Thursday, September 24, 2009

Glenn McFarlane wins Arts Person of the Year

Congratulations to Glenn McFarlane, president of the Brampton Folk Club, for winning the City of Brampton Arts Person of the Year Award. Nominated previously, Glenn is president and a founding member of the Brampton Folk Club. The Club regularly hold concerts; various times of the year, they perform weekly during the evening at a local church, and weekly at the Rose Theatre's outdoor stage.

The Folk Club is perhaps best known for its Brampton Folk Festival, which ran for many years at Gage Park. The festival attracted audiences from around the province, and top performers from across the country, like Murray McLaughlin, Tanglefoot, and General Store. Unlike many of its large cousins, the event was perpetually free, meaning people not normally exposed to folk music could have a chance to appreciate it.

Visual Arts Brampton president Keith Moreau attended the event, held at the Rose Theatre. Keith was Arts Person in 1992. The event, themed to "Singin' in the Rain", included entertainment, the Corporate Support of the Arts Awards, and Harry Dale Literary Grant for Aspiring Writers. Among the people at Keith's table was a representative of Colony Ford, sponsor of the Art Gallery of Peel.

Keith actually designed the logo of the Brampton Folk Festival, and his son Nick designed the programme multiple years. One group compilation album featured Keith's coloured pencil artwork on the cover, the winner of a group-wide competition. McFarlane posed for the portrait sessions, in relation to the CD and event.

The Brampton Guardian has an article on the win as well.