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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, October 23, 2015 | 24 Starry Night Gala Nov. 20 Oakville Art Society fundraiser to help expand Community Outreach Arts Program and celebrates 50th anniversary by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" The Oakville Art Society (OAS) is a firm believer the arts should not be a realm exclusive to the privileged and should be accessible to everyone in a community. It is because of this belief the local charitable arts organization has been putting on its Community Outreach Arts Program (COAP). "It comes from a deep knowledge of how important the arts are for people -- there shouldn't be financial or mental health barriers, or whatever there may be -- everybody can benefit from them (the arts) and enjoy them and in fact, they can be life-enhancing for a lot of people," said Carolyn Crosby, OAS president, who noted the local art society created the program as a way to give back to the Oakville community Currently, the free arts program (launched by an Ontario Trillium grant) is a partnership between OAS and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton, Halton Women's Shelter, the Nelson Youth Centres, SOAAR (Successful Options for Adults with Autism Re-envisioned), Kerr Street Ministries and the Newcomers Association of Halton. "It's really wonderful to see these various clients who have never had these opportunities before, to get them and get engaged," said Crosby. But OAS wants to expand COAP to include more charities and non-profit organizations in the community and that's why it's decided to put on its Starry Night Gala fundraiser on Nov. 20, to help keep its community program alive. To support one group in COAP for one year costs approximately $3,000, but that's just bare bones, said Crosby, noting that would mean running the program on a once-per-month basis. Crosby, who is also co-chairing next month's gala with OAS members Brenda Smith and Mary Driussi, said she is hoping to garner approximately $10,000 from the fundraising event. "This is very new territory for us," she said of hosting a gala of this size and nature. "It's an ambitious goal, but one that we might make. If we sell all the tickets and the auction goes well, we could accomplish that." Tickets to the gala, which starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Harbour Banquet and Conference Centre, 2340 Ontario St., cost $100 and include access to silent and live auctions, a variety of prizes, food stations, and live music by jazz saxophonist Carson Freeman. "It's right there on there on the water, overlooking the lake -- it's a beautiful setting," said Crosby. The gala's honourary chair and special guest speaker is former Oakville resident Plum Johnson. The author and artist was the recent recipient of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction. Tickets can be purchased at the OAS office, 560 Bronte Rd., or online at oakvilleartsociety.com. Commemorating 50 years Next month's gala is especially exciting for the OAS as it is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. "It's an amazing achievement," said Crosby. "If you know much about arts organizations, you know how precarious they can see Fifty on p.25 Oakville Arts Society (OAS) president and Starry Night Gala co-chair Carolyn Crosby is inviting the community to the OAS fundraiser -- Nov. 20 at the Harbour Banquet and Conference Centre -- for its Community Outreach Arts Program, which brings the arts to local charities and non-profit organizations for free. Crosby is pictured holding the Robert Bateman print The Red Cardinal that will be available for auction at the fundraiser. | photo by Nikki Wesley ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www.facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Meadowvale Theatre 6315 Montevideo Road, Mississauga ADULTS: $28 · SENIORS, STUDENTS: $26 Box office: 905-615-4720 / www.encoretix.org www.clarksonmusictheatre.com November 20 - 29