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THE HERALD Wednesday Arts and Ideas Town should embark on campaign promoting signs I like shop signs When you travel in Europe you come across the most fabulous signs They are made of different materials wood or iron and copper with paint and a bit of gliding here and there Some are hundreds of years old and have been kept in good repair by many generations of shop owners They often hang over streets and lanes like the branches tree and you can see them from far away Let s assume that you have called your restaurant the St Mary Inn Your sign in this case might be a glorious depiction of the virgin in a white dress and a blue coat and a gold crown the whole by beautifully wrought iron scroll work These signs are works of art and many of them have found their way into museums where they are rightly admired for their workmanship and style At the same time these signs had and still have a commercial purpose They to the world that here is a place of business In North America it is rare to find a shop sign of this kind Our shop signs here are more direct and to the point They haven t quite the poetry or these old signs Modern business practices are rougher and there are so many businesses that the signs have to shout more or they will be overlooked And of if you sit in a car a sign has to be huge or you will have passed it before you had a chance to read it Most North American signs are pylon like structures imposst to miss and that is a good Ideas and The Arts by John Sommer thing because our highway shop ping strips are so dreary that without those signs there would be nothing to look at I have to confess to you that I love these As far as I am concerned there cannot be of them and am astonished when a by law or something creeps up YMCA Annual Art Auction May 10th is Annual Art Auction The North will be hosting it 12th Annual Gala Art Auction on Friday May at Holy Cross Auditorium A wine and cheese reception and preview of the art will begin at 7 and the actual auc tion begins at Beaux Art International a Torontobased art gallery sup plies 150 pieces of art and sculptures with local artists also included in the show Our feature artist Carole Black a resident of the Georgetown area will be on hand the night of the show to speak to collectors and many of her works will also be auctioned off Non art items such as a sum membership at the Georgetown Racquet Club Bills tickets and dance lessons will also be on the block and add to the evenings excite ment The YMCA has a policy that no person should be denied access to their programs due to economic circumstances In these economic times more and more people are turning to the YMCA in their time of need All proceeds from the evening will go towards helping the YMCA as they pro vide for all age groups within our Tickets are in advance and at the door and are available at Oxbow Books Georgetown Yam and Crafts Work That Body and The Hallmark Store or by calling the North Halton Office at Church event Artisans spring sale This is the best tune of year to shop because it is unhurried There is no one bellowing on the TV or radio that there is only so many days left until Christmas No nail biting as you try to find that hot item that everyone wants but every store is sold out of Yes this is the time of year to leisurely shop for a special gift for a birthday graduation or for yourself And where better to choose a unique gift than at the Credit Valley Artisans Spring Sale Artisans meeting The Credit Valley Artisans will be holding their annual general meeting Wednesday tonight at p m at Cedarvale Cottage in Cedarvale Park Members will be electing a new executive and reviewing events of the past year events and dates will be selected Ml members are encouraged to attend Founded in the Valley Artisans is a non profit community organization which promotes the visual arts in Halton Hills Instruction in the various arts and crafts is offered through workshops and courses in the fall and winter and equip is maintained for this pur pose The Credit Valley Artisans con of four guilds The CVA Pot and Sculptors The Heritage Handweavers The Pallette and Pencil Club and the CVA Stained Glass Crafters For further in formation contact Mary Rown at The Spring Sale will be held this Saturday from a m to 4 p m at Cedarvale Cottage in Cedarvale Park Maple Ave at Mam St in Georgetown Admis sion is The members have been creating unique gifts all winter long There will be a large selec of weaving pottery stained glass watercolors oil paintings prints and crafts every vane ty For those with a sweet tooth there will also be a bake table So take a stroll through Park and discover the artistic treasures of the Credit Valley tisans at Cedarvale Cottage St John s United Church is holding a book sale car wash garage sale and a silent auction on Saturday May from to p m This event is a fundraiser for St John restoration and renovation pro St John s is putting on a ma jor addition this spring as well as renovating the existing building The book sale will prove to be exciting There are over books and all are priced at off publisher list price All books are new hardcovers and range price from to Children and adult titles are equally represented and in elude works by authors Dean Koontz Stephen King Lawrence Saunders LaVyrle Spencer and Judith Kranz There is also a large selection of Nancy DrewHardy Boys as well as picture preschoolers There a long hot summer coming up with plenty of time for reading We invite you to pick up some bargains and help St John Here We Grow Cam paign Spring Celebration 91 The Forge Studio Gallery in Terra Ont invites the public on May 5 to Spring Celebration with guest ar tists with large blown glass plates that are hand reverse painted with vivid flow drawings inspired by his fascination with children s art Monica Johnston with wheel thrown porcelain forms that have been smoked fired and further embellished with images that are drawn or carved into the surface Agnes Olive with multi media Spirit Dancers and clay sculptural planters that have been fired in the ancient Japanese tradition called Baku Vladymyr Rozylo with mixed media wall assemblages that have been inspired by the beauty of natures floral gardens and also express the artists concern for our fragile environment To get there go north on 10 or Mississauga Rd to Ki g St and left into Terra Cotta The Gallery is located next to the Forge and across from the General Store Gallery Hours Tues to Sunday to or by appoint Meet the artists Sunday May from 12 to m Exhibi tion ends June 2d Refreshments For more information call or 877 TOWN COUNTRY CLOTHIERS Royal Columbia Run Bike Swim Fitness 8788622 TH FITNESS Mill St E MILTON Mostly Balh Bed and Table Linens Preferred Bridal Registry Service Main Street East MILTON that makes it an offence to put a sign in a business area North America has made sell mg the focus of its existence If you have something to sell you have to tell your potential customer about it Therefore a sign is more North American than anything else I can With that don want to say that the signs our towns could not be improved They could be a lot nicer and a lot more im aginative I wonder if any local merchant has ever hired an artist to come up with an idea for a sign A fashion store for instance could have a peacock as a sign with a fan shaped tail that lights up at night in all the colors of the rainbow A flower shop could have a sign of enormous flowers made out of different colored neontubing The sign for a super market could be a huge video screen right on the roof of the shop that shows the happy shop pers inside the store pushing their carts along and filling them up with groceries A jewellery store could have an over life size Marilyn Monroe with her hair and dress blowing in the wind singing Diamonds are a Girl Best Friend There is no end to what one could do There could be contests between he merchants as to who has the most popular sign and there could be contests between towns Tourists would come to Georgetown for no other reason but to see our signs and an award could be given to the merchant with the sign that has brought more people to town than any of the others I seriously suggest the Chamber of Commerce should start a compaign promoting signs Anybody who has ever been to Las knows how signs can enhance a town We should all pull together to make a North American art form out of them I always get a real kick out of paintings done by small children These paintings have the bright For All Your Fine China Sliver Crystal MILTON OSBORNE DECOR Custom Mode Vert cols Dopes And Bedspreads FREE SHOP AT HOME SERVICE sparkle of fireworks small children find everything in terestmg and the charge they get from their surrounding flows directly into their paintings and makes them exercises in curlosi astonishment and laughter Sadly the growing boy or girl is robbed of the vitality they possessed earlier in their lives and after puberty boredom and conformity become the rule with most The student art selected by the Halton Board of Education from our schools and exhibited at the Gallery of the Halton Hills Cultural Centre in Georgetown to May illustrates what I have just written The stuff done by the little ones is uninhibited and alive The art works of the older pupils look with few exceptions depressed and tired by com panson The lifestyle of these young people seems to drain them of the ability to ex press in their art what feel Sanctity There is sanctity in a good man house which cannot be renewed in every tenement that rises on it s ruins and I believe that good men would generally feel that having their lives happily and honourably they would be grieved at the close of them to think that their earthly abode which had seen and seem almost to sympathise with all their honour their gladness or their suffering that this with all the record it bore of them and all material things that they loved and ruled over and set the stamp of themselves upon was to be swept away that though there was a monument in the church there was no monument in the hearth and house to them that the places that had sheltered and comforted them were dragged down to the dust Ruskin Pub Every Wednesday Is IRISH FOLK NIGHT PATIO NOW OPEN RENOVATION CLEARANCE SALE O OFF ALL InStock Items CRAFT SHOP 1 1 MAIN STREET SOUTH ACTON 8533949