“We were blown away with how successful it was,” said Chris Woods, co-chair of OLAC. “We were so honoured that Algonquin Outfitters considered us worthy of receiving some of the proceeds from the auction.”<\/p>\n
Oxtongue Lake for Arts and Culture<\/a><\/span> was formed in 2013 when they learned that Group of Seven painter A.J. Casson had stayed at Blue Spruce Resort on Oxtongue Lake and had painted scenes of the area while there. Its first project was an outdoor art exhibit at the Oxtongue Lake Community Centre featuring murals of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven works that were painted along the Oxtongue River, Oxtongue Lake and through to Marsh’s Falls in Dwight.<\/p>\n They then began to research more than 25 locations of paintings done in the area and are working to place interpretive signs at as many as possible.<\/p>\n “The funds raised will be used to continue to preserve these sites that no one knew about, and to continue to explore and expand on what we have done so far with the plaques,” said Woods.<\/p>\n Rich Swift and Randy Mitson are fantastic supporters of OLAC, and we continue to praise them for how they recognize that, along with adventure, along with paddling, the arts are just as important. The Group of Seven painted in this area and changed the world of art. We have to continue to acknowledge that and never lose sight of it. Teri Souter, the Town of Huntsville’s Manager of Arts, Culture and Heritage, was equally thrilled with the results of the auction.<\/p>\n “Algonquin Outfitters has been a partner and supporter of the Tom Thomson 100th anniversary celebration that the Town has undertaken from 2012 to 2017. It\u2019s wonderful (for the Town) to be able to sponsor the paddle art contest and auction, it\u2019s really heartening that Council got behind supporting this event, and it\u2019s incredibly inspiring the art that resulted from it,” said Souter. The Town’s share of the auction proceeds, along with commissions from Janine Marson’s show in Partners Hall – Through Tom’s Eyes – <\/em> earlier this summer, will almost double the Town’s reserve fund for the future acquisition of public art.<\/p>\n The reserve fund has been steadily growing since it was established in 2010, mostly from the commissions on sales of art in the Canada Summit Centre gallery and Partners Hall. In early September, the fund was at $8,700; these two recent events along with other commissions will push it over $15,000.<\/p>\n When Algonquin Outfitters hatched the idea for a paddle art contest, they had no idea what kind of interest it would generate.<\/p>\n The contest launched at the Reel Paddling Film Festival at the Algonquin Theatre on June 3, 2016. AO set a goal of 100 submissions and $10,000 raised at the paddle auction to follow for its two chosen recipients.<\/p>\n Submissions were slow at first, but then as the contest gained momentum in its final weeks the number of paddles received doubled those expectations, with 206 received by the time the contest closed, and AO wondered if they might also double their fundraising goal.<\/p>\n The contest ended on August 31, after which art and paddling enthusiasts alike could bid on their favourites until the online auction closed at midnight on September 29. In the final hours of the auction, Algonquin Outfitters hosted a live event at the Algonquin Theatre where the paddles were on display and local musician Sean Cotton provided entertainment, playing a paddle guitar submitted for the contest. <\/span><\/p>\n Bidding was fierce that night, at times overwhelming the auction site with high traffic volumes.<\/p>\n Beautiful paddles were on display for the Algonquin Outfitters Paddle Art Auction<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWe received nearly 3,000 online bids,\u201d said Randy Mitson, AO\u2019s Marketing Director. \u201cIt was a huge success, so successful that our website saw hundreds of people all trying to bid in the last few hours at the same time which did result in some website traffic jams. There were a few lessons learned for next time we host this event.\u201d<\/p>\n In the end, the auction raised a total of $20,094 for the two arts groups.<\/p>\n Two of the three paddles that received the highest bids were submitted by local artists Janine Marson and Don MacKenzie<\/a> <\/a>who both asked not to be included in the contest. Janine\u2019s \u201cTom Thomson<\/span><\/a>\u201d painted paddle garnered a bid of $675 while Don\u2019s carved \u201cEagle Feather<\/a><\/span>\u201d earned $601.<\/p>\n
\nChris Woods, co-chair, Oxtongue Lake for Arts and Culture<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe auction results<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Beautiful](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/10\/Culture-Days-8-Paddle-Art-Auction.jpg\")