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The MacLarenArtCentre announces a full schedule of events for its Carnegie Days festival,
September 16 to 19, 2010

Barrie, ON. This fall, the MacLaren’s second annual Carnegie Days festival will celebrate art and language at the gallery and at sites across the city of Barrie. Carnegie Days 2010 is a multi-media, many-layered festival that features exhibitions by internationally acclaimed artists Arnaud Maggs, Andrew Hunter and Ed Pien, a public art project in city bus shelters by award-winning artists Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak, bookworks by over seventy Canadian artists, designers and architects, story-telling and readings by emerging and established authors including Giller Prize-winning author Dr. Vincent Lam, performances such as Tales of an Urban Indian, film and video screenings (The Last Station, The Many Faces of Arnaud Maggs), a costume parade in the Barrie Market, gallery talks and tours, and hands-on workshops for all ages and interests.

Last year, Carnegie Days included 55 contributors at 23 venues. This year, the festival scope has expanded and will feature over 100 contributors at more than 40 locations. The MacLaren’s community partners in 2010 include Doors Open Barrie, Tourism Barrie and the Barrie Public Library as well as Talk is Free Theatre, The Barrie Film Festival, Georgian College’s Campus Gallery, the Ear to the Ground Collective, Society of the Spoken Word, the Downtown Barrie BIA and many Barrie retailers, hoteliers and restaurateurs.

Carolyn Bell Farrell, Executive Director of the MacLarenArtCentre, comments: "With its strong board, a skilled staff team, 220 volunteers and a stable financial base, the MacLaren has experienced tremendous growth over the past three years. Annual attendance exceeds 43,000, including 16,000 children and youth. Our VanGo programme in the schools reached 8,000 students in 2009, up from 5,500 in 2008, and our Sunday programme launched in the fall of 2007 engaged over 1000 new families last year. Carnegie Days builds on these successes. It is fast becoming a signature cultural attraction in Barrie and a focal point in the MacLaren’s programming. We are indebted to the Government of Ontario for its continued support of this festival through Celebrate Ontario, as well as the City of Barrie and our festival sponsors.”

Carnegie Days draws on the origins of the MacLaren’s building as Barrie’s public library, a 1917 Carnegie public library, and celebrates the legacy of Scottish-born American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), who spent over $56 million to build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world. Programmed during Doors Open Barrie (September 19, 2010), it encourages visitors to Doors Open to stay in Barrie for an extended weekend, stimulating interest in our cultural and heritage attractions, the natural beauty of Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe, and the vitality of our downtown. For festival details, visit www.maclarenart.com or call 705-721-9696.

Gallery Location
37 Mulcaster Street, Barrie, Ontario, L4M 3M2
705-721-9696 www.maclarenart.com
Directions: From highway 400 north, 90K north of Toronto, take the Dunlop Street East exit and carry on through Downtown Barrie to Mulcaster Street and turn left. The Gallery is one block north at the intersection of Collier Street and Mulcaster Street

Gallery Tours
Guided tours for groups and schools are available by appointment

Gallery Admission
Suggested admission $5
Café Culture $5/Members free
Family Sunday Workshop $5 per child/Family Membership holders free

Gallery and Gallery Shop
Monday to Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sunday noon to 4:00 pm
closed August 2 and September 6

The Radio Café
Monday to Friday 7:00 am to 4:30 pm
Saturday 7:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sunday noon to 4:00 pm
Wheelchair accessible

Acknowledgements
The MacLarenArtCentre gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of its members, benefactors, partners, donors and sponsors, the City of Barrie, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of Ontario through Celebrate Ontario 2010 for Carnegie Days 2010.