Sunshine Coast Art Crawl coordinator Linda Williams commented that in this sixth annual event, the artists had taken ownership of the Crawl. She was right. As the Crawl swept the Coast from end to end last weekend, artists, artisans and craftpeople of all disciplines put on their best show of work, some of it so original and professional it will elevate the stature of arts in this community.
One article can’t cover the 125 venues, but here are some personal observations along with kudos for the hard-working Crawl committee. Top of the list has to go to Christenson Village residents working with Deer Crossing, the Art Farm – they get the award for having way too much fun at a single venue. The Imagination Network, as they called their multimedia show, was based on a facilitated process called TimeSlips, in which residents with dementia or memory loss look at interesting images of, for example, a woman stuffing a large goose into a car or a man transforming into a butterfly. Hundreds of stories were generated and some were told through shadow puppets, song, sculptures and costumes, or by storyteller Robert McDonald, who led a group in the hilarious finale song titled Eyeballs Get Tired.
In other Art Crawl visits, the singing potter award goes to Pat Forst, who performed with the Duttons at her Friday evening opening, surrounded by her functional and artistic pottery. The psychedelic throwback award goes to the eclectic Jody Franklin and Andrea Coates, who have transformed the walls of their home to reflect their inner artist.
An interesting studio that I found by making a wrong turn in Sechelt was that of professional painter Leif Kristian Freed. His immaculate home may be hard to find, but this visit became a highlight for me. A member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, Freed’s Finnish background and its rugged landscape informs his visual concepts. His colour palette is muted yet striking, and in his latest work, there are glimpses of the figurative imbedded in the abstract pieces.
The award for the most shiny things at a single venue goes to Studio 5206 in Selma Park, Tam Harrington and Alanna Wood. Harrington is one of a few women in B.C. who works with metal assemblage to make elaborate costumes: a shiny wedding dress, an outrageous wide brimmed hat, even a metallic bra and thong. Wood works with repurposed common items including fabric and also makes intriguing digital prints.
The Pink Pony group in Sechelt takes the prize for most genres under one roof: from printed silk scarves to pictures on rice paper with back lighting to some fine professional woodworking from Sandra Corbett.
The new group venue award goes to Persephone Brewing that showed the work of many Landing Gallery artists under a tent on their grounds. Ed Hill displayed his latest work featuring the wild waves of Tofino, while artist Coralie Swaney displayed her sense of humour in paint.
The crowd favourite award has to be the visiting Powell River Malaspina Artists at the Roberts Creek Hall, who stayed busy all weekend.
There wasn’t time to visit all the artists, but the good news is that many of the studios and galleries are open year round or by appointment. This was just a taste of what could be. For a complete list, see sunshinecoastartcrawl.com or keep your map guide for future reference of phone numbers and websites.
