Art in the Garden has doubled in size from last year, with more than 56 artists and artisans attending the August 12 event, being organized by St. John’s Anglican Church in Vankleek Hill.

Once again, tents will line each side of the road leading up to St. John’s Anglican Church but this year, artists will be set up inside the church hall and an artist will be inside the church itself, in addition to vendor tents surrounding the Higginson Tower. The event takes place from 10 am to 4 pm. The church ladies will be offering boxed lunches for sale, available for purchase from the canteen inside the church hall. Tables will be set up on the Higginson Tower property to provide space to enjoy your lunch.

Lead organizer Randal Storey says the event got off to a great start in 2022, with support from the annual Glebe ‘Art in the Park’ event. That organization helped Storey by sharing forms and tips to get the Vankleek Hill event organized.

We asked Storey for a few things to watch for at this free-admission event.

A live plein-air painting class between 1 pm and 3 pm will offer artists and would-be artists the chance to paint an outdoor scene, Storey said. Naturally, the church and/or the tower might be good starting points for artists. This session will be led by local artist Shanna Steals.

Storey was hard-pressed to choose a couple of artisans to highlight as he said there was so much talent attending that day that it would be hard to choose one or two. But Indigenous artisan ‘Derek’s Tufting’, using caribou and moose hair to create works that look like hooked rugs, was a stand-out for Storey.

Storey also mentioned that the event has doubled in size and that people are invited to bring picnic lunches, chairs, etc to enjoy the day on the church property, which leads naturally onto the Higginson Tower property.

Storey worked with Champlain Township to obtain approval for the church event to expand onto the tower grounds.

“They were just great,” Storey said, referring to Champlain Township, which owns the Higginson Tower property, managed by the Higginson Tower Committee.

The not-for-profit Higginson Tower Committee will have its own table set up that day. Volunteers will be selling tulips as a fundraiser for the tower. The group has collaborated with Vankleek Hill Tulip Fields to offer five beautiful varieties of hybrid tulip bulbs for sale. (Order now, but pay upon delivery in the fall.)

You can also buy home-made cookies by the half-dozen at the volunteer table. Proceeds from cookie sales all go to the Higginson Tower.