As with many brilliant ideas, the concept for the Ananda Art House began as a doodle on a napkin. The non-profit organization "provides a unique and dynamic meeting place - not just an organization, not just a venue - where artists and audiences can exchange gifts and leave with new ways of seeing the world," says Shannon Shakotko, co-CEO with her husband, Don.

The Art House was established in 2001 in a former Catholic rectory in Forget. "At first, folks around here thought we started having concerts to pay off our mortgage. Mostly, people thought we were nuts!" Shakotko laughs. "Well, about 150 concerts and nine festivals later, there were only four shows not sold out. Although there are still some people who don't understand what we're trying to do here, most folks appreciate what we are providing."

The great thing about the location, says Shakotko, is that it's on the way to everywhere. Artists can fill their tours between the larger centres, and audiences in a 100 kilometer radius can experience live music in their own backyards.

The Art House also helps fend off cabin fever during Saskatchewan's bleak winters by hosting the Deep Winter Blues Revival at its Happy Nun Cafe. This event offers concerts and jams, as well as workshops on learning to play blues harp, sing the blues, and cook Southern food with a Prairie twist. Says Shakotko, "It is our hope that we will revive the souls here in southeast Saskatchewan with a hearty dose of the blues, art-making, and the relationship that this genre has with food."

For more on Ananda Art House, visit www.ananda-arthouse.org.

For more on the Happy Nun Cafe, visit www.happynuncafe.ca.

Ananda Art House receives grants from the SaskFestivals program, which is funded in part through the financial assistance of SaskCulture Inc., with funding from the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation.

Front Page: Ananda Arthouse sign. Photo: Paul Browning.

Above: Shuyler Jansen performs at Ananda Art House's Happy Nun Cafe. Photo: Chris Haynes, CBC.