THE ELORA ARTS COUNCIL
Chair Riki Weiland accepting the Cultural
Arts Award of Merit in 2004
‘This award recognizes an individual, group,
organization or business for a significant contribution to
Centre Wellington’s cultural environment through distinguished service or
artistic achievement’
In the spring of
1985, a group of people gathered at the Elora Mill Inn to inaugurate The Elora
Arts Council. At that time there were already numerous arts related activities
established in the area. All the arts were alive and well. The new Arts
Council sought to build on these and other initiatives in a growing artistic
community.
Since 1985, the
Elora Arts Council has sought to provide opportunities for all artistic
disciplines.
§ In its founding year, EAC assumed the operation and funding
of the INSIGHTS Juried Arts Show, which predated EAC by five years, and
in 1986 expanded it to include a numbers of new disciplines. For many years the
Exhibition took place over the period of one month at the Wellington County
Museum and Archives; since 2002 the show has expanded to two months in the
summer. This show is considered the largest and longest run art exhibit run by
a non- institutional group in Ontario.
§ In 1987 it started an annual Youth Concert, an
opportunity for young musicians to gain experience in performing before an
audience. These concerts have now expanded to two a year.
§ In 1987 it organized the first Elora-Fergus Studio Tour
with eighteen studios participating. In 2005 their number has grown to 40+.
§ In the fall of 1988, EAC acquired the Yamaha Grand Piano,
presently housed in the Exhibition Hall of the Wellington County Museum. This
has enabled many musical activities to take place.
§ With the advent of the Grand Piano, the Gallery Music
Group was formed in November 1988, with the advent of the Grand Piano. Six
non-profit concerts a year are offered in conjunction with the Wellington
County Museum. This group remains affiliated with EAC.
§ In September 1989, EAC sponsored and organized Youth Arts
Classes in conjunction with the Wellington County Museum. These continue to
flourish, now entirely under the auspices of the WCM.
§ The Elora Writer’s Festival ‘Words By The Water’ was
initiated in 1994, and has continued to attract many well-known authors to an
afternoon of readings. In 2003, a Writing Competition for youth and
adults was added, and over 100 entries were received from across the world. The
Writer’s Festival now features two distinct events.
§ Puppets Elora was founded with support from EAC in 1994 and has
continued to flourish, with original plays now being written for this group.
This independent organization is affiliated with EAC.
§ In 2002, a new committee was formed called Art In Public
Places, with the purpose of enriching the exteriors and interiors of our
community with the vibrancy and beauty of visual art. To date this committee
has worked with Groves Hospital to embellish the corridors and lobby with rotating
art displays. In 2005 EACH has been asked to bring the vibrancy of original art
into our Municipal Building, through loans and acquisitions. In 2008, we
expanded this program to include the Board Rooms at the Sportsplex, Fergus.
Aside from these annual events, EAC organized annual sculpture shows
from ’98 to 2002. In ’97, ’98 and ’99. I t sponsored film festivals
in conjunction with the Gorge Cinema. Art In The Park was an important
summer exhibition for EAC from 1989 to 2000. gave support to a Children’s
Choir (1996), co-sponsored a study on Sustainability of Arts
in Centre Wellington 2003-4 . In addition, annual innovative fund
raising events have been held with the cooperation of many artists in
the community.
Recording this activity continuously over the years has been Communiqué,
the newsletter of EAC, with issues since 1985. At present it is a quarterly
publication.
Almost every issue of Communiqué has featured the profile of an
artist, musician or person important to the arts. In 1997, 48 interviews
were compiled into the first book entitled ‘Profiles’, now no longer
in print. In 2005, an expanded publication of 73 profiles was undertaken
In 2004 the Elora Arts Council, an entirely volunteer organization,
was awarded the Cultural/Arts Award of Merit, sponsored by the township
of Centre Wellington Cultural Affairs Committee, recognizing its ‘significant
contribution to Centre Wellington’s cultural environment’.
In 2005, EAC celebrated its 20th Anniversary with
the publication of the book Profiles II
In 2010, we
CELEBRATE OUR 25TH anniversary of promoting the arts in our
community.
In 2011, we added
a window on Geddes Street, Elora, as a venue for the display of three dimensional
art. Also, our Profiles since 1985 were added to the township’s website. We
also nominated 2 houses arts -related a) to A.J. Casson’s Elora stay and b)
to Percy Runnells for A listing on the Heritage Register.
In 2013, we elected
a new Chair, Barbara Lee at our AGM.
We welcome two new associate members: the Elora Community Theatre and The
Elora Poetry Centre..
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