(The 2022 Doug Sutherland Arts in the Park hosted by the Stittsville Village Association returns on Sunday June 5 at Village Square Park.)
The annual Arts in the Park, presented by the Stittsville Village Association (SVA), is once again returning to Village Square Park on Sunday, June 5, 2022 and promises to be a day of cultural appreciation and enjoyment.
In honour of Doug Sutherland who had organized this special event for over six years and passed away suddenly on February 28, 2020, the Stittsville Village Association Executive knew it would be fitting to recognize his legacy event and rename it the Doug Sutherland Arts in the Park.
Stittsville was that much richer when Doug made our town his home. Doug was a long-time volunteer with the Stittsville Village Association where he played an integral role in the many positions he held over the years as Vice-President, Director and as the Treasurer. Arts in the Park will be Doug’s legacy. He grew this major event for Stittsville from a small group of artisans who gathered to display their talents in the Village Square Park to the huge gathering of over 70 vendors that it had become.
Doug shared with this editor in 2019, “I started small, but wanted to make it more of an event and started contacting local artists to grow the event”. He had certainly achieved this goal. He also added, “I want to give the opportunity for creative people to come together to expose their talents and be able to sell their pieces”. “If the Park is full – I’m happy.” Doug was truly a happy person all the time.
The SVA working group organizing this year’s event are so pleased to have Doug’s wife Glenda and his daughter Lindsay, sharing their inspiration and ideas knowing what Doug would want with the working group in organizing this special day. An honour indeed to receive their ideas and input.
As Doug would want, also returning to provide a segment of the featured music, will be student performers from the U-Rock Music School to entertain everyone as the youth perform under the gazebo. Cathy and Brian Broderson are so pleased to “have been asked to return to showcase the youth of U-Rock on this very special day”.
As well, Stittsville Market at the Barn will be a part of the day with their farmer’s market running from 9:00 to 1:00pm. Be sure to visit them next to the Village Square Park and support their local farmers and vendors.
Stittsville Central got in touch with this year’s organizers to learn of their feelings as they carry on with Arts in the Park.
Tanya Hein, Past-President of the SVA fondly told us, “Arts in the Park has always been my favourite early summer event. The park is gorgeous and a real example of how lively Stittsville Main Street can be, and the talent shown by the local arts community is fantastic.”
“We are, of course, missing Doug’s presence. He was notorious for disappearing when it came time to say a few words at the microphone, but he was always busy behind the scenes, connecting with exhibitors and visitors, and really making Arts in the Park shine. It’s been really great having his family involved in bringing this event back to Stittsville,” Tanya shared.
Mandy Hambly has been heading up the working group and she told Stittsville Central, “It has been nice to communicate with Doug’s widow Glenda and daughter Lindsay about the various event traditions that mattered to him. We will strive to hold an event that he would approve of.”
Denise Lee has been instrumental in organizing the vendors and is pleased to see so many returning. She shared with us, “It was so heart-warming to see so many returning and new vendors excitedly reach out expressing happiness that this event was happening. Many were so pleased to see that Mr. Sutherland was recognized by having this event named after him. We are incredibly grateful to the 41 artisans and vendors participating! Their craft and talent span a large scope of talent, artists, authors, crafts – something for everyone. We will have an SVA table and a few volunteers but always happy to have more especially at the end to help pack up artists/vendors products and last check for cleanup!”
The day as always is free to attend. Stop in to browse, shop and support the many local vendors who bring their creations and merchandise to the event. Grab a bite to eat, meet the authors, artists and artisans personally and enjoy yourself at a fun, exciting day at Village Square Park. We’ll see you there!
The vendors participating are as follows:
| Allan McCarville | Author. I will be selling autographed copies of my books. |
| Artastic and children | Water colour art , acrylic pour canvas, macrame, and jewelry |
| Young Again | Mason jar bird feeders and garden flowers made from vintage china, glass, silver, brass and copper trays. Birdhouses made from red cedar and decorated individually., |
| Mel-Lo Designs | Healing Stones, Jewelry |
| Cherished Goods | I am a local artisan with a passion for all things handmade. I am a self taught sock knitter, crafter, Dyer and now rope bowl maker. The beauty of my products is their uniqueness. Each one is different and I love the creative process of making them so. I have recently added bike baskets, catch all type baskets, toiletry baskets and much more. |
| Rainville Art | Artist selling originals and prints. |
| Neilson Oil Paintings | Oil paintings |
| The Tumbling Princesses | Sublimation Tumblers and children’s sublimated water bottles |
| Splurgebydiane | Skincare Bath bombs shower steamers lip balm candles & more |
| Paintings for Parkinson’s | Abstract art by a person with Parkinson’s – All proceeds go towards Parkinson’s Canada |
| lizard creations | Fairy light bottles. Hand painted stones. |
| Haico’s Hot Sauce | Mild to wild hot sauce made with peppers we grow in Barrhaven and Kemptville. |
| HD Design | Multi-media art |
| WristJoy | I make Unisex Jewellery using Gemstones and Leather. |
| Downtown Underground | Eccentric personal stylist, eclectic clothing dealer and pop-up market maven. I sell a wide range of unique and fun vintage clothing, accessories and footwear. |
| Sew Pretty by Mak | Hi I’m Mak! I’m the owner of Sew Pretty by Mak. We hand make high quality scrunchies, headbands and wooden scrunchie stands. We are a small company based in Kemptville, ON founded in 2021 by me, Makayla Barrette. There’s an incredible amount of love that goes into creating each and every product. While I wear many hats within this business, Sew Pretty by Mak is by far not a one woman show! With the help of my boyfriend Aaron, Mom Lesley, and Step-Dad Brent, we are the faces behind this small business. From fabric shopping, cutting material, sewing, photography, marketing, to making our wooden stands – everything is done by us! We can’t wait to see you! Make sure to come say hello! We accept cash, debit, credit and Apple Pay. |
| Juliette James | Handmade bags and baby pants |
| Michel Weatherall | Author and publisher. Books |
| All the little things | Custom and handmade items. From keychains to Adirondack chairs. We can also work with you to create the perfect personalized gift or decor item. |
| Myrna Lightman | Hand built pottery |
| Nancy’s Glass Designs | Mosaic windows, lanterns & Snowshoes. |
| The Red Beaded Gallery | The Red Beaded Gallery creates accessible, beautiful pieces for people to wear in style! We work with multiple types of beads and stones to create jewelry that enhances everyone’s glow. Our creative palette include making necklaces, bracelets and earrings of every fashion. |
| Jazzz Handmade Creations | Beautiful and useful crochet and sewing. |
| John W Partington | Local author of speculative fiction, and comedy |
| Drakestail Jewellery | Drakestail Jewellery is a small, women-owned business designing and handcrafting jewellery, hair accessories, and more. We think jewellery should be fun, versatile, and unique wearable art. We work with a variety of materials, from sparkling glass, crystal and gemstones to earthy bone, wood and stone. Our work uses a blend of stringing and wire-wrapping techniques. |
| Another Chapter Publishing | We are a local children’s book publisher, and sell books in English and French with local authors and illustrators, printed locally. Plus we sell hand-knitted “Reading Buddy” knitted dolls to accompany the books, and “Reading Buddy” doll knitting kits. |
| VMO- HEART OF THE VALLEY | Beautiful Vintage sari’s redesigned into summer fashions and gorgeous hand dyed garments including some tie dye. Our Coveted Stonewashed cotton hoodies as well as purses, satchels and handmade hats from hemp, cotton and jute. Clothing Sizes XS to XXL Finally our famous wool dryer balls. We will be featuring BLOW OUT SALE PRICING! |
| Scott Bury, author | Bestselling author Scott Bury will bring his full library of fantasy, action, history and mystery for visitors’ reading pleasure, along with bestselling titles by his author friends from around the world. Books such as: The Eastern Front Trilogy—the true story of a Ukrainian-Canadian in the Red Army in World War II. The Bones of the Earth—bestselling historical fantasy The Hawaiian Storm series—groundbreaking mysteries set in Maui and more! |
| Shelve jeans crafts | Wood decor, Wood flags, Bat houses and Bird houses |
| HoneyDrop Body Art | Face Painting and Glitter Tattoos |
| Allysina Shinestone | Allysina is an Indie Author who writes coming of age supernatural books. Her series Balancing Reality depicts the life of Clairisa Vinson and her encounters with the supernatural realms as well as dealing with a teenage life. Three physical copies in the series will be available for purchase as well as links to her Ebook and audiobook. Her main goal is to meet interested readers and get her stories out for more to experience. |
| Craftingowlco- Luxe meets Rustic | Wood decor and Wood signs |
| Late Night Abstract | Tara Mann is an emerging artist from Stittsville known for bold, colourful abstract designs. Offering prints and greeting cards. |
| Wood B Crafts | We make live edge charcuterie boards, presentation boards, flight boards and trays using multiple types of wood We also make felt Norwegian gnomes. |
| Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue | Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue (OSCatR) is a totally Volunteer based non-profit charitable organization (NO. 83641 4573 RR0001) dedicated to getting adoptable cats off the streets and into homes in and around the National Capital Region, as well as managing feral cat colonies in this area. Every effort is made to adopt cats into indoor homes through our Adoption Program. All Donations and fundraising profits are spent to support our work in these areas. |
| Spiral Creations | Rope bowls/baskets |
| Holmespun Ice Cream | Small batch ice cream treats sold off of an ice cream truck |
| Perpetua Quigley | Watercolour sketces, history and haiku of landmarks in Stittsville. Greetings cards of local flora and fauna. |
| B. Inspired Designs | B. Inspired Designs creates polymer clay Jewelry & Home Decor Pieces. Products are lightweight, durable and lead and Nickle free. |
| Forkn’things | I fashion antique silver plated cutlery into bracelets, rings, ear rings, pendants, key rings and wind chimes. I also cut out trees on used hand saws using a plasma cutter. |
| Ian Prattis | Poetry has always been a strong practice when it creates prose. It has taken a long time to cultivate my new book – FOUR PHASES: Lost, Impermanence, Bittersweet, Caring. I have published several prior poetry books but none like the new one that has shaken me up. My new book deals with poetry and prose at four different levels that are necessary to balance our world. Severe Climate Change is already upon us and needs swift action to give homo-sapiens a chance of survival. However, the global pandemic and Russia’s war devastating Ukraine may detrimentally affect the world from taking the possible route to a live-able Earth as we know it. |