The Sooke Fine Arts Show will fling wide its digital doors July 23 for its 35th annual show, held online for the second year at www.sookfinearts.com.
Ticket holders ($25 at sookefinearts.com/events) get an early viewing on Thursday.
The online format is arranged like a digital gallery. Designed by a curator, viewers will see works in collections, appreciating the scale and perspective of the works.
The online system allows viewers to navigate through “rooms,” walk closer to a piece, back up, and turn around. The only thing missing is the whispered “excuse me” and “oops, sorry, just behind you” from gallery patrons bumping into each other.
Three hundred original paintings, sculptures, photography, fibre arts, ceramics, and hand-formed jewelry from artists on Vancouver Island and surrounding islands have been photographed and placed in the online gallery. Everything on display is also for sale.
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The Artist Celebration, where awards are announced, will be live-streamed July 24 at 2 p.m. Award-winning pieces will be on display in person at the Sooke Arts Council gallery (6595 Sooke Rd.) from July 26 to Aug. 8.
Two in-person events have been added this year. A street signs art project for youth, called Artz4Youth, will be held at the SEAPARC Leisure Centre on July 27 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s free for 13 to 19 year-olds, but space is limited. Register at sookefinearts.com/events.
On Aug. 1 and 2, up to 30 artists will be painting “en plein air” around Sooke. Their work will be displayed at the gallery and auctioned off from Aug. 25 to Sept. 5.
The online show is open July 23 to Aug. 2
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