Local writers, musicians and visual artists are getting ready to launch half-a-dozen brand new public art projects across Stratford over the next several months, including a collaboration between painter Kim McCarthy, poet Heidi Sander and composer Paul Shilton.
The three Stratford artists are combining their talents on a piece called Emergence. The mixed-media painting by McCarthy, an accompanying poem by Sander and original music from Shilton will travel to various downtown Stratford businesses beginning in July.
“I love how the various art forms have inspired the other,” McCarthy said from her home studio on Wednesday. “Mixing things up and pulling it all together is in my nature. The opportunity to collaborate with a musician and poet takes this to a whole new exciting level.”
The roaming exhibit is one of six cultural projects being supported through the Stratford Destination Development Fund this year.
That fund, established with investments from local and regional tourism officials and the downtown Stratford business association, was created to support projects that help strengthen the Stratford experience for both residents and visitors.
“We are really pleased with this year’s selected projects,” said April Murray, Destination Stratford’s brand manager. “(They) will provide a really interesting and one-of-a-kind experience in Stratford. From intimate gatherings to larger public events, they will each bring their own enjoyment and shareable moments.”
McCarthy, Sander and Shilton aren’t the only local artists who pitched collaborative projects.
The Stratford Writers Festival will also be dabbling in music by introducing a new event this fall featuring some of Canada’s most talented writers alongside an award-winning composer. Stratford Summer Music, meanwhile, is partnering with SpringWorks Festival to create a four-day long festival-within-a-festival in August that will include 22 puppet shows and concerts.
Other projects supported this year include performances by Stratford Festival veteran Rod Beattie, who will be performing The Wingfield Cycle, a series of popular one-man shows, at the Stratford Perth Museum’s outdoor theater in July and August.
Local theater school Playmakers has received funds to introduce a unique 360-degree photo booth at their annual Stratford Lantern Parade. The photo booth captures video of people at a variety of speeds through an arm that circles a stable platform, making it possible to create videos, GIFs and boomerangs.
Although some projects will wrap up this year, at least one will be permanent. Gallery Stratford will soon launch a new outdoor art experience by turning its blank south-facing wall into a large digital screen where video and digital art will be shown nightly from dusk to midnight all year-round.
All of the projects are unique in Stratford, Murray said.
“We have seen our accommodations starting to fill up, our restaurants starting to fill up, (and) just more traffic on the streets,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the city, particularly coming into summer and into fall with these projects specifically. (They) just animate the city and (offer) a fantastic, one-of-a-kind experience that (people) can really only get in Stratford.”