If you need a short break from the heat and the crowds at the Harvest Festival this weekend, the Winkler Arts and Culture Centre has got you covered.
The Park St. gallery is hosting its first-ever mini escape room Friday and Saturday.
“We wanted to kind of try to capitalize a little bit more this year on the Harvest Festival being right across the street,” explained executive director Jered Hildebrand. “We wanted to bring more people in and thought what could we do for a special one or two-day event that wouldn’t take too much away from the festival, because we don’t want to do that. Just something people can stop in, do for a bit, and then head back out again.”
WAC staff have transformed the upper gallery into an escape room that tells the story of Parisian artist Jacques L’Artiste, who has gone missing on the opening night of his first solo show.
The curator of the Cool Art Gallery has called you in to recover Monsieur L’Artiste and save the gallery’s reputation before the public begins to arrive.
“You need to follow the clues as you would normally in an escape room,” Hildebrand says, sharing that they’ve created a few custom paintings to set the scene. “Hopefully at the end you’ll have found Jacques and you can bring him to us and have your group’s name put in for a draw for a $50 Winkler Arts and Culture gift card.”
He says the puzzle will take people less than 20 minutes to solve, so it’s the perfect bite-sized break.
“Come in, have some fun, enjoy the air conditioning,” Hildebrand says.
The escape room is available on Friday from 3-8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s aimed at groups of two to six people and designed for ages 10+.
Admission is free, and pre-registration is not required.
