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It is a little late but, I wanted to post the picture of the official “ribbon cutting” for MadeInHaliburton.ca on our blog. Thanks to Darren Lum of the Haliburton County Echo for allowing us to use the picture. 
January article from Terrance Gavin in the Highlander illustrated some mixed reviews from the crowd that gathered to hear about the proposed new website: www.MadeInHaliburton.ca. There was much optimism and excitement by many but also some concern by others. Now that the website is live and 40 artists have already chosen to sell their products in this manner, with more applications in the works, the press is more positive as is illustrated by this excerpt from an editorial by Bram Lebo of the Highlander.
By Bram Lebo:
“If, like me, you’ve had the good fortune to discover George’s Savoury Pies in Argyle (real lard, unreal crust), you’ll no doubt be familiar with George’s problem: there’s just not enough traffic on that country road to keep the ovens in business. Sadly, George has on more than one occasion had to close up for a month or three.
What George could use is a billboard on Highway 12, something to point the pie-lovers in his direction. Or, he might consider an online sales tool like MadeinHaliburton.ca, the website launched earlier this month.
Plans for the site were announced to the community in January and were greeted by a passive-aggressive combination of cautious enthusiasm (another grant project) and outright hostility (ripping off and stifling artists, not necessarily in that order). Now, roughly on time, it is here.” READ MORE >>>
At the launch of our site, the mood in the Art Hive on April 5th when the artists and project partners gathered in a private party to mark the occasion of the launch of the new website was upbeat and hopeful. Small sales had already been completed with shipping to Canada, USA and Hong Kong.
After many hours of hard work by a committee of dedicated individuals this website, MadeInHaliburton.ca, has become a reality! Welcome to our new website and we hope you enjoy your visit. Any feedback about the website is greatly appreciated .. so, feel free to go to the contact us page and send us an email.
Why have we created an online gallery for the artists of the Haliburton Highlands? It is simple: this is a Canadian Artistic Community and the work of local artists deserves to be showcased and marketed as such. In 1968 a small group of local Haliburton Highlands citizens got together and charted a vision for the community to become an enclave for artists. It was envisioned that the Haliburton Highlands would become ”the Banff of the east”. The rugged landscape of forests and lakes was thought to be an ideal location for artists to be creative in their home-based businesses scattered around the region. Forty years later the arts have truly blossomed in this community. It is now the home of a full-time Fleming College campus that attracts over 200 full-time students, and 3,500 students for week long courses given by over 150 artist faculty members who are associated with a variety of media and methods. There are 190 artists and arts related organizations registered with the Arts Council of the Haliburton Highlands. It is known that this is only part of the total composition of the arts within the Haliburton Highlands as some individuals choose not to become members. There are several year round public galleries; five community museums; three studio tours; two dance studios; the Highlands Summer Festival (live theatre), the Highlands Opera Studio; a variety of live musical performances through the Forest Festival and Folk Society. This list is certainly not all inclusive but, will give you an idea of the depth and breadth of cultural opportunities that abound in the Haliburton Highlands. All of this has been created by a small but, vibrant community with only 15,000 permanent residents. Art “production” is one of the main economic development enterprises of this region.
The work of many of these fine artists has been a well-kept secret, shared only with those who happened upon their work at local galleries or stumbled upon their out of the way studios. The Haliburton Highlands Studio Tour does bring many visitors to see these studios during the fall cavalcade of colours. Some artists have a presence on the web but, there are few “buy now” opportunities for the public to take advantage of. We are now taking their work to the world through our online gallery and marketplace and offering people around the world the opportunity to “buy now” 365 days of the year 24 hours a day.
All artists displaying their work on this website have been reviewed by a committee of the Arts Council of the Haliburton Highlands to ensure that there is a high quality of work while not limiting the scope of work too aggressively. Here at Made-In-Haliburton.ca we believe that art is, at least in part, in the eye of the beholder. In addition to our jurying process we enable the purchaser to evaluate the quality of the artist’s work by openly and honestly providing the artists’ credentials along with high quality photographic images that allow the purchaser to examine the work in detail before making a decision to purchase. We also guarantee that if you are dissatisfied with the art when you receive it that it can be returned within the 7 day return period in accordance with the return policy.
This website is a joint project of MadeInHaliburton.ca, The Arts Council~Haliburton Highlands, Parker Pad, The Art Hive and The RightEyedDeer Press with funding from the Province of Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture’s Cultural Strategic Investment Fund (CSIF)
