The 10th Annual Gifted Winter Art Sale, formerly known as Four Festive Floors, saw unofficial numbers of over 800 people coming through the Weyburn Credit Union Spark Centre on Saturday.

City Curator and Arts Coordinator with the Weyburn Arts Council, Regan Lanning said the new venue worked well.

"We were a little unsure when we were setting up. We weren't sure how many vendors we would be able to get in different spaces, but it has been amazing," she shared. "The traffic has been great and we're getting so many people who've never been to the Spark Centre before, and in particular, we're getting people who've never been to the gallery before. So it is a great event. It's really showcasing all that our new venue can do."

She said they were able to fit 10 more vendors than last year at the Cugnet Centre, and will likely have room for 15 more next year given the space at the state-of-the-art facility.

Lanning noted that they got the usual Weyburn traffic, but because the Spark Centre is a mixed-use space, there were also two soccer tournaments happening there at the same time. 

"So we're getting people who aren't even from our community are coming down and checking it out. So it's really a great example of how versatile and how this venue can can just change and adapt to suit the needs of what we need."

She pointed out that having art on the walls for some of the vendors hearkened back to the Four Festive Floors, held at the old Signal Hill Arts Centre before the building was sold. 

"We have three different mini venues in the sale and people are really are traversing the hallway, they're not just doing the gym, they're not just doing the hallway, they're not just doing the gallery and they're really enjoying the fact that the more they take in, the more they keep discovering," she said. "It's just like little pockets,and it's been a wonderful, wonderful event." 

One of the vendors was The Bomber Sisters, Hadley and Rhea Holdstock, who don't let the fact that they're in elementary school stop them from creating products like hot chocolate bombs and candied pretzels to sell at Gifted. In fact, they have taken part in both the summer and winter art sales since July of 2022, working at four in all. They also sell products in local stores.

"It's like just for like fun and stuff, but also we like making it and our mom helps sometimes," shared Rhea.

"For me, I just like sometimes, like let's say I'm like stressed or I'm bored, so I just start making them and then I make so much and I'm like, 'I should just put these in the sale' and then I'm also saving money too," shared Hadley, adding she saves it for her future.

Find a gallery of photos below from the event.

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, DiscoverWeyburn encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverWeyburn app.