By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Headwaters Arts has officially begun its fall festival with an Opening Soiree to kick it all off.

Headwaters Arts' 29th Annual Fall Festival Juried Art Show and Sale will run through to October 5.

The show features over 70 works.

The opening soiree featured the works and their accompanying artists, Jazz by vocalist Shelisa Akbar and guitarist Paul Llew-Williams, a silent auction, and artist awards.

Nancy Kluger, Events Committee Chair at Headwaters Arts, said the festival marks the “beginning of the season.”

She shared it's also exhibited through the art and extraordinary fall colours.

This event is the only juried show; the other gallery shows are not.

This year, she shared that they had 152 entries, and from that, jurors selected 79 pieces of work from 52 artists.

The media range from fibre, oil, water, sculpture, and more.

Kluger said that over the years, she has seen the quality of work submitted improve significantly, largely due to the high standards required for acceptance.

A new addition this year is the opportunity to “Meet the Artists.”

There will be nine different occasions where community members can ask artists questions and gain an inside perspective.

“I think the more people understand art and what goes into making a piece, maybe the larger the audience will get,” says Kluger. “We'd really like people just to come out and experience the art.”

Sofiya Stevens is an artist featured in the festival, and her piece, “Colors of the Sun”, displays a large body of water, with multiple reflections from the sun.

“I wasn't painting a specific place, I was painting a feeling and that feeling was that when you look at this, there's so much depth,” she explained.

This is her second consecutive year in the show.

She shared it's an “amazing feeling,” as the jurors change from year to year, so she can never expect what they will like.

“It's such a rewarding feeling; I consider myself an emerging artist. But there's very well-established artists in this room,” says Stevens.

She shared that these events are vital for artists because they provide exposure and have “opened doors for her.”

“Every time I walk away from this show, I feel like I want to create more,” says Stevens, adding that when jurors find something in her art that resonates with them, it encourages her to create more.

Hildegarde Sausik's piece, Universal Cosmic, is made with textile.

She used shibori dyed indigo silk for the piece.

Her piece encapsulates the idea of the celestial world that we both see and explore.

“I get my inspiration from looking at the sky looking at nature,” says Sausik.

She shared that she's always been fascinated by the celestial world.

Sausik says being at the festival is a “privilege”; she has been a part of Headwaters since 2018.

“It's a real compliment to be able to be in the show so I'm thrilled,” said Sausik. “The people are great, it's a real community.”

Headwaters Arts' upcoming “Artists' Market” will be held on September 27 and will feature a multitude of unique, crafty, colourful, practical and one-of-a-kind creations for sale by 15 vendors.