The Arts Station is excited to invite you to wander downtown to discover Light up the Arts, a magical lighted installations by local artists in a fun and interactive artwalk.

Light up the Arts will launch at an annual collaborative community event, the Holiday Kick-off, in partnership with the Fernie Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fernie. Downtown Fernie will transform into a magical festive atmosphere with fireworks, light installations, carolers, Santa, and Christmas lights with a Shop Local competition to encourage residents to #SpendItInFernie.

There will be 5 feature artists presenting installations found outside around Downtown at The Arts Station, Library, Senior Centre, and City Hall. In addition, over 450 local kids have created lighted lanterns and artwork that will be on display. All the kids visited the Arts Station to be led in creative activities in different mediums.

Feature Artists

Sam Sedlowsky
Sam loves all things fabric. She feels that one of the joys of learning to art quilt has been how the natural and man-made landscapes around her have transformed into fabric in her mind. Working from a fabric stash decades in the making, upcycled material, Sally Ann finds, fabric collage can be economical and environmentally friendly. Even the smallest scrap has a place. Sam is committed to creating her art only from collected scraps, upcycled fabric, and dumpster-diverted materials. For her installation, she will be upcycling from her Moose on the Loose installation to create a new exciting lighted house. Come and view the Moose House structure in a new way!

Sam Sedlowsky lives in Fernie, BC in a multi-generational household where all things fabric is encouraged.

@sam_sedlowsky_art

Eric Stoffels
Eric is a local artist and has been living in the Elk Valley for the past 10 years. He is an electrician by trade and loves the winter season, so naturally, this project is called his name. Eric has come up with an idea that he calls “The Fernie Tree”. It will be made up of illuminated artwork that he thinks best represents winters in the valley. Eric is very excited for everyone to see and enjoy his creation.

@coast.one

Oli Stoffels
Oli lives in Sparwood, goes to school at The Fernie Academy, and loves to do art. Oli has created a project called “The Gnomes”. It is made up of 4 gnomes that range from 3-5 ft tall. The Gnomes represent his family and the winter spirit, which you find a lot of in Fernie! Oli was inspired by his dad entering ‘Light Up The Arts’ so decided to enter as well. Oli is very excited to be chosen to build his gnomes and hopes everyone enjoys his project.

Michelle Mongey
Michelle is a painter, designer, and illustrator from Sydney, Australia, now based in Fernie, Canada.

She has been an avid art enthusiast from a young age and began to focus on painting as her chief art form in her teen years. Most of her art has been developed for friends and family, with personal meaning and touch behind each painting.

​Michelle created a vinyl moose as part of the Moose on the Loose project at The Arts Station collaborating with another local artist.

Michelle’s installation will showcase cyanotype lanterns using local flowers and ferns she has been collecting on Summer hikes. Cyanotype is a very cool process and the resulting images are beautiful which she hopes you will enjoy.

@michellemongeyart

Danyal Taylor
Danyal is originally from New Zealand and now resides in Fernie, B.C. He feels lucky to call this place home as it is an adventure lover’s paradise with its incredible skiing, tall mountains, and beautiful hikes.

Danyal is an adventure filmmaker, storyteller, and photographer. Traveling around the world to showcase awesome.

Danyals installation will be an opportunity for him to explore a new medium with the result of a fun multicolored neon light display inspired by the Three Sisters mountains.

@danyaltaylor

Join us on November 25th to see the lighted artwork for the first time. The feature installations will remain for the winter months to bring light to the darkest months of the year!

Thank you to our community partners Fernie Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fernie. Thank you to CKCA for grant funding to support this project.