Once again Sitges is celebrating Artist’s Day to commemorate Santiago Rusiñol’s arrival in the town on 23 October, 1891. Between 19 and 26 October, Sitges City Council, Sitges Museums, the Institut Joan Ramon Benaprès and the Cercle Artístic de Sitges are offering a programme of cultural activities that recall the Modernista artist. 

Other activities include drawing at some of Sitges’ most emblematic sites and “Santiago Rusiñol, the total artist”, a guided tour at the Museu Cau Ferrat, 12 midday on 26 October.

The main one, with speeches and live music and open to the general public, will be held on the Miramar-Cultural Centre courtyard on Wednesday 23 October at 1.30 pm. Before that, Institut Joan Ramon Benaprès Baccalaureate art students will start the day at 8 am with an explanation of the arts mural at their school, which they painted for Artist’s Day last year. Next up, between 9.15 am and 1.15 pm, drawing sessions will be taking place in some of most emblematic spots of Sitges’ town centre and at the Museu Maricel mirador, among other places.    

Coinciding with Artist’s Day, also on Wednesday 23 October, the Cercle Artístic de Sitges will be holding an open day from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm and 6 pm to 8 pm at its centre in the Estudi Vidal (C/ d’en Bosc, 8), where artists will be able to practise drawing with a nude model. 

The Artist’s Day programme will kick off on 19 October with the Modernista Festivities Tour and a performance “a capella”at the Palau Maricel entitled Music in Rusiñol’s Time. The tour, with Agisitges providing a commentary, will start at 6 pm and take in the town’s main Modernista buildings. It will end at the Museu Cau Ferrat and finish with at the Palau Maricel with the Ensemble Vocal Cambra 16 performing pieces by Modernista composers. Tickets can be bought from museusdesitges.cat or at the museum receptions. Admission €12.

On 22 October, the Institut Joan Ramon Bonaprès will be holding a workshop entitled “Let’s talk about art” for Baccalaureate art students and that will be followed by an intergenerational chat between Ainara Martínez, a fine arts student, and the artists Carles Arola and Francesc Sillué, on the world of art and the painter’s craft, among other topics.  

Also as part of this celebrations, on Saturday 26 October there will be two free guided tours: “Peter Stämpfli, the tyre artist” (in Catalan) at the Stämpfli Foundation, starting at 11 am, and “Santiago Rusiñol, the total artist”, at the Cau Ferrat Museum, which allows visitors to discover or rediscover the work and life of this painter, writer, collector, traveller and cultural agitator. To take part, you need to book in advance at museusdesitges.cat.