We were lucky with the weather for ArtWalk! On Friday the heavens opened and I thought that all the outdoor events would be spoiled and people would be discouraged from walking. Saturday was merely cloudy and rather cold and I think that there were more events happening down on Queens street so my studio was relatively quiet.
But Sunday was a lovely sunny Spring day and I had visitors here non-stop, not closing the door until after 5pm even though we were supposed to close at 4pm and join the others artists for dancing, drumming and music at Queen’s street. There was even a tempting beer garden in front of Aroma’s. By the time we walked down there and met son Mike the festivities were all over, the sun was below the trees and we chose to eat inside at Aroma’s. Excellent Indian food as usual. It was still light afterwards so we were able to take a little walk along Clarke street to admire the decorated trees.
Sadly, with having to man one’s studio there is never a chance to visit other artists at these events. We couldn’t even go to the usual Friday evening preview which was a pity. I do want to thank those people who made a stop at venue #19, my studio. We had lots of lively conversations and I do appreciate the comments about my work. And of course I’m happy that some of the pieces have new homes. I hope you’ll enjoy using and looking at them.
My photos today are of the 12 jugbirds, amongst other things, that I showed this week-end. I’m glad people had a chance to see some of the loopy birds I make and the variety of bright colours I use. But then I had to pack them up and this morning I drove them out to YVR Crafthouse to deliver to a very patient Soly. Now I shall tackle making some duplicates that were ordered during ArtWalk. Move your cursor over each image to see the caption naming the jugbirds. These guys sell for C$90. so just contact me if you’d like one, or suggest other birds for me to design.
My one comment about the event this year is that with the new concentration on promoting the businesses along Clarke street there was a smaller area for ArtWalk – with the intention that people would really walk rather than drive to the venues. This meant that for those visitors who really wanted to meet artists in their studios, see a large selection of their work and get an idea of what kinds of nooks and crannies artists make use of as studios, this was a less exciting tour. Several commented that lots of the venues actually didn’t show art work, they just had special prices for the weekend.
So my evaluation of the weekend is that, this year at least, the event has changed and it no longer bears any resemblance to Vancouver’s East Side Culture Crawl or Artists in our Midst. I think that to celebrate and promote the artists who choose to reside in and make their work here in Port Moody the event needs to include ALL artists who are interested, and resign ourselves to the reality that cars will be necessary to reach all venues. The cultural hubs can of course offer special prices in books, food, comics or hair-cuts but should not be listed as ‘venues’ unless they actually have one or more artists showing their work there that weekend.
Artsconnect president Roger Loubert was just here to collect the banners and signs and we had a chat about the event. One simple change might be to have one colour dots for studio numbers on the tour map and a different colour to indicate interesting venues on the route/tour/walk. Apparently I’ll be invited to join the other artists to pool our experiences and make suggestions for next year. Unfortunately these meetings wind up being poorly attended and recommendations need to be recorded and acted upon! A note to keep track of numbers of visitors, some reassurance that we would have banners and signs and a redesigned and clear map would have helped.
Feel free to add your comments. I am just one artist on the tour and I know that there were people who were happy about the smaller area for walking. And we’re all pleased to see the gallery/bistro on Clarke street start a new life. Should we include more artists, studios, separate hubs, larger venues to show several artists? Let’s record our thoughts and Artsconnect can use them in the planning for next year’s event.
