Pearl Lorentzen

Lakeside Leader

“Overall we all thought it went extremely well!” says Connie Baird, with the Lesser Slave Lake Regional Arts Council.

Baird was the key organizer of the Second Annual Art in the Park on September 10, 2023 in Schurter Park.
She adds, “We had a great variety of art forms with a few of the artists returning from last year, but the majority were new.”

In the grassy area in the back of the park, 21 artists had tables set up to sell their creations. These included pottery, blacksmithing, photography, and dot art, to name a few.

Baird adds, “We had a number of out-of-town artists coming from as far away as Claremont (near Grande Prairie) who had heard about the event through another person who had participated last year and had highly recommended our event.”

Two Arts Council members, Sarah Hudson and Bev Post, painted during the event in a demonstration tent. Debbie Turner, Eliza Turner, Charlotte Turner, and Samantha Scott did face painting. The Arts Council had kids crafts.

The Slave Lake Writers’ Group had a storytelling game at its booth.

People could buy food from food trucks – Susan’s Kitchen, The Cook Shack, Nana’s Kitchen, Byte Hub and Michelle’s Lemonade.

Two other organizations also joined the event. The Rotary Club of Slave Lake held a ribbon cutting of the new gazebo in Schurter Park (see article on Page 2).

Slave Lake and Area Mental Health Network (SLAM) held wellness events – a seniors corner, exercise classes, and a listening tent.

Susan Giesbrecht, with SLAM says, the listening “tent was very busy with young boys to senior ladies stopping in to share thoughts.”

An impromptu chess tournament happened in the seniors’ corner, which included various card and board games.

Around 150 to 200 people attended the event, with about 50 taking part in the wellness events. The SLAM portion of the event was funded by a grant from the Rural Mental Health Network, which is part of the Canadian Mental Health Association.