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COLUMN: Open house will showcase Summerland’s arts community

On Saturday, Oct. 1 the Summerland Community Arts Council is holding an open house as part of Culture Days.

You never really know where something is going to take you.

For instance, when I sat down to write my last three columns — doing creative challenges, taking a class and joining a group — I had no idea that I was setting myself up perfectly to write this week’s column.

As luck would happen, that’s exactly what I was doing and I’m thrilled that everything came together as nicely as it did.

On Saturday, Oct. 1 the Summerland Community Arts Council is holding an open house as part of Culture Days, a three-day cross-country celebration of culture in Canada.

The open house is a chance for the Arts Council to bring the members of the community into their new building and show off how everything is coming together there and, more importantly, it gives the Arts Council a chance to showcase the many different arts groups and clubs that Summerland has.

This is great because, as some readers may know, it’s not always easy to find out about groups like this, even in a small town.

Having them all in one place will make discovering them, and making connections, so much easier.

As I said in my last column, finding a group like this can be a great driving force in completing whatever projects you may be working on, so if you find yourself looking for something like that, now’s your chance to find one.

Not only will people get a chance to see the new building, but at 1 p.m. the Summerland Cultural Task Force is going to officially release the new cultural plan they’ve been hard at work putting together.

This is something I know I’m particularly excited about.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing what would come from the meetings and discussions that were held since I first heard about the meetings.

Having an official structure in place to help keep the arts alive and thriving here in Summerland, as well as ensuring that the arts will not be forgotten in the future, is an important thing.

It’s easy to forget how much something like arts and culture can contribute to a community and, like a lot of things and it can be hard to reintroduce arts into a community where it has fallen by the wayside.

I’m looking forward to having a chance to sit down and read through the report.

The open house starts at 10 a.m. at the Summerland Community Arts Centre at 9525 Wharton St. and the unveiling of the Cultural Plan and official welcome happen at 1 p.m.

Don’t miss your chance to see just how much creative goodness is going on here in Summerland.

Douglas Paton is a Summerland writer and musician. If you know of a local arts and culture event, contact him at dgpaton80@gmail.com.