Despite a three-day weekend of downpours and heavy winds from a “bomb cyclone,” the 2021 Sunshine Coast Art Crawl has bounced back with near-record sales – a marked contrast to the 2020 event, which had to cope with a sort of storm of its own called COVID-19.
This year’s Crawl, which ran from Oct. 22 to Oct. 24, generated more than $528,000 in sales and $80,000 in commissions, according to the organizers, the Coast Cultural Alliance (CCA).
The 164 Art Crawl venues, featuring the works of an estimated 250 artists from Langdale to Earl’s Cove, also drew more than 37,000 studio visits (a “visit” can include more than one person in a group), CCA board member Linda Williams reported to an online meeting of venue operators on Oct. 31.
“So, half a million dollars, folks, in three days. With storms, power outages, ferry cancellations, and all of that at this time of year,” Williams said. “Congratulations to all of you.”
This year’s numbers are close to the Crawl’s record-high take in 2019 and represent a threefold increase in visits, sales, and commissions compared to pandemic-hampered 2020, according to the CCA’s statistics.
A total of 164 venues were part of the 2021 Art Crawl, compared to 98 in 2020, when health regulations limited the number of visitors and restricted home-venues to those with an entrance and exit separate from living quarters. Advertising was also cut back to reduce the number of off-Coast visitors. As a result, many would-be venues opted out entirely in 2020 and more than two dozen others decided either to open just by appointment or to keep their venue online-only.
While COVID was still a concern this year, another potential setback was the epically ghastly fall weather, but as the numbers illustrate, most visitors were not discouraged.
In fact, operators of two venues told the Oct. 31 follow-up meeting that their numbers of visitors actually increased on Sunday afternoon during the weekend’s heaviest wind and rain, and the resulting hydro outages. Many Art Crawlers showed up anyway, they said, and brought their own flashlights to view the art displays.
