Imagine yourself as a proud painter with your signed canvas hanging in the Harwich Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center in Harwich Port. Like most of us, your first thought is “But, I can’t paint!”  “Yes, you can paint” says the Harwich Guild of Artists, even if you have never before held an artist paint brush.  And, your completed painting will be hanging by June of this year, “guaranteed.”

You can accomplish this seemingly impossible feat by simply participating in Harwich’s ArtWeek 2019 event, the Mystery Painting Puzzle. Presented by Highland Street Foundation and produced by the Boch Center, ArtWeek (April 26-May 5) has become an annual award-winning state-wide innovative festival featuring hundreds of unique and creative experiences. The Guild of Harwich Artists will host the community-painted Mystery Painting Puzzle that qualified as an ArtWeek 2019 event ensuring state-wide exposure for Harwich. More information on ArtWeek events can be found at www.artweekma.org.

What is the Mystery Painting Puzzle you ask?  As explained by Barbara Hageman, Guild member and creative force behind the event, sections of a Harwich image will be painted on separate small canvas panels by residents of the community. The individual painters will not know what the larger image is that they are contributing to, and therefore the mystery. Guild member artists will be on-hand with supplies to mentor fledgling artists. As the almost fifty individual panels are combined during the day the mystery image will be revealed, much like a completed jigsaw puzzle.  Cyndi Williams, Executive Director of the Harwich Chamber of Commerce, has offered to hang the completed Mystery Painting Puzzle in the lobby of the Harwich Visitor Center in Harwich Port for all to see.

Guild member Michael Rudden explained that individual local businesses are being asked to support the ArtWeek 2019 Mystery Painting Puzzle by sponsoring a single panel for the relatively modest sum of twenty-five dollars.  Monies raised will used to defray the event costs and contribute to the non-profit Guild’s scholarship fund.  Panel sponsors will be acknowledged, along with the individual painters, alongside the final completed work. To have your name listed, mail a check for $25 made out to Guild of Harwich Artists to P.O. Box 382, Harwich Port MA 02646.

The day-long Mystery Painting Puzzle event will be held on Saturday, May 4th at the Harwich Cultural Center (formerly the middle-school) on Sisson Road in Harwich.  Just show up between 10am and 3pm and sign-up to participate, it will only take about an hour. This first time, but expected to be annual, ArtWeek event is your FREE ticket to become the accomplished artist you thought you could never be. See you there!

The Guild of Harwich Artists mission is to encourage artists and those interested in art through education, fellowship and exhibitions, and to engage in charitable and educational works that benefit the residents of Harwich.  Membership in the 80-person Guild is now open to all Barnstable County residents and tax payers. This year the Guild is celebrating their 40^th anniversary with an active summer schedule of shows and events. More information can be found at www.guildofharwichartists.org.