The life of artists is tough enough, but things don’t get any easier when it comes to promoting their work. An artist who wants to be featured in an exhibit has to jump through many hoops: applications, juries and months of waiting.
Getting their work out there otherwise can sometimes be a major drag, too. Nowadays, artists are resorting to social media, blogging and pop-up galleries in the hopes of drawing an audience.
St. Albert’s ArtWalk, a popular and growing way of bringing more visual art into the public spotlight and public consciousness, is catching on much to the benefit of artists.
Arcadia Café and Bar opened up in the Bruin Centre on St. Anne Street about nine weeks ago and owner Darren McGeown wanted to achieve a kind of European atmosphere. Local art is an integral component to that goal.
There are paintings, photographs and local sculptor Gina Joys has some clay breastplates on display as well.
“It’s going over really well,” McGeown said. “People seem quite impressed.”
In exchange for the space, he is accepting zero percentage of the sales. The walls are free because that’s where art belongs, he says.
“The artists are impressed that I’m giving them this space and I’m not taking a commission. I just want to give people a wall to express their creative sides,” he said.
McGeown wants work on the walls all year long and he’s also got an area set aside for anyone to busk “any time of the day, every day.”
Arcadia is located at 24 Perron St.
Square One has been a grand success, even though the new exhibition-cum-fundraiser is still going on, said organizer Frances Gagnon.
“It was a great first-time event,” remarked the executive director at the Art Gallery of St. Albert. “People were lined up to buy art.”
The highlight of the 17-day exhibit was its gala evening last Saturday at the gallery. That event replaced the annual Art Auction that had a 20-year run before its final outing last year.
The goal of Square One was to raise at least as much as the Art Auction did: about $20,000. Mission accomplished, Gagnon said.
More than 280 pieces were on display, each restricted to a 30-centimetre by 30-centimetre (one-foot by one-foot) space. Each was also marked with a $200 price tag and 50 per cent of the proceeds went to the contributing artist.
While the pick-up day for purchases is today (Saturday), Gagnon says the sale isn’t over yet.
“The event is going to continue to exhibit and sell works in the coming months because we saw what a success it was. We didn’t put everything that we had in it so there’s still lots of selection left.”
The date for next year’s event will be June 1. Gagnon wouldn’t reveal what the new theme will be.
Call the gallery at 780-460-4310 or visit www.artgalleryofstalbert.ca for more information.
Samantha Williams-Chapelsky has no fear when it comes to putting her work out there. She seems to apply to calls for submission as much as her voluminous output so it comes as no surprise to hear where she’s showing these days.
Her latest show, Lost in the Land, opened up at the Allied Arts Council in Spruce Grove last Saturday. It explores her long fascination with Scotland.
“It’s all Scottish landscapes. I travelled there a few times and was just always taken aback by how much I love it,” she said. “I think there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. There’s always these mysteries and stories and legends that hide in that landscape.”
That show runs until next Saturday.
Last Monday, she was also featured on the Times Square electronic billboard in New York as part of an international opportunity called the Art Takes Times Square art competition. Next up is her show at the Daffodil Gallery on 124 Street in Edmonton. It will run from July 5 to 19.
She currently has some works on display at Arcadia Café and Bar along with Gina Joys sculptures.
She’s also going to have a booth at the Farmers’ Market next Saturday. The next day – Canada Day – she’ll be participating in Art on the Trail as part of the city’s festivities.
