The City of Lacombe is, once again, hosting their Encore Art Show and Sale at the Lacombe Memorial Centre from April 20-21st.
“It is one of the best art sales in central Alberta and it kicks off the year for a lot of the artists,” Lacombe Community Services Executive Assistant Maureen MacKenzie said. “It is Alberta-wide for our artists. We do showcase quite a few central Albertans but we have artists from as far away as Spruce Grove, Medicine Hat and in the Calgary area.”
This year, the feature artist of the show will be Sandra Bingean, who is an artist out of the Ponoka area.
“She is well established artist in a number of mediums. She is very, very talented,” MacKenzie said.
Along with Bingeman, the show features eight new artists and over 1,800 people could walk through the door to peruse the show.
“When the farmers are in the field, it sometimes can be a little less but this year we will probably see a few more people because it has been colder and no one can get onto the fields at this point,” Mackenzie said.
Another important aspect of this year’s show is the student art competition, which features 45 art pieces submitted by local junior and senior high school students. Of those 45, three works will be selected to win either the Jan Holoboff Jr. High School Art Award, the Charlie Donald Memorial Sr. High School Award or the Dustin Peers Memorial Drawing award. All awards come with $250 as an added bonus.
“The works being submitted this year are absolutely outstanding, and the judges are going to have their work cut out for them to select three winners,” MacKenzie said.
There will also be a musical performance Friday night by artist Ryon Holmedal, coinciding with Sip and Shop — which is an opportunity on both days for visitors to try out wines and brews while they browse.
The weekend also coincides with the Lacombe and District Chamber of Commerce’s Trade Show, which is advantageous to the art show according to MacKenzie.
“It really benefits both events. We see a lot of couples go to both,” she said.
READ ALSO: Lacombe Chamber hosts annual Trade Show
The art show is a direct result of the hard work of donated time by volunteers.
“I typically have between 40 and 50 volunteers for the two days and what is special about event is we have booth relief for our artists. very, very few shows or events will have people available to give the artists a break away from their booth so they can grab lunch or take a break. It is really nice for them,” she said.
Mackenzie said they don’t currently need volunteers for the event, but encourages residents to submit their names for the many events they put on throughout the year.
The show runs from 1 -8 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
todd.vaughan@redddeerexpress.com
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