Red leather booth

PAINTING BY MARTINA VIGINI (STOP 7 ON TOUR)

Autumn in Waterloo Region is the season to don your woolly sweaters and stroll through local neighbourhoods to visit artist studios. Now downtown Kitchener has its own studio tour and art sale, started by the creative folks at Art District Gallery (ADG). You can check it out for yourself this Saturday, October 3 (10am -6pm).

Piece by artist Meg Leslie (Stop 2 on tour)

“The studio tour was started as a way to help artists in the downtown core exhibit and sell their art,” says Brenda Murray, the founder of the ADG and the tour event coordinator. “To our surprise we discovered that there are a lot of artists working downtown, with real studios that are ready for the public to visit.”

Design by Carolyn Dawn Good (Stop 3 on tour)

The tour has a range of artists, from glass and fibre artists, to painters, sculptors and jewellers. “Their studios are hiding in plain sight,” Brenda says. “We hope this tour will inspire people’s curiosity to meet the fabulous artists whom they may cross paths with every day without knowing it.”

Glass sculpture by Renato Foti (Stop 2 on tour)

Brenda says visiting a working artist’s studio is an interesting opportunity as it helps demystify the profession and helps people understand the process involved in making a piece of art.

Photo by Mark Essner (Globe Studio on tour)

As the ADG has only been open a few months, the support of downtown sponsors have been critical to making this event happen. “We’re grateful to the 14 wonderful downtown Kitchener sponsors and we hope that patrons will stop by the sponsors’ locations, such as Cafe Pyrus or Adventure’s Guild, between visits.

You can pick up a tour brochure at the Gallery (310 King Street East, #201) or at any stop along the route. Take some time to plan your travels and visit the artists — they’ll be so happy to see you.

Downtown Studio Tour and Art Sale map