Looking for a fall day trip from Toronto, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby or Oshawa that combines great art, delicious food and a drive through the countryside? Discover extraordinary artists, local food, craft beer and beautiful country roads on a September day trip to Uxbridge.
About an hour northeast of Toronto, the Uxbridge Studio Tour takes place September 19 & 20, 2026, with studios open Saturday 10am - 6pm and Sunday 10am - 5pm. Save this itinerary. Invite someone who loves art. Invite someone who loves food. Invite someone who just needs to get out of the city for a day. We'll supply the artists, studios, country roads and September scenery.
Your Art, Food & Country Drive Itinerary
Full studio details are below, but here's a quick overview to keep handy on Tour weekend.
A quick note: This is a suggested route, so go at your own pace. Times driving, parking, and enjoying studios vary; use the Tour Map or Toureka! app to navigate and adjust your day as you go. Visitors participate and travel between locations at their own discretion and risk. If you're not sure what this free, self-guided art tour really is, check out our handy 'how-to' guide and get ready for a great day out!
Suggested Route Summary
STUDIO 4 | JUDY BEAR
Judy Bear • Bill Reddick
STUDIO 14 | MARK PUIGMARTI (SPARKS WILL FLY FORGE)
Mark Puigmarti • David Trotter • Lisa Allen • Pat Neal
TAKE AN UXBRIDGE BREAK | THE SECOND WEDGE BREWING CO
Saturday: The brewery opens at 11 am, with food from Foundry Kitchen and Foundry Pi beginning at noon.
Sunday: Brunch by Foundry Kitchen begins at 10 am. As an added bonus, the award-winning Uxbridge Farmers' Market is right outside the brewery doors.
STUDIO 15 | SARAH HOLTBY
Sarah Holtby • Erin Le Page • Rebecca van Gennip • Gerry Visco
STUDIO 16 | MARY PHILPOTT
Mary Philpott • Nancy R. Chalut
STUDIO 6 | LYNNE McILVRIDE
Lynne McIlvride
LUNCH | ANNINA'S BAKESHOP & CAFÉ
Take a break from the art for a country-style lunch on the corner where much of Schitt's Creek was recorded. Enjoy a full meal, fresh baking or something sweet before continuing on.
STUDIO 5 | MANBERDO
manberdo • Eliot Tinkl
STUDIO 3 | HANNEKE KOONSTRA
Hanneke Koonstra • Kade Bolger • Catharina Goldnau • Berna Kilic
Your Perfect Day Starts Here - The Details
Sticking to the east side of the tour area, this suggested itinerary takes you beyond downtown and into the beautiful countryside surrounding Uxbridge, where artists open the doors to studios, galleries, homes and creative spaces that aren't normally open to the public.
Along the way, you'll discover everything from painting and ceramics to blacksmithing, leatherwork, weaving, woodturning, glass and immersive mixed-media art, with stops for some excellent local food and drink thrown in.
Coming from Toronto, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby or Oshawa? Make a playlist, grab your favourite art-loving companion and head north. Your September country escape is waiting.
Country Roads, Creative Spaces & A Very Good Lunch
Start at Studio 4 | Judy Bear
Begin your adventure at Studio 4, where the drive itself starts setting the mood for the day.
Judy Bear's lakeside home, studio and gallery sit on the shores of beautiful Chalk Lake, surrounded by the natural environment that has long inspired her work. Judy's vibrant paintings explore water, trees, wetlands and the constantly changing landscape around her. Joining Judy is celebrated ceramic artist Bill Reddick, whose hand-thrown translucent porcelain brings an entirely different kind of beauty to this intimate studio stop.
Take your time here. One of the joys of the Uxbridge Studio Tour is getting to experience artwork in the landscapes and spaces where it was actually created.
Then it's back in the car and on to something completely different.
Studio 14 | Mark Puigmarti
Get ready for sparks to fly. At Studio 14, blacksmith Mark Puigmarti welcomes you into his indoor and outdoor studio, gallery and working forge.
Mark transforms raw metal using traditional forging techniques and contemporary design, creating sculptural work that can feel simultaneously powerful and remarkably delicate. And this stop offers much more than blacksmithing. You'll also discover the creative leatherwork of David Trotter, the paintings, chromatic pyrography and embroidery of Lisa Allen, and the traditional weaving of Pat Neal.
It's a fascinating meeting of old skills and contemporary creativity and a chance to experience one of humanity's oldest crafts in an actual working forge.
While it may seem a little early in the day, this is the ideal time to take a break, and we've planned a good one.
Your Next Stop | The Second Wedge Brewing Co.
Head into Uxbridge for a stop at The Second Wedge Brewing Co. This independent craft brewery is a local favourite and a great place to relax for a while before heading back out into the countryside. What happens next depends on which Tour day you're visiting.
Visiting Saturday?
The Second Wedge opens at 11 am, with food from Foundry Kitchen and Foundry Pi beginning at noon. Grab a bite, enjoy a locally brewed beer and recharge before the next part of your adventure.
Visiting Sunday?
This stop gets even better. Foundry Kitchen serves Sunday brunch at The Second Wedge beginning at 10 am, and right outside the brewery doors you'll find the award-winning Uxbridge Farmers' Market. Wander the market, meet local growers and makers, pick up something delicious to take home, then settle in for brunch or a drink at the brewery.
Art. Local food. Craft beer. A farmers' market. That's a pretty great Sunday morning in Uxbridge. Then it's time to head back out on the Tour.
Studio 15 | Sarah Holtby
Your next stop is the beautiful home, gallery and studio of Sarah Holtby. Designed by Sarah and built by her husband Matt, the space is as memorable as the art inside it and offers the opportunity to experience four very different artists under one roof.
Sarah specializes in extraordinarily detailed pencil drawing and mixed media. Joining her are Erin Le Page, whose work includes lino prints; Rebecca van Gennip, whose evocative oil paintings draw inspiration from Dutch masterworks; and Gerry Visco, showcasing painting and pottery.
It's one of those stops where the architecture, landscape and artwork all become part of the experience. But now it's time for a beautiful country drive that will take you a little further north of town...but not too far.
Studio 16 | Mary Philpott
Continue north through the countryside to Studio 16, the wonderfully atmospheric creative world of ceramic artist Mary Philpott. Inspired by nature, storytelling and tradition, Mary's ceramic sculptures and tiles have a character all their own. Her studio gives visitors the opportunity to see these pieces in the environment where they're imagined and made.
Mary is joined this year by painter Nancy R. Chalut, adding another artistic voice to this lovely rural stop.
Now, prepare for a dramatic change of artistic pace as we head back south of town.
Studio 6 | Lynne McIlvride
Studio 6 is home to contemporary visionary mixed-media artist Lynne McIlvride, and this isn't simply a place to look at art. It's an experience.
Step inside Lynne's cozy home and sun-drenched studio and you're surrounded by colour, sculptural forms, intricate details and richly textured surfaces. Her dimensional works transform the spaces around them, blurring the boundaries between artwork, home, gallery and creative sanctuary. Give yourself time here. There is a lot to take in.
After a mid-day filled with art, you've earned lunch.
Stop for Lunch | Annina's Bakeshop & Café
Next, make your way to Annina's Bakeshop & Café, where you can enjoy anything from a tasty baked snack to a full meal, right on the corner where many memorable scenes from Schitt's Creek were filmed.
Fans of the show may recognize the buildings used as the locations for Bob's Garage, Rose Apothecary and Café Tropical. The buildings are still there, although they may not look exactly as they did on screen. It's a fun pop-culture detour during your Studio Tour adventure, whether you're a devoted Schitt's Creek fan or simply curious to see one of the area's recognizable filming locations.
Annina's is a much-loved stop for locals and cyclists from all across the region, serving country-style breakfasts, lunches, snacks and desserts. Settle in for lunch, or pick up something delicious to take with you.
Refuelled and ready to go? You have two more extraordinary studios to discover before the day is done.
Studio 5 | manberdo
Next up, step into the quirky creative world of manberdo. Designer and maker Josh Sims, aka manberdo, creates functional and artistic design pieces that balance playful ideas with meticulous craftsmanship. Working across a wide range of materials and formats, his pieces can be bold yet timeless, sophisticated yet simple and always made with an eye for quality. This year, Josh is welcoming Eliot Tinkl to his studio as his guest artist.
Eliot is a mixed-media artist and prolific drawer whose work bursts with colour, movement and imagination. Inspired in part by music, his free-flowing approach provides a fascinating contrast to manberdo's precision and craftsmanship.
You're almost there. One final country drive takes you to the last studio on your day trip north of Toronto.
Studio 3 | Hanneke Koonstra
What better way to end a country art tour than surrounded by art and acres of protected forest? At Studio 3, painter and mixed-media artist Hanneke Koonstra welcomes visitors into her rural indoor and outdoor studio-gallery. Hanneke's bright, colourful paintings draw inspiration from the landscape around her Uxbridge property as well as her travels, with work spanning watercolour, acrylic, oil and other media.
She's joined by three guest artists whose work makes this an especially diverse final stop. Kade Bolger creates finely crafted wood-turned and carved objects. Catharina Goldnau explores the relationship between ceramics and the natural world through richly textured work, while Berna Kilic creates intricate lampwork glass beads and jewellery.
It's a wonderfully peaceful place to slow down, wander, talk to the artists and enjoy one last dose of creativity before pointing the car toward home.
