Celebrate Local Art and Culture Days in Oshawa This October

Those art lovers who attended ARTBLOCK as part of the recent Convergence Music & Art Festival in Downtown Oshawa should note that the Oshawa Art Association Fall Art Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, October 5 and 6, at Camp Samac. ARTBLOCK was organized by the curatorial staff at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in partnership with the City of Oshawa, but there is another group of creators in the city, the Oshawa Art Association. 

Founded in 1967, Canada’s Centennial year, the organization has hosted a Fall Sale at Camp Samac since 1981. Camp Samac is a beautiful private grounds, 150 acres worth, located off Simcoe Street just south of Durham College. R.S. McLaughlin of General Motors fame donated the parkland to Scouts Canada.

The annual Oshawa Art Association Fall Art Festival is not to be missed!

This year, over 53 artists will be present. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. There is no admission, and Berry Hill Food Co., a cafe/bistro located at 82 King Street West in Downtown Oshawa, provides onsite food. Access to Camp Samac and the festival is via the Conlin Road entrance. 

Over 53 artists are featured, including Ruth Greenlaw; her plant-themed artworks have been shown at the RMG, the Station Gallery in Whitby and Gallery 67 in Oshawa. Tony Johnson and his partner Anne Labelle-Johnson are both longtime members of the OAA; Anne was a past president. Tony’s works are very present in Oshawa, and he has three murals in the downtown core. ‘Lakeside’ is located on the north side of Brew Wizards Board Game Cafe, Celina and Bruce Street. ‘Camp X’ is on the south side of the Oshawa Power building on Metcalf, and on the corner of Simcoe and John, he has a mural celebrating the 75th anniversary of the City. 

Oshawa's 75th Anniversary Mural by Tony Johnson.

Erika Takas’s whimsical paper mache figurines have been shown in galleries in Spain, Hungary, Serbia, and Romania. Her delicate statuettes are evocative of folk tales and fairy stories, the kind one would imagine encountering on an All Hallows Eve night.

The City’s Centennial will also be celebrated during the annual Culture Days this year on Saturday, October 5, at the Arts Resource Building, 45 Queen Street, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day's events include a Creative Writing Workshop with author Erica London, a Pottery Workshop in the Pottery Studio, and the LivingRoom Community Art Studio Bus, which will be onsite in the parking lot with many creative ideas and activities. Artist Dani Crosby will speak about her massive new mural ‘Turning the Wheel,’ located on the McMillan Street side of the city parking garage. The mural shows the history of the Mill House, formerly at that location, in a style which is particular to Dani Crosby.  The Durham Region International Film Festival will also present a "Robot Dreams" screening. 

A still from "Robot Dreams" playing October 5 at The Arts Resource Building as part of 2024's Culture Days in Oshawa.

The 100 years of Oshawa is also currently displayed in the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. The exhibit draws from the Thomas Bouckley collection of photographs housed in the Permanent Collection and features photographs from the early days of the newly designated City in 1924.