Photo: Bronwyn Scott
By Bronwyn Scott
Published: July 2, 2013
Art lovers in Squamish will find a lot to enjoy and celebrate this month as local artists put their best work on display for Squamish Art Crawl.
Squamish Art Crawl is a seven week art event by Visuals, a non-profit society of about 45 Sea-to-Sky corridor artists.
It will be the first art extravaganza of its kind in Squamish, although similar, much shorter Art Walks have been hosted in the past, usually spanning a weekend.
Artists’ work ranging from jewelry to ceramics and woodworking to paintings will be on display at participating venues, about 36 in total, including 39 businesses in Squamish, according to Kate Rurka, Visuals president.
Each of the businesses will be paired with an artist and will display their work for the event duration, giving artists the opportunity to raise their profiles and help teach them how to prepare art shows and market their work, said Rurka.
“We have a lot of really strong talent in the community.” Kate Rurka.
One of the nice things about having seven weeks of art on display is that you can you can take it at your leisurely pace, Rurka said.
Cards called “passports” will be given out at participating venues and visitors will be able to collect stamps on their cards. Once the card is full it can be used to enter a draw for prizes.
For the opening and closing weekends of Art Crawl, about 15 studios will be open to the public.
“You can get into these artists’ studios, up close and personal, see how they create,” said Rurka.
They also have an opportunity to purchase work, he added.
An opening reception is planned for Aug. 2, featuring live music by the Squamish Academy of Music at the Pavilion between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
There will also be tents set up in case of rain and some treats will be provided by sponsoring businesses.
Everyone is invited.
“Basically it’s just a really nice way to kick off the event,” Rurka said.
Wagner’s retrospective, tracing her early years using water colours and painting landscapes to her progression to abstract painting with oils since her move to Squamish nine years ago will be displayed as part of Art Crawl at On the Farm Country Market.
There will be signs throughout the community marking the display and related art events, starting today.
An opening reception for ArtCrawl will be held today at the Squamish Arts Council building downtown from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM.
