Hailed as interior British Columbia’s largest arts festival, the Lake Country ArtWalk is celebrating 25 years of showcasing Okanagan artists and their unique pieces.
The weekend-long event boasts all forms of art mediums from paintings and prints to sculptures, jewelry and photography.
Due to the event’s quarter-century birthday, the theme for this year’s ArtWalk is Art of Our Times.
Robots, a symbol of the future, were used throughout the exhibit. These art-bots were inspired by a local artist, Jolene Mackie, who was voted as the fan favourite last year.
In many of Mackie’s oil paintings, a robot can be spotted.
“This year I was lucky enough to have my work be the feature on the poster because it fit in with the theme,” Mackie said. “It works really well for Art of Our Times to have this little inquisitive, exploring robot that speaks to our dependence on technology.”
The event chairperson, Sharon McCoubrey, says the event is a combination of high quality art and entertainment.
“We add a whole bunch of other extra activities such as music, demonstrations and opportunities to participate and be hands-on” McCoubrey said, “. . . so that everybody will find something that will interest them here.”
The festival has chosen to support only local art, which means every one of the 5,000 pieces in the festival was produced by a local Okanagan artist.
“What’s exciting is watching how many new artists join us by either moving into the area or just evolving and developing their practice,” McCoubrey said. “There are just so many talented and creative people in the valley.”
More than 250 artists will be displaying their craft to the 7,000-plus visitors expected to walk through the Lake Country ArtWalk.
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