WOW! Every artist should experience Kenilworth Celebrates Arts Festival at least once in their lives.
The ‘Kenilworth Experience’ is a unique experience in a tiny town in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Kenilworth Celebrates is different because Art and Fun go hand in hand.
This year there was 11 days of tremendous Art exhibitions, Dinners, Concerts; Workshops with Australia’s best Tutors and a truck load of fun for everybody.
The Masters at Work exhibition was a huge success with Artists John Wilson, Ross Paterson, Colley Whisson and Terry Lewitzka painting landscapes while many people watched and purchased the super paintings that they saw created. All the Master Artists met with and generously gave tips to those attending the Masters at Work while surrounded by 25 of their framed works. Works painted during the exhibition were also sold unframed at seriously low prices. Terry and Ross played guitar at a lunch time singalong, while Bazza the Bush Poet and Charlie Chaplin dropped in, entertaining an enthusiastic audience.
All four masters generously donated a painting to the Kenilworth Arts Council for auction at the Symphony dinner and a raffle valued at $1,200 donated by Sponsor Noosa Springs Resort was won by Craig the local Policeman (Get out of jail free cards have been distributed). The Sunshine Coast symphony orchestra was superb receiving a standing ovation.
The $15,000 Kenilworth Art Prize attracted a large number of entries from around Australia. From the fifteen finalists “The Deep Forest” by Neil Taylor was a deserving winner.
The twelfth annual Kenilworth Art exhibition attracted some 300 entries, the quality of work displayed was of extremely high standard as was the food and wine at the preview night.
The annual poets breakfast was a great hit as was the days of wine and roses at the Blind Mans Bluff vineyard while street entertainment including the Noosa pipe band, Firetribe stilt walkers, buskers and Charlie Chaplin kept a smile on every face.
The Bikers Art Xposed event at the Kenilworth Hotel is growing into a “must see” for recreational bike riders.
The first Tutors Bar B Q held at Bellbird Creek Teahouse was a barrel of fun with Terry & Lorraine Lewitzka and Ross Paterson entertaining the audience with some country songs and one they wrote themselves for Kenilworth Celebrates!.
The ten four day workshops were fantastic again in September 2009 with 101 artists honing their skills in an enjoyable atmosphere at the picture perfect Kenilworth Community College.
All in all the total Kenilworth experience of Art – Entertainment – and study in the beautiful environment of the Mary River Valley is almost too good to believe. For information on the 2010 Kenilworth Celebrates Arts Festival phone Rod Bloomer on 5472 3088 or visit the website in January, 2010.
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