{"id":901599,"date":"2026-09-19T11:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/901599\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T11:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:24:16","slug":"artists-in-durham-region-gear-up-for-annual-free-festival-featuring-symphony-of-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/901599\/","title":{"rendered":"Artists in Durham Region gear up for annual free festival featuring ‘symphony’ of arts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Every year, Oshawa-based potter Ida King makes a new holiday ornament to add to her collection. This year, she’s making a peace dove. <\/p>\n

“It feels fitting at the moment in our current climate,” she said. <\/p>\n

Her work will be on display at the Fall Art Festival, a free festival next month that’s in its 45th year of showcasing artwork in Durham Region. <\/p>\n

The show will feature over 50 artists and more than 500 pieces across various mediums \u2014 including acrylic and watercolour paintings, drawings, pottery and soapstone carving, said Anne Labelle-Johnson, a director of the Oshawa Arts Association, which runs the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

King said she believes there\u2019s a \u201creal appetite\u201d in the community to support the local creative economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many items that are mass produced or AI-generated, that people are really realizing the luxury of a handmade or locally made art item,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CompositeIda King will be bringing ornaments to the fall festival, including a peace dove, pictured left, unfinished. (Submitted by Ida King)<\/p>\n

Labelle-Johnson described the fall festival as a friendly and unpretentious opportunity for people to enjoy local artwork and connect with artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good introduction for people to see all the wonderful artists that are available in Durham Region,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Oshawa Arts Association was founded in 1967 and has hosted the fall festival since 1981, she said. It also hosts a spring festival that began in 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Artists will be selling their pieces at their booths, and there will also be a raffle to win pieces donated by the artists, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The festival is running on October 3 and 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Camp Samac in Oshawa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Festival is a \u2018symphony\u2019 of arts\u00a0<\/p>\n

Juhi Upreti, who lives in Ajax, is among the artists who will be displaying their work at the festival. Her paintings are based on Indian tribal and folk arts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Upreti, who doesn\u2019t have formal art training, said she was pleasantly surprised the first time she participated in one of the association\u2019s festivals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people walking in would point [at my work] and talk about certain motifs, and that would be so encouraging, because I was feeling a little bit self-conscious in the beginning,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WomanJuhi Upreti says Durham Region is home to a diverse collection of artists, and described the fall festival as a ‘symphony’ of artwork. (Submitted by Juhi Upreti)<\/p>\n

Upreti said the region is home to a diverse collection of artists, and described the fall festival as a feast for the eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a symphony of different types of arts,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deb Oldfield, who lives in Oshawa, will also be at the festival. She primarily paints with watercolour, acrylic and oil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next month\u2019s festival will be the third one she attends that\u2019s been put on by the association. She said she initially felt nervous about participating, but found she loves the opportunity to discuss her work with people who have their own interpretations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIts been really good for me to broaden my experience and take the leap,\u201d she said. \u201cI can actually call myself an artist for the first time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oldfield said she\u2019s preparing for the show by making sure her watercolour paintings have been framed, and also painting some additional smaller pieces that are more affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-901599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}