Visual art lovers in the metropolitan community are getting set to catch a ride and catch a lot of art at the same time. Five local art venues are teaming up to put on a gallery hop.
This weekend, anyone can catch a ride on the Art Bus Tour. The event will bring together some of the biggest gallery names between the two cities for a six-hour art extravaganza.
"We're always looking for ways to partner with – and work with – other galleries," began Jenny Willson-McGrath, the exhibition curator at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, the first of two stops on the tour here in this city. "We're quite excited about this."
She confessed that part of her enthusiasm for the event is that it will be her first time riding a school bus.
The genesis of the event happened when she got into a conversation with event organizers at Edmonton's Harcourt House about a larger collaborative project.
"We started talking about this idea to link all of the regional galleries together within the greater Edmonton area … Spruce Grove, Sherwood Park and St. Albert as well as Edmonton. It evolved into splitting each gallery that was out of Edmonton … into different days."
The first Art Bus Tour was held in late June. It involved Gallery @ 501 in Sherwood Park, as well as SNAP Gallery and Harcourt House. It was a huge success, Willson-McGrath said.
This kind of event makes a lot of sense, says Stacey Cann, Harcourt's community education co-ordinator and the person behind the idea. There are many reasons to see local contemporary visual art but there are some people who rely on public transportation.
"One of the things that led me to come up with this idea in the first idea is I don't have a vehicle," she stated.
"I wanted a way of seeing the other galleries in my area and building that sort of community. With the regional galleries, I feel like a lot of times Edmontonians would like to get out there but can't find the time or can't figure out a way of getting out there. This is a good way of doing it as a group and it's fun."
All aboard!
The tour starts on Saturday, July 20 at 12:30 p.m. at the Art Gallery of St. Albert and ends at approximately 6:15 p.m. at Harcourt House. Along the way, there are three other galleries that will be participating: the Nina Haggerty Arts Centre, the SNAP Gallery and the Visual Arts Studio Association of St. Albert.
At the first stop, participants can check out the exhibit Transcience by California artist Annaliese Vobis. She has a series of installation pieces that explore biological beauty versus the creepy unknown with her handmade creations. That show runs until July 27.
"We're just looking forward to bringing some people out from Edmonton who perhaps wouldn't have come out here before and showing them what St. Albert has. We're not looking to make any money out of it at this point," Willson-McGrath said.
She added that the gallery will offer an interpretive tour of the exhibit and a walk-through of the art rental and sales gallery on its upper floor. It will also have refreshments for the tour group. If the weather permits and if there is time, the group will then take the short walk over to the VASA Gallery located in the historic Hemingway Centre at 25 Sir Winston Churchill Ave.
At Harcourt House, attendees can check out Symbiosis, the 24th annual members' exhibition featuring the works of approximately 80 artists. There is also Illuminate Round 2, a special event that was created to highlight what local art centres offer to the community. The Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta will be hosting a scratch film workshop in the annex.
"You take film that has already been exposed and you can scratch the emulsion off of it. It's pretty neat," Cann explained.
It's followed by a mixer social where guests can mingle and check out the newly-made artistic creations.
Illuminate runs from noon to 8 p.m. Symbiosis is on display until July 21.
Tickets are $15 each or $10 if attendee has a valid membership card. They're available over the phone or in person. There are 40 seats on the bus and about half of them are already reserved.
The Art Gallery of St. Albert is located at 19 Perron St. For more information including a full itinerary, call the gallery at 780-460-4310 or visit www.artgalleryofstalbert.
Harcourt House is located at 10215 112 St. in Edmonton. Call 780-426-4180 for more information.
There are no other tours on the schedule at the moment but Willson-McGrath is hopeful that another one can materialize before the end of the summer.
