Your Arts Council at work

Markham Visual Artist Franklin Beecham — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:31:28 +0000

The Markham Arts Council is diligently at work advocating and promoting the arts to the community. From our Annual General Meeting in December we elected four new Directors to the Board and said goodbye to those who left. All are volunteers who support the arts in any way they can, some tirelessly, to which we are grateful.

Next round of business is our annual Members’ Directory. Yours truly designed the cover for this 2010 version – hope you like it. Vito at Whiteboard Studios handled the printing. Look for it in the mail or find it in a variety of community locations throughout the Markham area. A lot of work goes into the production of this piece. Thanks to Robyn and Judi for getting it together for the members. Included in your Members’ Directory will be your 2010 Membership Card. This card, when presented to certain retailers and local businesses will offer the user special discounts. Don’t lose it! A list of vendors can be found on the Markham Arts Council website.

The next member publication to be distributed by the Markham Arts Council will be the Arts In Motion newsletter. The newsletter covers events and interesting articles related to our members. Look for it in the coming weeks.

Several events and activities are planned for 2010, including the Mackie Awards, honouring supporters of the arts, our new major fundraising event: Arts & Tarts: A Royal Tea, Photo Contest, Art Shows and many more. Don’t forget to visit our booth at the various local festivals.

The Markham Arts Council is primarily run by volunteers and we need your help with planning committees for our events. Contact the office at 905.947.9054 if you can lend a hand or visit the website for information on how you can help.

We appreciate your support.

Life is buzzing behind-the-scenes at the Markham Arts Council

Markham Visual Artist Franklin Beecham — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:32:13 +0000

First off, congratulations to Robyn on attaining her position of Marketing Coordinator at the Markham Arts Council. I know Judi will benefit greatly from your many talents. Already, you have made an impression with your creativity at the Markham Arts Council booth, bringing more members to the Arts Council. The way the booth is set up was very inviting to visitors, as was the sketch easel. The teen volunteers were also a great help. Well done!

at the Thornhill Village Festival

at Applefest in the Markham Museum

Other things in the works are the upcoming events with the Markham Teen Arts Council. They have a new executive that is as creative and energetic as the last. They garnered funding from the Trillium Foundation and are having t-shirts made up showing their new logo. A new event to be held in October is the literary showcase, WordUp! Check out their website for more info. Also watch for the 24-Hour Video Challenge and the Music & Lyrics Contest (now named “Xpression”).

The Markham Arts Council has been holding seminars lately to enhance knowledge of the business part of being an artist. An interesting session was led by members of the Ontario Arts Council, explaining grants for artists. We have a couple of contests for Photography and Poetry; and two upcoming events, the November Art Show and the 2010 Mackie Awards. Also our big fundraiser, Arts & Tarts – a Royal Tea. I’ll explain later.

Our art-loving friends Ric and Catherine are now the owners of another abstract painting of mine, “Yellow & Red” and also one of Rhiana’s oil paintings, “Locomotion“. Nicky too, sold one of his photos recently to an avid buyer. Way to go Nicky! I also have a mixed-media painting (The Pond) that’s been chosen for the Chairman’s Dinner for the Arts, a benefit for the York Region Arts Council. Rhiana has two pieces in the same event.

Its been a busy month or so lately and it doesn’t look like its going to let up.

Franklin Beecham, Markham Visual Artist » Mackie Awards

Your Arts Council at work

Life is buzzing behind-the-scenes at the Markham Arts Council