The Parkside Art Gallery saw a lively attendance for the opening ceremony for the first-of-its-kind Art Crawl on June 21.
To kick things off, outside of the gallery, a drumming ceremony was held following a series of speeches from significant members of the community such as MLA Donna Barnett, Art Council co-chair Gordon Hoglund and Stemete7uw’i co-ordinator Rob Diether.
Event organizer, Bobbie Crane said Barnett talked about the importance of the general public becoming engaged with the arts and culture community in 100 Mile House and Hoglund shared the history of the Parkside Art Gallery.
“It went over very nicely, the speeches were good and the art crawlers who attended the ceremony found their way over to the Stemete7uw’i Friendship Centre for lunch,” said Crane. “It was a full house over there and the opening ceremony was very well attended.”
Throughout the day, art crawlers made their way around town to the various businesses to observe the art. Most of the participating businesses offered an in-house draw, for a gift basket, certificate or item to engage the art crawlers and members of the community.
“It’s a good indicator to see how many people are participating in the crawl,” said Crane. “We stopped into two different businesses yesterday (June 25) and their ballot boxes were half full, so that was good. It shows not just the attendance of the crawlers but the people who are coming in that may not have known of the art crawl, but see the art and become engaged that way.”
Crane said a lot of those who participated in the crawl headed back to the gallery in the afternoon. The afternoon included on-site painting from different artists and demonstrations for the public to observe.
“It was a nice afternoon and everyone seemed to enjoy it,” said Crane. “We noticed people were just stopping by, even people who hadn’t attended the opening ceremony. They saw the artwork around town and came over to the gallery.”
According to Crane, the participating businesses have seen a lot of activity and some sales since the opening ceremony this past weekend.
“I want to thank the Community Resilience Through Arts and Culture, 100 Mile Lions Club and the 108 Mile Lions Club for their generosity and support,” said Crane. “This event was made possible because of all of the artists and businesses who participated in the Art Crawl.”
Art will remain on display at the participating businesses until July 1.
The Art Crawl booklet can be picked up at the Visitors Centre, Parkside Art Gallery, More than Wood Art Gallery and the 100 Mile Free Press.
