100 Mile Arts Network: A room of its own

Outaouais art network gets new digs in Wakefield

For a while now, the regional arts-boosting organization known as the 100 Mile Arts Network has been in search of a room of its own. To be sure, the organization, which brought you Art in the Park and the Art to Heart short video portraits of local artists, has been busy. It also has an ever-growing database of artists and venues that, like a dating app, can be summoned to put a musician in a lounge or an artist in a pop-up gallery. But it has also been anxious for a physical space, according to Wakefield-born Sebastian Molgat, the Network’s director of communications.

Then, “Oh happy day!”, le Secretariat aux relations avec les Quebecois d’expression anglaise (say that three times quickly) awarded a sufficient grant that made it possible for the Network to make for itself a home base.

The place the Network has selected for what it hopes will become a hub for artists in the MRC de Collines-de-l’Outaouais region is on the newly renovated second floor of 712 Ch. Riverside, above Nikosi restaurant in Wakefield.

As I write, the Network is still preparing the space for its upcoming launch of its gallery and boutique, but it will be ready in time in early November for a curated group show of 10 local, A-list artists from the Pontiac to Val-des-Monts, Rupert to Chelsea. The band of brushers and photographers will be on hand to share behind-the-paint insights. The works (they are all on the smaller side) will also be available to purchase.

As well as art shows, the Network intends for the gallery and boutique to be a place for workshops and professional development courses, several of which it has already run. When I asked Sebastian if there might be a workshop for, um, senior artists to boost their use of social media, he said that might well happen. Sign me up.

The launch of the 100 Mile Arts Network Gallery and Boutique is on Thursday, Nov. 7, 6-8 p.m. Thereafter, it will be open that weekend, Nov. 8-10, and the following weekend, Nov. 15-17. On Fridays, it will be open from 5-8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 12-4 p.m.