre-selected for their quality and originality, were on display for this year’s 10-minute play competition and adjudication. Later prizes were given out for the top three performances.
Over by the main stage, nine visual artists took turns (three at a time) partaking in the Grand Impressionists paint challenge where art from the gallery’s permanent collection was pulled for the artists to create their own impression of the work in 25 minute intervals.
Also on site for the day was Dave Hind and his community art project, as well as Big Cityyy Arts with six various performance art installations displayed on two plinth stages.
For youngsters in attendance, many visited the children’s area for the Kindred Spirits canvas painting, Kids Art hosted by Glenhyrst and the Rumple and Friends show.
Jennifer Brick, a painter from Hamilton, said she was happy to be apart of the event and felt inspired by being around so many talented artists.
“You can tell everybody loves and appreciates art, and that they’re here to support the artists. It’s been so great walking around and just seeing all the different styles of art,” said Brick. “There’s so many talented people here and I think the organizers did a really good job curating the artists. When you visit all the tents you can see that everyone has their own style of art which is really nice because even if we’re doing something similar, you can see how we really interpret things differently. It’s just a great atmosphere here, it’s relaxed and there’s really something for everybody. I would absolutely love to come back and be part of this next year.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
