​THANK YOU DRAKE HICKS & MICHAEL LAMERT
The Sioux Narrows Arts Council would like to thank Drake and Michael for their donation of this Blosser Whimsey to our Arts Festival Archives. Our 60th Anniversary exhibit, Art at the Lake, was a compilation of festival artist biographies and their original artwork going as far back as 1960. We continue to research artists and expand our collection to preserve the history of the Sioux Narrows Arts Council for years to come. We welcome your memories and stories about the festival and its artists over the years. ​​

SIOUX NARROWS FESTIVAL  ARTIST BIOS TO DATE 
​Dorothy Johnson     Dr. .John Perl      Art and Phyllis McKenzie
Aneita Gates      Mackenzie Ward.    Sister Katharine Reiter
Edith Holden.    Kameron Gates      Nicole Benson.    Arthur Koby
James Larson    Allen Turner    Mariel Benson    Tanis Rebbetoy 
Karen and Brock Blosser   Jennifer Swenson.    Lee Paulson
Mary Backhouse  Lucy Mallick   Wanda Kabel Easton    ​
Chelsea Horley     Jeanie Woods

WHERE IS YOUR WHIMSEY??
 
Thank you BROCK AND KAREN BLOSSER, the longest contributing artists of the Sioux Narrows Arts Festival.
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​For over 40 years Sioux Narrows has known these happy, cute and whimsical faces carved from fallen trees as Whimseys, art that is said to bring good luck to your home.  But do you know the story of how Brock and Karen learned how to carve "Wurtzel Koerpfer" (rootheads) or "Berggeister" (mountain spirits) that have been carved for hundreds of years in Tyrol, a mountain province situated in the Swiss-Austrian-Italian Alps?

Well, in 1972 Brock and Karen headed on an adventure  to watch the Olympics in Germany, with plans to travel and work afterwards. In Vienna, they met a wood carver named Sepp Hornachger. Sepp carved for a living and invited them to stay and learn how to carve with him. So, from Sept. '72 to April '73, Brock and Karen studied with Sepp in Vienna. They returned to the United States, and later moved to Canada where they began selling their Whimseys at local festivals. 

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 Sioux Narrows Arts Festival 30 Years Ago

 Sioux Narrows Satellite News 1967

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FESTIVAL ARCHIVES

Everyone is encouraged to share memories, historical information and photos from their involvement at previous arts festivals.

Sioux Narrows Arts Festival History

The Sioux Narrows Arts Festival has been celebrated as an annual event on the August long weekend for 60 years. In the early years, the festival had 15 to20 local artists and was held in the Sioux Narrows Community Hall. There were poetry readings, visual and performing arts and displays of various art forms. The festival grew and shifted to Father Moss School gymnasium. In 1984 it was relocated to the curling rink to accommodate up to fifty artists.
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Sioux Narrows Arts Council Archives
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"Three couples, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Johnston of Winnipeg, Manitoba,  Dr. and Mrs. John Perl of Chicago, Illinois and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Lohr of Muscatine, Iowa initiated the first Sioux Narrows Arts Festival in 1961. These men and women were summer residents who volunteered their time and money." (page 53)

"The original purpose of the Festival was to exhibit art, in all forms, created by residents of the Lake of the Woods district. "Art for the fun of it" has been the Festival motto. Perhaps this motto was more true in the earlier years when amateurs and children played a bigger part. In recent years, more professionals exhibit and sell at the Festival. The Committee always welcomes children and amateurs who will still show their work "for the fun of it"." (Page 54)

written by Dick Rossen and Eva Dion, 1985
Beyond the Bridge, Sioux Narrows Historical Society, Harris Printing Ltd,, Winnipeg,  Second Printing 2009

​District 26, Kenora, RTO
​Retired Teachers of Ontario

Township of
Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls