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For more information on the 15th annual Orange County Open Studio Tour, click on Web site www.orangecountyartistsguild.com.
From staff reports
CHAPEL HILL -- The Orange County Artists Guild kicked off its 15th annual Orange County Open Studio Tour over the weekend and will continue the event this coming Saturday and Sunday.
The event is an occasion during which a growing number of carefully selected visual artists welcome the public into their studios during two weekends full of autumn's natural colors.
Paintings, sculpture, pottery, wood working, jewelry, textiles, iron, glass and photography can be found on the tour, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Even the most energetic art lovers will not be able to visit all the studios open to the public for these tours. Tour maps will be available to guide them to studios located all over Orange County. The public is invited to plan an itinerary creating a personal tour, choosing among the 65 artists participating. The relaxed atmosphere provides an opportunity to get to know the artists, and to see where they create their art.
Orange County is famous for its creative population. Artists, authors and musicians are found in abundance here. The Open Studio tour is a rare opportunity for visitors to meet visual artists face-to-face.
This annual tour grows in popularity every year among local artists and art lovers. It gives the artists a chance to display their best work in a relaxed atmosphere and for art lovers to support and talk to the artists about their visions and techniques. An artist is given much satisfaction when selling a piece of work to someone who understands exactly what has gone into it and who will treasure it.
The Orange County Open Studio Tour was begun in 1995 by Monnda Welch, an enterprising jewelry maker then living in Orange County. Welch was inspired by the highly successful Chatham County Open Studio Tour, begun a couple of years earlier.
Initially unable to receive any help from local arts organizations, Welch single-handedly promoted and organized the first Orange Tour. By 1998, the Orange County Tour exhibited 45 artists and had attracted loyal supporters, but it was a huge challenge to organize the artists and raise the necessary funds for advertising. So in 2000, Welch turned the tour over to the Orange County Arts Commission, which, in turn, initiated the creation of the Orange County Artists Guild.
Guild members volunteer their time working in committees to accomplish the many tasks related to the tour. The Open Studio Tour is funded only by artist member fees and small donations from the community.
