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2020 Arts & Entertainment Year in Review

January 28, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

COVID-19 may have kept the doors of theatres, galleries, bookstores, art supplies shops, and so many more, closed for much of 2020 but it has not defeated the artistic spirit here in Orangeville and Dufferin County. 

This Review will have to deal less with the specifics of dates and more with the whole picture in each case, also remembering that almost everything was offered virtually, in various formats. 

So, it makes more sense, perhaps, to write each schedule all at once. It was a very different year, as we all understood. 

Alton Mills Arts Centre 

Beginning at the Alton Mill Arts Centre, in the village of Alton, is a two-prong adventure into the artists involved with the Mill: the artists who are tenants in the Mill with their individual studios and businesses and Headwaters Arts. This latter is a not-for-profit organization, run by volunteers and a tenant in the Mill with the beautiful Headwaters Arts Gallery, which Headwaters Arts runs. 

Generally, the artists are members of HA, who live in many parts of the region. 

Over the course of 2020, HA created unique virtual content with a Facebook Live Event, Juror & Curator Chat. 

They hosted an afternoon fete for media and area dignitaries, to announce artists’ awards and an evening gala fundraiser announced local scholarship winners. They presented a free Saturday music afternoon in the two upstairs galleries at the Mill. 

There were “four member onsite shows; three online member shows, two members proposal onsite shows, the open call and juried festival running currently onsite and virtually, and a final holiday show, also an open call and closed early under provincial restrictions.” 

September 16 – October 4: The Artful Revival Exhibition, with good attendance during the virtual and the live event. Additional visitors went to the special extension of a ‘cameo showing,’ supported by a Virtual Gallery Tour, available through early December on HA website. Of the Mill, all its usually fabulous and well attended festivals, such as Fire and Ice, normally held during the year, were cancelled by COVID-19 restrictions. These festivities support the work on the Mill Pond and, equally, draw attention to the many artists, whose studios are housed in the Mill itself and the four galleries. 

This year saw those artists and galleries making concerted forays online, creating new websites and attracting new and regular customers to their online studios and shops. 

Co-owner of the Alton Mill, Jordan Grant, told the Citizen via email, “We…managed to put on a successful, physically-distanced Jason Wilson concert in the Annex during the summer partial re-opening. From July until November, Rare Threads really took off, attracting customers with an array of exciting Canadian artisanal fibre and fashion makers. We really look forward to re-opening.” 

In a brief email, Anne-Marie Warburton, owner of Gallery Gemma, shared her 2020 experience by saying in part, “We created a fascinating and informative webinar on Zoom for our clients, highlighting an award winning Canadian gem cutter Lisa Elser, [with] a slideshow of her travels to small artisanal mines in Africa, [to explain] how she expertly buys raw gems. Then, a virtual tour of her studio in Vancouver [showing] how coloured gemstones are cut and polished..” 

This was followed by a Q & A. 

COVID-19 helped the local community be aware of the importance of shopping small and local, said Ms Warburton. 

“Like never before in our 14 years of business, we experienced people … showing their appreciation for the hand crafted jewellery and custom design that we are known for at Gallery Gemma. Even though we were only able to open 8 months of the year in 2020, we saw a surge in visitors and shoppers for all of the artists in the Alton Mill Art Centre,” she noted. 

In Orangeville, artists and art related shops have suffered the same curtailment to the business end of their lives and how that encouraged them to expand their lives online. 

BookLore 

BookLore, the independent bookstore, owned by Nancy Frater, has been in the same location for more than 30 years. 

She gave the Citizen a list of the Zoom events, in which the store participated with the publishers who hosted them. These were Zoom events with the authors of specific books that customers had bought and who were given an invitation to participate on Zoom. 

They featured Genevieve Graham (The Forgotten Home Child), Jessie Thistle (From the Ashes), Thomas King (Indians on Vacation), Cathy Marie Buchanan (Daughter of Black Lake), Joanna Goodman (Forgotten Daughter), Margaret Atwood (Dearly) and Lorna Crozier (Through the Garden) and ran from June to November. 

“We really missed having our Author’s Night at the Theatre,” Mrs. Frater freely admitted. “And those wonderful Authors’ afternoons in the Barn but this was what was happening. The store was very busy with curbside pick up, though.” 

Maggiolly 

The much loved shop to us all, Maggiolly, arts supplier, has survived this year, in part, by taking advantage of the open periods and offering carefully distanced work shops. 

Emilia Perri and her manager, Ricky Schaede, have run several workshops for drawing and painting, instructed by Mr. Schaede himself or by invited artists, with everyone wearing masks. 

During lockdown, they are still operating curbside pick up for online orders. 

Theatre Orangeville 

Busiest of them all, busier than most theatres in the country, Theatre Orangeville has been a steady presence online, culminating in their Theatre Orangeville Online Shows, limited live links, for which patrons are glad to buy tickets. 

Early in the year, though, it was still okay to go to the theatre. From Theatre Orangeville, how their 2020 went: February 6: Little Red Theatre brought their Goldilocks and the Three Canadian Bears to the theatre. An invitation to children to come in their pj’s for an hour or so of high entertainment, created especially for them. 

February 13 to March 1: the Premiere of Early Morning Rain, Leisa Way’s original story, telling about Gordon Lightfoot, his life and his music. The music was great and Ms. Way, along with her Wayward Wind Band, is always wonderful. 

February 13 to March 19: The first of the Theatre Orangeville four week online workshops: Adult Acting and Scene Study with Debbie Collins. 

March 12 to 29: the World Premier of Too Close to Home by Alison Lawrence was scheduled, but it was not to be. This play opened Friday, March 13 and closed on the same night, due to the Coronavirus’ newly imposed lockdown. Daunted but determined, Theatre Orangeville embarked on a consistent flow of online means of staying connected to the community, in many of the best possible ways. 

From the end of October, Theatre Orangeville began to truly engage with the community, with Friday newsletters that included community events and theatre news. 

In due course, Artistic Director, David Nairn, stirred and shook a different cocktail each week, with the humour and history that they all carry. Followed were several four week theatre-related games and workshops. In May and again in June, there were weekly Theatre Games run by hosts, Jordana Natale and John Daniel. 

Youngsters were encouraged to join in theatre games and have fun with fellow young Academy members. Fees were pay what you can. The rest of the workshops were suggested for people 14 or older. 

May 13: workshop with Academy Director, Dan Reale on Monologues. May 14: workshop on playwriting with Mark Crawford. 

June 11: workshop with Chandra Pepper on character development. 

June 16: workshop, Intro to Light and Sound: Assistant Technical Director Dan Palmieri presented a Zoom workshop, offering “a backstage view on lighting and sound of the Theatre.” 

August 24 to 28: Dan Reale and John Daniel headed a Drama Theatre Intensive, developing skills to be an actor. 

September: Starlight Gala Online Fundraiser: the entertainment was online but the food and wine were the real thing: dinner and wine were delivered to the doors of the patrons who paid to participate. 

By October, the staff at Theatre Orangeville had worked out how to produce Theatre Orangeville Online. Like a regular season, these shows were produced as limited available links, which were accessed by buying tickets. 

Each show stayed online for exclusive access for two weeks and is then taken offline, never to reappear online – not on YouTube, not at all. 

October 16 to 29: ToneFusion, “A Collective of talented musicians, [blending] jazz, funk, neo-soul, Latin” into their own sound. 

October 30 to November 19: Phantoms of the Opera House: a Hallowe’en themed variety show of music, theatrics, stories – fun! 

November 5 to 7: Rage against Violence in support of Family Transition House. Raised $1,305. 

December 4 to January 3, 2021: A Christmas Carol, a reading of the Dickens story from an abridged version, written by Dickens, by five community luminaries. 

December 18 to January 3: Rockin’ ‘Round the Christmas Tree: Christmas did well with Leisa Way and her Wayward Wind Band. 

November: Raise Your Spirits, the book published of 21 cocktails assembled and explained by David Nairn. On sale still at BookLore and through the theatre. 

Teena Avery summed up the year, perhaps, for everyone: “I went to a patron’s home to explain how to register online with the theatre. It was a learning experience for me, not only how to market online shows, I’ve become a bit of an expert to understand the difference between online theatre and going to the theatre [in-person].” 

She said, “You make this an experience – get the popcorn, dress up or wear your jammies – it’s been a lot of fun, bringing art to people. Patrons have said.’Thank you so much for doing this.’ It gives us an opportunity to support artists and performers, so, they can keep on doing it. 

“I’ve spoken to people to tell them how to hook up their computers – it’s been a learning experience and I met patrons I might never have met. I’m excited about what’s coming,” Ms. Avery told the Citizen.

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