Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour thrives on countryside settings
Marking its 25th anniversary, the inclusive two-day festival sets up in fields and by riverbanks, along with more conventional spaces
Raeanne Schachter.
Brigitta Schneiter’s pottery mushrooms.
The Pitt Meadows Art Gallery.
The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour takes place at various venues on May 10 and 11
THE MAPLE RIDGE Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour subverts expectations with the settings for its showcase of more than a hundred artists at 31 locations this Mother’s Day weekend.
Attendees can pick from a roster of venues that include community centres, neighbourhoods, and studios set amid pastoral landscapes with scenic views of the Golden Ears peaks.
Raeanne Schachter, an emerging artist who sits on the tour’s board of directors and will show sculptures and paintings during the event, says there’s a wide variety of art locations spread across both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. She says the event is affectionately known as “the little country cousin to the Eastside Cultural Crawl.”
“Each setting where the artists are located is so unique from each other, so visitors will find themselves surrounded by a blueberry field at one tour, or they’ll be set up against the Fraser River, for example, at the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery,” Schachter says. “They’ll drive through little urban sections or cycle or walk, and then they’ll find themselves out in acreages and farms set out in East Maple Ridge toward Mission.”
The artists themselves choose the venues for the presentations. Depending on the artist’s studio space, viewers might be welcomed into an artist’s home or a small outbuilding on a property.
Schachter says that artists without a venue will be set up in community centres, a perk of the organization having concrete relationships with both the City of Pitt Meadows and the City of Maple Ridge.
Visitors can get to know artists who span a wide range of ages, experience, and cultural backgrounds, with the diverse array of media including stained glass, photography, sculpture, pottery, painting, textiles, woodwork, and jewellery. Think Matthew McGreevy’s comic books and digital art, Brigitta Schneiter’s expressive pottery mushrooms and vases, and Pat Scott’s beautiful large paintings of forests and flowers.
Each fall, there is a public call for artists to take part in the tour. “Because art is so personal, we’re very open-minded and we’ve seldom turned people away,” says Schachter, adding: “We really want to be inclusive and not have any barriers to entry.”
Schachter’s own pieces are derived from two collections she curated specifically for the art tour. Her vibrantly hued multimedia sculpture work is a small series titled “DAMEbrain”, featuring foam and clay head forms covered in everything from pennies to brightly painted denim scraps. Her mixed-media painting collection is titled “Let the Dames Begin”, featuring colourful abstract portraits of women that draw on collage. Both series speak to female vitality, resilience, and strength, always with “the Dame” as her muse.
This year marks the tour’s 25th anniversary, which Schachter describes as a huge achievement, especially considering that many similar events were unable to survive the pandemic.
To celebrate, there will be some unique elements such as “I love art” buttons and stickers that will be handed out for free. Other special additions include treats distributed by artists, as well as a musical event hosted by participating artist Alex Neff.
Adding to the festive feel is the fact the art studio tour takes place during Mother’s Day weekend. “It’s a great treat for mothers and aunties and sisters, and for people, and sons and husbands, who want to recognize the women in their lives,” says Schachter. 
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