The Fernie Arts Station kicked off the second-annual #FernieArtStreak on Jan. 1, encouraging residents to let their creative juices flow for 30 minutes each day throughout January.
The event, initiated by Fernie local Mike Hepher, mimics the #FernieStreak, motivating residents to draw, paint, or create using the Arts Station’s word of the day as inspiration.
“It’s to encourage people to be creative, especially right now in January – and with another extension to the PHO order it’s a really good way to connect with people even if we can’t be together,” said Louise Ferguson, executive director of the Arts Station.
“Anyone can participate, all ages, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never done art before. This is for anyone that wants to join in, even if you don’t do it every day.”
The Arts Station handed out sketchpads at the beginning of the month, filled with the daily words to get people started. However according to Ferguson, the word of the day is a prompt participants can use only if desired – the main goal of the event is to get locals creating.
“We have people doing poetry, people that are doing embroidery, textiles, obviously a lot of people sketching and doing painting, and some people even doing performances – literally any kind of art medium,” added Ferguson.
“Different interpretations of the word is really interesting to see, one word can mean so many different things to so many different people.”
The Arts Station releases the word of the day on their Instagram story and on the event’s Facebook page. The most recent edition of the Fernie Fix also features the word list.
Sweetening the deal, the Arts Station is offering prizes for participants that complete the challenge, along with weekly prizes for artworks that stand out. To participate, share a photo tagged #FernieArtStreak or post to the Facebook group.
For more information on Arts Station programming, including in-person kids programs set to start next week, virtual adult programming, or February’s Festival Moose on the Loose Scavenger Hunt, visit the Arts Station’s events calendar on their website.
READ MORE: Arts Station sends love and holiday cards to Seniors
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