As a community that has “suffered greatly”, the Prescott-Russell Arts Council (CAPRAC) made it their mission to ensure there was a platform for local artists to blossom and, as in-person events resume, the online tools aren’t being abandoned.  

“Last year, because of the pandemic, a lot of markets were closed,” Karine Levesque-Noyes, the Executive Coordinator and sole full-time staff member at the Arts Council explained. “There has been a great loss of opportunity and visibility [for artists] so what CAPRAC decided to do was to open up our platform.”

Providing a virtual ‘market’ allowed local artisans to continue selling their work, and the platform was so successful that CAPRAC kept it going in 2021 with the introduction of a “living document” that has guided consumers through the region’s many festive markets as well as offering a space to shop online.

First and foremost a gallery seeking to discover, put on display and sell local work CAPRAC is now open to the public once more and continue to implicate themselves in community projects with art, culture and heritage in getting us through these hard times. 

“Art is what is carrying us out of this pandemic,” she said Levesque. “There are a lot of bad things happening around us, we feel it, we see it, it’s heavy. 

“But, groups and organizations have been putting forward some really interesting artistic and cultural experiences, to allow us to escape. 

“Art plays a really big role in lifting society, in helping us see a bigger picture, a better picture.”

With so many people learning a new skill during the pandemic, and predominantly through the arts, you can see why she thinks so.