Popular studio and gallery tour returned Saturday for first time since 2019; ‘It was definitely missed’
The Starry Night Studio and Gallery Tour took place in downtown Orillia on Saturday evening for the first time since 2019.
The 16th edition of the event brought hundreds of people downtown for a night of touring art galleries and meeting local artists.
Linda Tiffin, a committee member since the event’s inception, says Starry Night was missed during its hiatus due to the pandemic.
“We couldn’t do this while maintaining social distance, hand sanitizing, and wearing masks,” she said. “By 2022, we lost quite a number of venues, art studios, and galleries because they couldn’t survive without being open.”
The revival of the tour has been supported through the Downtown Orillia Management Board, which has helped breathe new life into the event in conjunction with the See You on the Patio program.
“They were quite pleased to help us out because they got calls every day from people who wanted to know if Starry Night was happening this year,” Tiffin said. “It was definitely missed.”
Tiffin says the event is “awesome” for the studios and galleries in downtown Orillia that are still recovering from the effects of pandemic-related closures.
“It’s really drawn attention to where we are and that we exist,” she said. “We have all of these fabulous artists that we represent, show and encourage.”
Visitors seemed to enjoy the opportunity as much as the artists did.
“People are just in a really good mood,” Tiffin said. “It’s like they are high on art because they are so excited and enjoy it so much.”
