The Fenelon Arts Committee (FAC) is calling on sculptors across Canada to submit their one-of-a-kind artworks for a public art project that will beautify downtown Fenelon Falls.
Held in partnership with the City of Kawartha Lakes, the Downtown Sculpture Exhibition will see six juried works of art mounted on limestone rocks located in garden planters on Colborne Street from May to October 2026. Whether you work with metal, stone, clay, wood, or any other medium, it could help make art more accessible in a rural community.
“Having access to multiple avenues (of artwork) really enriches the whole experience. Obviously, our art gallery in town can’t be open 24 hours per day, but the public art is up on the street all the time,” says Darcie Kennedy, the Chair of FAC. “It really adds something to the main street.”
FAC was founded in 2018 as part of the Kawartha Works Community Co-operative (KWCC), a volunteer community group whose goal is to improve social infrastructure in Kawartha Lakes. In 2021, FAC introduced the first public artworks to be installed under the City of Kawartha Lakes’ arts policy, with Portage by James C. Smith and River Grove by Susan Rankin being permanently erected in the Rain Garden.
Since 2024, the committee has held the Downtown Sculpture Exhibition, inviting artists from across Canada to submit their innovative creations.
“It was really just thinking about what does Fenelon have to offer already — it’s already a popular tourist town so we wanted to add elements to the public realm that peak people’s interest and are maybe a little different than other things that would be more obvious, like water recreation,” Kennedy says. “You see a lot of public art in more urban areas, but it (this project) brings that to a rural area as well.”
Submissions to the 2026 Downtown Sculpture Exhibition are now open until 5 p.m. on Friday, March 20. Submitted sculptures must be 35″ to 56″ with a maximum width and depth of 30″ each. The sculpture can only use materials that can withstand the weather and cannot pose a risk to the public with hazardous sharp points or edges.
“It doesn’t have to, but it may consider the context and history of Fenelon Falls and the surrounding area,” says Kennedy. “Things like the Indigenous connections and use of the area, historical development, natural heritage of the region, and the contemporary uses of Fenelon today.”
Six works will be chosen by a jury comprised of local artists and representatives of FAC and the City of Kawartha Lakes.
“There are also some of the people that own and work in the businesses in downtown Fenelon as well, because they are often engaged with the community and visitors,” adds Kennedy. “We really want to make it so there’s a wide variety of people seeing the work, so we have a variety of viewpoints to consider.”
The winners will receive a $500 artist fee and accommodation, if required, on Thursday, May 7 when the works are to be installed. They will be erected alongside a post with a QR code that leads to artist statements on the FAC website.
“The (Fenelon Falls) Horticultural Society looks after the planters and they have beautiful flowers and different plants,” says Kennedy. “When the sculptures get added, it just really adds a lot of colour and interest and it’s just really exciting.”
Following the installation, there will be a public launch and walking tour beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 8 at the Colborne Street Gallery. Community members and visitors will get to hear the artists speak about their work before going on a walking tour to look at each sculpture.
“People like to get that inside scoop. It gives that little bit of an extra connection which is great especially because some of the artists are local,” says Kennedy. “It gives perspective that this is right in their backyard. They can bring friends when they come into town, go out to lunch, walk around a couple of blocks to do a little bit of shopping, and see the cool artwork. Everything is really accessible and in the summer it’s just so great.”
Kennedy hopes the project will be attractive to local young artists and give them a chance to see art as a career in their own town — especially since the works are for sale. The sale is made independent of FAC, ensuring the artist keeps all proceeds.
“There’s a lot of creative people in the Kawarthas,” says Kennedy. “It gives them an opportunity to show in their own community which is great. It’s really important to be able to have those opportunities where they live and work and where their friends and family are.”
Since launching the seasonal exhibitions in 2024, Kennedy says FAC has received a lot of positive feedback from community members. She notes that local high schools have even taken students on a walking tour to study the artwork and learn more about the artists.
“You don’t have to go down to Toronto to see that really high-calibre work,” she says.
“It really gave kids that are thinking about creative careers a little bit of ‘Wow, maybe that is possible’ or ‘I never really thought about that.’ Maybe they’re interested in welding, but never thought about it being in a sculpture. There’s all these different avenues for people and I thinking it’s important to try and showcase that.”
Local businesses can support the project by signing up as a sponsor for the artwork. Those funds will be going towards the signage fees, the artists fees, and the accommodation costs for those coming from out of town for the installation. To be a sponsor, email fenelonarts@gmail.com.
“It is really nice to know that local businesses in the area believe in the project,” says Kennedy.
For more information or to submit to the Downtown Sculpture Exhibition, visit www.fenelonarts.com.
