There is nothing like a visit with some of your favourite things, and if your favourite things include books then book a week-end stay to visit our Get Off On Art Galleries and also enjoy some book time in our public libraries.

And there is always our ARTCETERA section's  Artists Are Reading suggestions. Have a look there and see what might be of interest. Bring one of those books along with you or use one of those suggestions as a springboard for a foray into the library. You might have found references to artworks in a book that may start you on a search for other books.

Go to one of our galleries and inspire your reading with new eyes. After an experience with art, head to the library... read a biography on an artist you are familiar with, or one you've only slightly heard of! Or perhaps you've seen a work that intrigues you and want to see more. One thing leads to another, so take your computer to the library, and/or go online there and check in with us at the Get Off ON Art app posts for new inspirations to follow up on with your library pleasure or research.

Cambridge Galleries Preston and Cambridge Galleries Queen’s Square are located within library buildings and these are excellent places to plan a 'book end & week end' jaunt! And not only do they have internal galleries, they are also home to public art within the building and outside [as do the region's public galleries]. So here you have the chance to interact immediately with works of art, find out about the specific artist and then converse directly with library staff if you have questions or need suggestions. And an interest in architecture can be satisfied with a trip to the nearby Cambridge Galleries Riverside gallery. As part of the Waterloo School of Architecture, you are sure to find the gallery staff a great resource too!

The Clay & Glass Gallery is across the street from the Waterloo Public Library and the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery is a half block walk fro the Kitchener Public Library.

The Clay & Glass Gallery's exhibits, collections and gift shop are rife with starting points for the reader interested in ceramics, glass works and jewellery making. You could spend countless engaged hours on any one topic! And the gallery's proximity to the Waterloo Library means you can blend a viewing experience with easy access to knowledgable gallery staff for suggestions, artistic directions and specific information on these art forms, and then hop over to the library to follow up on books.

Make a visit to the Homer Watson House & Gallery. You'll find Homer Watson books available through the gallery's giftshop and you can also visit the Doon Pioneer Park Community Library. Start up with a history of the gallery and of the artist himself, or whet your appetite with this downloadble pdf gallery publication: Homer Watson. Not Your Average Pastoral Picnic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.  

If the weather is favourable, take some reading on Homer Watson and sit in the nearby park to read under some of the very same trees that inspired one of Canada's first and foremost early landscape painters. For the historic minded, there is a onnection between the artist Homer Watson and Canada's longest serving Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King. There is plenty of reading material on the friendship and artistic connections between the two. It all makes for good reading on art, historic persons, local histories, political eras and all the invisible threads that connect them all.

Maybe you are a reader who is interested in artist biographies, artistic eras or artistic genres. If you have a leaning towards abstract art, perhaps a book on colour theory may be a great follow up. Perhaps an interest in visual culture, or curatorial critiques. Or there are compelling literary references that you've come across in your art reading and want to follow up on. Art is like a great mystery novel ... the more you uncover and discover, the more clues you'll find to spur further reading.