Daffodil holds Off-Whyte holdover

The Whyte Avenue Art Walk had a successful run just last weekend and, like the popular saying goes, one good turn deserves another.

That's why the Daffodil Gallery is once again hosting its annual holdover show called Off-Whyte. The three-day art walk hosted more than 400 visual artists along 14 blocks centering around the popular strip. Attendees were invited to vote for their favourite exhibitors who would be featured in an additional 10-day gallery show.

Karen Bishop, the co-owner of the gallery, was also one of the exhibitors.

"It was great! The weather was good. Lots of people made lots of sales," she exclaimed. "It's just a nice fun thing to get people out on the street and doing something different."

The holdover show, she continued, is a lovely way to continue to help artists build their relationships with the public.

"The Fringe has their holdovers. Why can't the artists have a holdover?" she laughed, adding that with all of the exhibitors on Whyte Avenue during the art walk, it's nearly impossible to see them all. This show gives the art-loving public another chance to see everything and everyone that they wanted to.

This is the fourth such annual holdover event for the Daffodil. Longtime art walk exhibitor Lorraine Shulba is one of the 15 artists who were selected to participate in the extra exhibit this year.

"It's a great opportunity and honour to be selected," Shulba stated. "I was very pleased my work made an impact!

"With so many talented artists, it can be hard to enjoy all the art in one short weekend. So, in 2011, we created a holdover show to allow a select few to display their work with us once the hustle and bustle of the weekend is over. This year we couldn't limit the show to 13 as we had originally intended and added a couple of extra for a total of 15 artists."

In addition to Shulba, the list of participating artists includes Meghan MacMillan, Garvin Chinnia, Vivian Dere, Heidi Erisman, Kari Fell, Gordon R. Johnston, Trueman Macdonald, Kay McCormack, Oksana Movchan, Maria Pace-Wynters and Courtney Standing.

There were also three artists selected as the winners of the People's Choice: Anna Nilson, Norma Reyes and Anastasia Greenberg.

A taste of art?

The Taste of Edmonton is a chance for people to sample dishes from dozens of area restaurants. It's also a chance for artists to display their own wares to a culture-loving public.

That's why Phil Alain (of the Night of Artists) has once again organized the Taste of Art, a series of booths for people to sample the selections of eight different area visual artists, putting them all under a massive spotlight to the collected crowds that can reach attendance of 500,000 every year.

"It's a showcase of these artists. It's a chance for people to come down and get more information about the Night of Artists shows, pick up magazines," he explained, continuing the metaphor of a gustatory experience. "I guess you could call it an appetizer sampler of the bigger shows we do."

This is the 14th year that the displays have been set up. In addition to Alain, this year's participating artists include Saeed Hojjati, Denise Lefebvre, Chris Riley, Bernadette McCormack, Oksana Zhelisko and Igor Postash.

A Taste of Art coincides with the duration of The Taste of Edmonton. It opened on Thursday and runs daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. until Saturday, July 26. It can be found in front of the Winspear Centre.

For more information, visit www.nightofartists.com.