BLOOMFIELD, December 23, 2021

The spirit of Christmas was at an all time high on Thursday, December 23rd
at ANDARA Gallery in Bloomfield.

As part of their annual ‘ODE to JOY’ Art Show and Sale, Tara Wilkinson and Andrew Csafordi, artist-owners of the gallery festively decorated their century-old barn with a stunning 16-foot Christmas tree from Denmar Farms and welcomed local residents and visitors alike for the second year to visit the barn for a COVID-safe, socially distanced “Holiday Photo in the Barn”.

Over 1,000 guests brought their own camera and the staff took the photo while wearing PPE in exchange for a donation to the PECMH Foundation’s Back the Build campaign. The fundraiser ran for 42 days from November 12 until December 23, 2021.

Close to a thousand individuals, couples, families, work colleagues and groups of friends came to the barn for a photo - raising $10,000 for the campaign to build a new hospital in Prince Edward County -  doubling the amount they raised in 2020!

A highlight of the event was when Nadia Knarr and Paul Bastiaanssen from Noble Beast Farms brought four of their lovely alpacas to ANDARA Gallery to participate in the photo shoots on November 28th and December 5th.

 “We were happy to provide such a joyful experience for our community that brought people together safely to create happy memories while raising money for the new hospital campaign,” said Wilkinson. We are indebted to our friends and neighbours who helped us with this year’s event… and to the hundreds of people who came to have a safe, festive photo taken in our beautiful century old barn. Many happy holiday memories were made here again this season.”

“Thank you to Tara and Andrew of ANDARA Gallery and everyone who supported this event. Every donation, no matter the size, makes a difference in the care you and your family will receive in our new hospital,” said Nancy Parks, Back the Build campaign co-chair. We are extremely grateful to everyone who supported this festive fundraiser as we work to modernize and enhance health care services to ensure people living in and visiting our community continue to have access to care close to home,”.

ANDARA Gallery is a fine art gallery showcasing works in photography and encaustic paintings year-round in the heart of Prince Edward County. ANDARA Gallery plans to continue this holiday tradition next year and thanks everyone for sharing in this joyful experience. Many of the photos taken this year can be seen on their homepage slideshow at andaragallery.com and on Facebook and Instagram at #andaragallerypec.

The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to raising funds to advance health care for the patients of the hospital and the people of Prince Edward County.