The Summerland Community Arts Council has been running since 1970 when it started as the combined Summerland Art Club Council.
In 1981 it divided into the Art Club and the Summerland Community Arts Council with a mission to promote and facilitate the awareness and appreciation for the arts in the Summerland area through education, action, and advocacy.
One of the ways the council fulfills this mission is by offering classes in a variety of mediums year long and for all ages.
The summer months are dedicated to children’s programs but there are many adult classes offered in the fall and winter months.
The arts council also supports local artists by hiring them to teach classes, having them sell their works in the Main Street Gift Gallery, hiring them to perform at our Wednesdays on the Water summer concert series and showcasing them in our annual Art Walk each August.
Each of the programs can only occur due to the wonderful organization by a team of volunteers who form sub committees which are overseen by board members.
Some of the committees run yearlong like our Gift Gallery Committee and our Gallery Show Committee but others are seasonal like the Seasons Sparkles Committee, the Community Banner Committee and the Summer Arts Program Committee.
The volunteers all share one thing in common: an appreciation for the arts.
Volunteers do not have to be artists or art experts, they only have to be willing to lend a hand in fulfilling our mission.
We also have volunteers who sit for three hours once a month in the gift gallery and welcome visitors to view the gallery show.
If you would like more information on the various ways to get involved with the Summerland Community Arts Council stop by our Main Street location or call 250-494-4494.
Wednesdays on the Water July 28 will feature the South Okanagan Big Band – an 18-piece dance band that enjoys playing swing tunes of the 1930s and 40s.
W.O.W. happens every Wednesday night at Spirit Square, Peach Orchard Beach from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Don’t forget your lawn chair… and your dancing shoes.
Featured artist of the week for July 24, 25, 27, 28 will be Greta Kamp. She was born in Blairemore, Alta. but now resides in the Okanagan Valley.
She majored in art at the University of Calgary and also studied advanced oil painting at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Her works have been published in the Calgary Albertan and she has won art awards such as the McAra Award in 2000.
Kamp’s works are regularly accepted into the Calgary Stampede Western Art Auction and she has most recently finished a commission of 12 paintings for the Liquidity Wines in Okanagan Falls in 2014.
Carmen McDowell is the Summer Arts Program coordinator for the Summerland Community Arts Council, P.O. Box 1217, 9908 Main St., Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z0.