Starry Night All Over
By John Swartz
The weather cooperated Saturday night. The Starry Night studio and gallery tour’s 15th edition was dry and there were twinkly things in the sky, in venues, and on the streets in downtown Orillia.
For most of the evening the streets were full of people on Mississaga Street from Front to West and packed on Peter in the Arts District. Some of the venues were shoulder to shoulder until late in the evening. Gallery owner after gallery owner remarked at how astonished they were with the turnout this year. There were 35 participating venues featuring the work of 100 or more artists.
As usual, Leslie Fournier announced the winners of the annual Streets Alive art project, Pedal Powered in 2019, and Phill Holder was third with his Steampunk inspired bike; Rebecca Allen took the second place prize with her all-metal, winged creation; and Frank Ripley won the grand prize with his skeleton framed bike.
Several models roamed the streets and made appearances at various galleries (Moose Factory of Orillia, GJ Thomson Photography, etc.) wearing costumes from previous Somniatis Wearable Art Show events (Somniatis returns in the fall of 2020).
(Video and Photo by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia) Main – Rachel Blackwell, Jessica Foley and Kate Narinnom wearing Somniatis Wearable Art Show costumes at the 2019 Starry Night.
