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Christmas spirit filled the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum

Southeast artists of all types brought their beautiful pieces to the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum on Saturday so the public could enhance their holiday season this year with something special.

Southeast artists of all types brought their beautiful pieces to the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum on Saturday so the public could enhance their holiday season this year with something special. Two galleries had everything from ceramic earings and bracelets with lava stones, pottery, toys, romantic paintings, gentle lanterns, home décor, to furniture, pillows, blankets, photos and hand-painted photos. 

The building was filled with welcoming holiday aroma of apple cider which all visitors could try at the entrance. 

Artists were interacting with guests talking about their pieces sharing stories behind them or giving advice on the best way to care about the unique items. 

Despite the slippery roads Saturday morning, quite a few people made it to the gallery, and Amber Andersen, who is the curator-director for the EAGM, hoped that weather wouldn’t change anybody’s plans. 

“I’m actually very pleased. With the weather, you never know. We haven’t necessarily lucked out with the weather, but so far, we actually had a very decent turnout. And I just feel that people are very happy. It’s always just such a festive atmosphere,” said Andresen on Saturday morning. 

The first time the EAGM put together the Homemade for the Holidays Christmas market was in 2015. Every year since then they attract between 100 and 200 people. Homemade for the Holidays has already become a little Christmas tradition, which Andersen keeps in mind while meeting new artists throughout the year.

“I’m always keeping an eye out for different artists, artisans and crafters. So I have some people that have been in the sale multiple times, but I always try to make sure that I get new people in the mix as well,” said Andersen. 

It turned out that this year there were more new people participating in the market. The veterans of the show were photographer Byron Fichter, Sheila Farstad, who brought over her big family of cute felt animals, and Audrey Robinson, who does oily bracelets. While most of the participants were from Estevan, a few had a bit of a drive that day to get to the show. 

“I’m always looking to see who in the southeast (can participate in the show),” said Andersen. 

This time some artists came to the show from Carlyle, Weyburn and Bienfait. 

Homemade for the Holiday allows the EAGM to raise a bit of money to put back into their programming and also do something special for the community before Christmas. 

“It’s a way too to get people into the gallery to see the different art shows and also to meet local artists, crafters and artisans,” said Andersen. 

The EAGM does only one art market a year at the gallery, however, they also have artists participating in the Rafferty Rumble’s market in summer and plan to have a larger fall festival next year with an artisan market there as well.