The Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners’ Association (KLCOA) is delighted to announce that Art on the Dock will be back for a second great year on July 9 and 10.

The exhibition hours for this unique community event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Many of last year’s exhibitors will be back again including painters Ian Ball Shelley Beach Ray Dugan Tracey Lee Green Wilf McOstrich and Shirley Turchet. Potters Melissa Bouwmeister and John Middleton will be exhibiting again as will photographers Jeff Gardner and Michael MacLaverty. Also returning will be soap maker Lea Bartlett quilter Shirlee Weeks and worker in wood Kyle Good.

New exhibitors this year will be painters Bonnie Richardson and Joyce Sumara photographer Bill Horton woodworker Richard Hammond and sign-maker Leanne Mackle.

Many exhibitors will have guest artists with them this year – in fact the total number of artists exhibiting has increased by almost 50 per cent to 40 in total – but the number of exhibit locations will remain about the same as last year. New guest artists include painters jewellers and wood carvers so the range of media represented has expanded considerably.

Watercolour painter Wilf McOstrich (a cottager on Kennisis for over 40 years and a painter for more than half that time) said “Art on the Dock is a delightful event that brings Kennisis Lake artists together and gives them a great opportunity to display their considerable talents. Being a veteran of many art shows I’m pleased to say that Art on the Dock is simply outstanding – it’s an event enjoyed by artists and visitors alike.”

Cathy Whittaker KLCOA director and lead organizer for AOTD 2016 said “In addition to the Kennisis community we welcome all our neighbours in Haliburton to join us on the lakes for this special event. Plan to come by boat or car – we will have signs to point you to the exhibitors.”

She added “Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors Parker Pad and Printing and Viper Marketing we will again be donating funds contributed by exhibitors and visitors to the Arts Council – Haliburton Highlands’ Artists in the Schools program. We are delighted to be able to continue Kennisis’s support for this important initiative to bring the arts to elementary school children in Haliburton County and we hope to raise even more money this year!”

(Last year the Kennisis community contributed more than $1200 to the Artists in the Schools program from the Art on the Dock event.)

Charlene McConnell Artists in the Schools co-ordinator for the Arts Council said “This year over half of the approximately 1100 elementary (Grades 1 to 8) school students in the five schools in Haliburton County participated in AITS workshops and we hope to grow the programming each year.”

She added that the Arts Council – Haliburton Highlands particularly appreciates the contribution from the Kennisis community because “It helps us to continue the workshops in all the schools in the community. It is such a worthwhile and rewarding program for both students and artists who love to share their joy of art with the next generation. The fact that this generous donation comes from like-minded creative individuals adds a special enthusiastic energy to the AITS program. “

The full AOTD 2016 brochure is now available online at http://klcoa.org. Look under “events” then click on “AOTD brochure.” Hard copies will be available in many locations around Haliburton County closer to the event).