Contributed by Cathy Tatro
The fifth annual ARTS of Fluvanna Studio Tour will be Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18. The free, self-guided tour includes 14 studios and 21 local artists. It will feature five new artists.
Free copies of the tour map are available at many local businesses and from www.artsfluvanna.com.
The tour is an opportunity to meet the artists in their studios and get a behind-the-scenes look at their creative processes just as the fall foliage emerges. “Visitors will meet artists working with wood, hot lamp glass, metals, stained glass, oil, mosaic, printmaking, mixed media, plus pottery, jewelry and fibers, with an opportunity to buy directly from artists,” said ARTS of Fluvanna Board Chair Diane Wilkin.
The artists will be in 14 locations throughout Fluvanna, with studios open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. both days. The ARTS of Fluvanna Studio Tour is available on two days because visitors said they had trouble seeing all the artists they wanted in just one day, Wilkin said. She said the artists also enjoyed having more time to interact with visitors.
Nearly 200 people used the free passport program last year, which offers a chance at a $50 credit toward art purchases if they visit multiple locations. Organizers said an unknown number more visited artists without turning in a passport.
Five of the tour sites are inside Lake Monticello but easily accessible by nonresidents, who can enter through the Main or Turkeysag gates by just telling the guards they’re taking the tour. Some others are near the lake, and the rest are scattered throughout the rest of Fluvanna County.
The free ARTS of Fluvanna Studio Tour is sponsored by Bama Works, FindFluvanna.com, Lori Click of RE/MAX, Staiger Studio, T&N Printing, The Lake Monticello Community Foundation, Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, and Jen Sample of Long & Foster; local restaurants Gia Italian, Blue 53 and El Vaquero West; and E.W. Thomas Market.
