Ridea Lakes Artists Association Website

‘Art on the Lawn’ – an annual event that has been running for 12 years, hosted on the lawn of a former RLAA member’s home located at 3054 Rideau Ferry Road, Perth, ON. It is held the second weekend of July (rain or shine) and attracts hundreds of people. There are approximately 30 booths with more than 35 participants showing original artwork in all media and styles. To be a participant, you must hold current membership with RLAA, have registered for the event, and paid the admittance fee. Fee rates are: $35.00 per booth for single person occupancy and $45.00 per booth for double occupancy. A percentage of the proceeds from all sales are donated to a designated charitable organization.

June RLAA Art Show and Sale, Westport – the first June show and sale held in 2007 was very successful. It has been repeated annually on the first weekend in June. It consists of several members displaying their works, some indoors ( Westport United Church, Church and Spring Streets) and some outdoors. The hanging fee for this venue is $10.00 and is open to RLAA members. This has proven to be a popular event! Again this year we will feature a “People Choice Award” chosen by those attending the show.

August RLAA Art Show and Sale, Westport – coincides with several other annual art/craft shows throughout Westport. This will be set up in the Westport United Church , Church and Spring Streets, and will feature several artists’ works. It is held on the 3^rd weekend of August. There is a ‘hanging’ fee of $10.00.

R.L.A.A. members meet monthly, the second Friday of the month from 1:30 – 4 pm in the North Crosby Hall on the outskirts of Westport. The first half of the meeting is our ‘business’ portion; a break follows (with refreshments), and then a special feature completes the meeting. Usually a guest speaker is invited for this portion of the meeting which always proves interesting and helpful. i.e. topics related to the arts or often a slide presentation of noted artist’ works. Members must attend 30% of meetings in order to show their work at upcoming show venues.

As it implies, these are painting sessions that are open to all members who wish to get together to paint and encourage/mentor one another in their art work. The ‘paint-ins’ are held in the North Crosby Hall on the first and third Tuesday, and the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 1 – 4 pm and everyone is welcome to attend at a minimal cost of $2.00 per session. [Check CALENDAR for dates] ‘Paint-outs’ are held from time to time (as venues are made available) at the home of the artists. These are always an enjoyable time to relax and enjoy the artists’ common love of painting.

Three local restaurants have opened their doors to RLAA members to exhibit works within their premises: “The Cove” ( Westport), “The Stagecoach Inn” (Newboro) and “Fiddleheads” ( Perth). The art pieces are hung for a two month period and then are ‘changed’ – that is, we remove the paintings and replace them with new artwork. A fee of $20.00 from the sale of the art piece is paid to the waiter, waitress or staff member making the sale.

From time to time RLAA schedule visits to such places as: The National Art Gallery ( Ottawa). Usually carpool to the site and spend the day together, including lunch. This is open to all members and admission is by ‘group rate’.

Also, once or twice per year the association offers group painting experiences in various locations. These vary in length (anywhere from a weekend retreat to a week-long holiday). For example, in October 2007, several members spent the week in Val David, Quebec (a beautiful setting in the Laurentian Hills). We have even been known to visit locations abroad! i.e. Italy . What a way to experience new and different cultures!

RLAA frequently arrange with art instructors of various media to come and conduct Art Workshops in which they offer instruction and sharing of information. These are usually held in the North Crosby Community Hall where the room is spacious and bright. The costs are shared among the participants and can be held over a weekend or sometimes are run one day per week for several weeks. This is always a wonderful way to learn new and exciting techniques and/or gain further instruction in a media that you haven’t quite mastered. These are very popular with the members and usually fill up quickly!

Some of our members host workshops in their own studios and these are also made available to the membership. Often these workshops will be announced through ‘The Paint-in’ our quarterly newsletter which is published by one of the members.