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Try your hand at painting an eclectic chair

Eclectic chairs will be seen around the south Cowichan area in the coming months.
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If you’ve got a yen, or in this case five bucks, to paint an eclectic chair, then this is the event for you. (Submitted)

Eclectic chairs will be seen around the south Cowichan area in the coming months.

The newly formed Cowichan South Arts Guild Society, devoted to promoting and presenting the arts in Cobble Hill, Mill Bay and Shawnigan Lake, is calling for artists to think outside the box and consider painting a chair instead.

These aren’t the most prepossessing chairs: they’re the uncomfortable, community hall or school gym type of seat, but there’s potential for creativity for this paint-a-chair campaign.

Terry Harrison, president, says, “We have 56 chairs like the one [in the picture painted by Bev Robertson], and artists, artisans and wanna-be artists can reserve a chair by emailing artsguild@shaw.ca, then pick up the chair for which they will be asked to pay $5, take out a membership in the Arts Guild for $10, then whisk the chair away to be painted.”

Robertson has compiled a help sheet giving tips on the type of paint that would be suitable, how to prepare the surface, how to coat it so it could go outside in the garden, and other useful information that will be given out with the chairs.

Once the chairs have been painted, the artists will return them to the Arts Guild which will place them in businesses and public places throughout the three south end communities for display during the summer, according to Harrison.

Admirers will be able to leave bids on the chairs in a silent auction.

Next stop will be the Cobble Hill Fair on Aug. 26, where all the painted chairs will be displayed in a tent. Fairgoers will be able to decide which are their favourites and leave silent auction bids on them.

On Aug. 31 during the last Music In The Park concert in Cobble Hill Village, the chairs will make their final public appearance and silent auction bids will be taken.

Proceeds from the sale of the chairs will be shared equally by the artists and the Arts Guild.

“This is your opportunity to be part of a colourful, whimsical and enjoyable event. Reserve your chair right away before they are all gone,” Harrison says.