Local organizers are lamenting the loss of the annual Central Region Juried Arts Exhibition in 2020.

Winkler Arts and Culture Executive Director Wendy Klassen explains they recently joined the art network which hosts the annual exhibition but learned a loss of funding has meant the cancellation of the 2020 tour.

The Central Cultural Council, made up of Golden Prairie Arts Council (Carman), Pembina Hills Arts Council (Morden), Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment (Portage), Tiger Hills Arts Association (Holland) and Winkler Arts & Culture (Winkler), hosted the annual Juried Art Exhibition on a rotational basis for the last 38 years.

The exhibition has provided regional artists the opportunity to network and showcase their work around the region. "It's a really good opportunity for local artists to have their art shown by all of the other arts councils," Klassen says.

She notes every effort is being made to find an alternative revenue source to secure the future of the exhibition heading into 2021.

"It's quite expensive to do the show, you have jurors and it's travelling art... so we decided to take a break and figure out Plan B," she says, which might be finding a corporate sponsor that has branches in many of the arts councils' communities.

The latest art exhibition at WAC is 'Mennonites and More', a solo exhibition by Bev Friesen.

Learn more HERE.