Prince Edward County in the spotlight for an upcoming arts symposium

The Regent Theatre in Picton is one of the possible venues for the 2022 SPARC symposium. QNet News file photo

By Maria Toews

BELLEVILLE – Supporting Performing Arts in Rural and Remote Communities (SPARC) plans to hold their art symposium in Picton next year.

“This would be the first SPARC Symposium in the region and we are keen to not only share the beauty of the area with our members, but also to spread the SPARC network to the local arts community,” said Krista Dalby, who spoke on behalf of the SPARC Board of Directors.

SPARC was started in 2014 as a place for rural performing arts creators, producers and presenters to gather, share their work, discuss their struggles and explore opportunities with each other. 

The program started with four main sectors: dance, theatre, music and media arts. It has now expanded to over 500 members and has held three symposiums. 

“I have attended all three previous symposia,” said Dalby, “which have had a tremendous impact on my own career, awakening new possibilities in my thinking and creative vision, inspiring me to dream big, and directly influencing my own large-scale contemporary art events in Prince Edward County.”

Because of experiencing these symposiums first-hand, Dalby joined the SPARC Board of Directors and is excited to push the fourth symposium into PEC. 

“Hopefully there is going to be a rebound next year with a lot more celebratory outdoor stuff,” said Mayor Steve Ferguson regarding the SPARC symposium and other autumn events. Photo by Maria Toews, QNet News

The fourth symposium will be held in the autumn of 2022. The tentative date is set as Oct. 13 to 16. 

“This year we’ve been hobbled by COVID stuff and I am hopeful, very hopeful, that we can get back into public events next year,” said Mayor Steve Ferguson.

The conference will be held mainly in Picton but excursions can be expected to explore the rest of the county. 

“The idea is that we would have many venues within Picton which would then make it walkable so that people don’t have to drive if they’re doing a breakout session and then a keynote speaker and a lunch,” said Dalby. “That being said, we definitely would have some excursions in mind of taking people to various places in the county to show it off.”

Dalby estimates around 150 participants in past events but is certain more will come next year.

At the PEC council meeting on Monday, Oct. 18, Dalby asked the council to accept this symposium in the county as well as to invest $10, 000 from the Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) towards this conference. The money will be set aside to be spent locally.

All members of the council are in favour of the symposium being held in PEC. The investment will be discussed at the upcoming council meeting on Nov. 15.