Artist Studio Tour | Artist Alley
Battle of the Brushes | Live Music
Join us September 12-14, 2025
for full days of art and music.
Friday September 12
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6:30PM - 830PM
MacDougall Park - 50 Craig St, Russell,Come celebrate the opening of the 2025 Autumn In The Country Arts Festival. We’ve been working on the festival for a full year and would love to take some time to kick back, relax and sip a custom mocktail or two with you.
This year we’re unveiling a brand new public art installation that will take over the park for the duration of the festival. Walk around the park to reignite your childhood imagination and sense of play.
This is your chance for a casual connection with artists and creative minds from across Russell Township
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6:30PM - 830PM
MacDougall Park - 50 Craig St, RussellA new temporary public art piece in MacDougall Park and will be on display for the festival weekend.
The work titled When We Were Small brings the familiar language of childhood into conversation with outdoor adult spaces. Oversized wooden letter blocks—objects typically found in nurseries and playrooms—are reimagined here as monumental sculptures. Scaled up and placed among the trees, they invite visitors to see play not as something confined to early life, but as a lifelong mode of discovery.
The blocks carry with them a double resonance: they are tools of learning, representing our first attempts at language and expression, and they are also toys, symbols of imagination and creativity.
The artwork reflects on the many themes presented in Russell’s arts festival Autumn In The Country’s. For example, the Historical Society of Russell’s theme of early settlers brings forward the idea of Russell in it’s infancy, while the Russell Photo Expo’s theme of Up Close and Personal considers shared childhood memories and connections. More importantly, as Autumn In The Country is renewed for it’s third year, it memorializes the idea of a major event in its infancy, yet poised to become larger than life.
By positioning something intimate and domestic within a shared outdoor space, the work asks how we learn from the environments we inhabit. Just as the forest holds memory and growth, so too do these objects hold traces of our earliest attempts to make sense of the world.
The installation becomes an open invitation: to pause, to play, and to reflect on the ways language, nature, and imagination shape who we are.
Saturday September 13
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10:00AM - 4:00PM
Public spaces across Russell and EmbrunWalk, bike or drive along the open studio tour to see live demonstrations of ceramics, painting, and glass. Artists invite you into their spaces, giving visitors a chance to talk about their process, what inspires them, and how they keep their practice alive.
Special live demonstrations include
10:30AM - Painting by Maureen McAuliff at 64 Heritage Rd
11:30AM - Ceramics by CMS Pottery at 64 Heritage Rd
1:00PM - Stained Glass by Happy Little Penguin at 574 Chartrand St
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10:00AM - 4:00PM
Russell Fairgrounds - 1076 Concession StSome of the brightest and best visual artists from across Eastern Ontario are gathered together under one roof for your enjoyment. Complete with hay bales and corn stalks, this is the perfect setting to reignite your love of art and maybe even find the perfect piece for your living room
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3:00PM - 8:00PM
Russell Fairgrounds - 1076 Concession StCA and Sonny is an Ottawa-based duo focused on preserving the tradition of Folk music. Using a variety of stringed instruments, C.A. & Sonny sing songs, crack jokes, and tell tales of yesteryear. Their musicality is balanced expertly with their laid back performance, showcasing an enormous repertoire of antiquated melodies and stories, as well as some songs of their own.
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10:00PM - 3:00PM
Russell Fairgrounds - 1076 Concession StStep back in time with the Russell Historical Society's Heritage Day. Explore Russell’s history with wagon rides, live music and old-time games.
Heritage Day will also feature a new art exhibition titled Before Us, With Us.
What drew Russell’s first settlers here? Was it the fertile soil, the river’s power, or simply the beauty of the land and its wildlife? Choosing a home is both practical and deeply human—rooted in survival, but also in hope.
This exhibition presents thirteen photo-based artists inspired by Russell Township. From playful animal encounters to sweeping landscapes, their works capture the character of this place. Together, they echo a shared impulse across two centuries: to find connection, belonging, and possibility in the land we call home.
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4:30PM - 6:30PM
Russell Fairgrounds - 1076 Concession StWatch professional and amateur artists go head to head, putting their creative skills to the test. Artists are given a prompt and a small amount of time to create something magical. Winners are voted on by the audience, and artworks are auctioned off after.
Live music, food and bar!
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10:AM - 4:00PM
Russell Fairgrounds - 1076 Concession StThe Photo Expo is a free open call to photographers to submit images taken with Russell Township limits. 4 Winners will be chosen by an independent jury, printed on panels, exhibited outdoors for up to 5 years, and be awarded the appropriate CARFAC fee. Honourable mentions will receive a small prize package. All submissions will be printed and exhibited during the Autumn in the Country Arts Festival.
Join us for the unveiling of the 2025 winners at 12:30PM
Sunday September 14
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1:00PM - 3:00PM
MacDougall Park - 50 Craig StTo wrap up the festival, a painting meetup is scheduled for Sunday September 15th. Bring your brushes, canvases, and paints and join professional artists in an open air painting meetup in MacDougall park. Get inspired by the fall landscape, birds chirping, and public art.
Get Involved
Are you an artist interested in showing at the Artist’s Alley? Fill out the form below and send it to russellautumninthecountry@gmail.com.
Questions? Ask us anytime!
We also love volunteer help. Send inquiries to the same email, and we’ll find a place for you.
2025 Artist Studio Tour
Bike, drive or walk along Russell and Embrun’s side streets and trails to meet artists in their studios demonstrating their craft. From pottery to painting to live music and more, this is your chance to see the magic in action, and learn a little bit about different artistic techniques. This is a self-guided tour to complete at your own pace.
Keep an eye out for the sign posts along the way to help guide you.
Saturday September 13
10AM - 430PM
Visit public and private spaces to meet the artists, see their work and watch how they create. Learn a little bit more about the participating artists in this section.
CMS Pottery
Christina Stapper looks for the balance between fine art and function in small batch pottery and unique touches that enhance your home and life.
Live Demonstration at 11:30AM
Val’s Art
Watercolour artist Valérie Major finds inspiration from living, feeling, nature and her family.
Maureen McAuliff
A self-taught artist who finds joy in transforming heartfelt emotions into vibrant expressions on canvas
Live Demonstration at 10:30AM
Leslie Chandler
Leslie Chandler is a freelance visual artist whose artwork ranges from photo-realistic to abstract contemporary and contemporary impressionism. All of it best expresses her experience outdoors in Canada’s great natural beauty.
Alain Bilodeau
Alain Bilodeau is an artist and educator who uses his practice to learn, explore and create. Alain is showing his work at the Russell Township Library
Hidden Daisy Fine Art Studio
As a classically trained artist, Carly’s practice and inspiration stems from her desire to capture beauty through art.
Russell Photo Expo
See an exhibition of over one hundred photographs by incredibly talented photographers. Find out which 4 images won top marks and vote for your favourite..
Bent Out of Shape
Frank Schmohl creates unique metal, wood and stone artworks designed for your home and garden.
Artist Alley
Artist Alley is your one stop shop for handmade one of a kind creations that include painting, jewelry, polymer clay, beadwork and sculpture. Incredible talent located throughout our township all under one roof. .
Happy Little Penguin
Maria Daly is a Canadian + Armenian stained glass artist interested in pop cultural and
Live Demonstration at 1:00PM
Russell Historical Society
Learn about Russell’s first settlers, take a ride on a horse drawn carriage, and see a new art exhibition that explores our connection to the past.
Stephanie Wellman
Stephanie is a graduate of the Photography Institute and she is a Signature Member and a Master Pastelist of Pastel Artists of Canada.
Various Artists
A curated exhibition of several artists that’s not to be missed
Le Conseil des arts Prescott Russell Arts Council (CAPRAC)
Discover and join a community of artists from across Eastern Ontario. Artists in attendance. Several artists will be on display and in attendance at Russell Township city hall.
Public Art at MacDougall Park
A large public art installation will be installed all weekend. Reignite your sense of childhood wonder and imagination while walking through the trees.
Opening Reception
Friday September 12 at 6:30PM
2025 Battle of the Brushes
Saturday September 13
4:30PM - 6:30PM
Russell Fairgrounds - 1076 Concession St
Watch professional and amateur artists go head to head, putting their creative skills to the test. Artists are given a prompt and a small amount of time to create something magical. Winners are voted on by the audience, and artworks are auctioned off after.
Live music, food and bar!
Live Music by CA & Sonny
CA & Sonny is an Ottawa-based duo focused on preserving the tradition of Folk music. Using a variety of stringed instruments, C.A. & Sonny sing songs, crack jokes, and tell tales of yesteryear.
Open Air painting meetup
The best thing to do with inspiration is create. Bring your brushes, canvases and paints and join us in MacDougall Park on Sunday September 14 from 1:00PM - 3:00PM
Upcoming Events
Friday October 3rd
Russell Fairgrounds
7:00 pm
Festival of Small Halls presents Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Kreviazuk made her critically acclaimed full-length debut, “Under These Rocks and Stones,” in 1997. Since then, the Winnipeg-born and internationally celebrated 3x JUNO Award and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and musician, classically trained pianist, actress, movie producer, philanthropist, humanitarian and proud wife and mother of three has recorded 10 albums, including a live album, a holiday album and a collaboration with her husband and Our Lady Peace front man Raine Maida. A prolific songwriter, Kreviazuk has written global smashes for the likes of Drake, Gwen Stefani, Pitbull, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Shakira, Kelly Clarkson and Kendrick Lamar. Equally committed to helping those in need, Kreviazuk was awarded the Order of Canada in 2014 along with Maida, for their efforts to raise awareness and support for human and animal rights, mental health, education and the environment. Kreviazuk has been an ambassador to War Child for more than two decades and one of the organization’s founding artists.
