By : David Rollert
It’s July and time for our region’s artists to strut their stuff. Tour des Arts gives artists an opportunity to open their studio doors to the public. For its 37th year, Tour des Arts coordinator is West Brome potter Lou-Anne Daoust-Filiatrault. Tempo asked her what people might not realize about the event.
“When you buy a piece of art at a Gallery, that’s wonderful,” she says. “Yet you may not meet the artist. When you go to the studio, you get to see where it’s created: ‘Oh wow, this is somebody who dedicated their life to this.’ Somebody that is researching, that is interested in techniques, that is testing prototypes all the time, and there’s a huge, huge theory behind everything that’s been created. It’s not just a cup or a painting!”
Curated Quality
The Tour des Arts extends through our region, with artists in Abercorn, Sutton, Brome, Lac-Brome, Bolton-Ouest, Bolton-Est et Potton. For no admission charge, visitors have from July 11 to July 19 to drop in on a variety of artists in their workspaces.
The quality is high: there are plenty of artists in the Townships, both natives and those who chose to settle here, and the 38 artists on the tour are selected by jury.
A Creative Community Effort
Community is central, both for visitors and for the artists. The Tour itself is a non-profit cooperative. All the artists pitch in their talents, know-how and elbow grease to make the event successful. The artists fund the tour themselves, together with community businesses and organizations, then the artists keep the proceeds of their sales. New artists – there are four this year – are assigned a volunteer mentor.
For the artists, the tour provides a creative community of committed, curious collaborators. An artist’s life can be isolated – and frustrating.
“It’s just going from one technical issue to another,” says Daoust-Filiatrault. “You solve one thing, and another thing breaks, you solve that thing, and then this material is no longer available. You’re just troubleshooting and prototyping all the time, so there’s so much value in being able to have this network.”
Learning About the Artistic Process
Helping people understand artmaking is important to the group. During the tour, artists do daily demonstrations, and answer questions about their process. Artists also volunteer to do workshops in local elementary schools for Grade 5 and 6 students.
The community spirit makes for a very different experience.
“I go to other salons,” Daoust-Filiatrault says with a wry smile, “but you just go, you set up, you do your market, you leave. This is very different.”
Visit the Tour
Visitors can drop in on all artists without appointment from July 11 to 19, from 10 am to 5 pm. A Collective Exhibition is at Arts Sutton starting July 2. Everything is free. Maps and more details can be found at tourdesarts.com, along with artist profiles and portfolios.
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