With no fewer than 600 through the doors to the Cugnet Centre on Saturday, the Gifted Winter Art Market was a great success once again this year.
A variety of vendors, around 36, brought their beautiful handmade wares ready for everyone to choose as gifts for others, or even for themselves. There was everything from homemade spices, teas, beading, photography, paintings, and everything you could imagine.
We had the opportunity to speak with Curator with the City of Weyburn and Arts Director with the Weyburn Arts Council Regan Lanning, about how the market was going.
“It is my favourite day of the year, pretty much every year,” she shared. “All these fabulous, talented creatives all gathered together under one roof is great. It’s a great vibe. It’s great seeing your friends, but it is a phenomenal place to get a kickstart on your Christmas shopping.”
She said seeing 600 patrons is not out of the ordinary for this big show. In fact, entry was by donation at the front doors of the market and all that money benefits the community of Weyburn.
“At an event like Gifted, whether it’s through booth rentals or donations at the door, all of that money goes directly back into our community to support community art initiatives. So, for example, last year the Arts Council made a donation of $3,000, to the City’s Summer Art program, which is what enabled us to only charge $75 for the entire week because the Arts Council picked up the tab on all of the art materials that required to keep all those kids creating all summer long.”
The Weyburn Humane Society was there with a raffle and selling baked goods, which sold out completely long before the end of the event.
