Stretch your legs with Art

The scene is set for another full summer of art and culture in the Perron District. Let your art do the walking for the 15th year with eight venues and dozens upon dozens of artists of both the visual arts and performing arts persuasions.

There will art on the walls, art on the streets, art in the library and at the museum. There will be more art than you can shake a paintbrush at.

The event happens on the first Thursday of every month from May to September, starting tomorrow. From 6 to 8:30 p.m., you can simply roam around from VASA on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue to St. Albert Place to Perron Street (for the Art Gallery of St. Albert and the Bookstore on Perron) and then down to The Collective, the event's newest location.

The Collective – featuring Cam Vilcsak

The new kid on the block is at 100 St. Thomas St., better known as The Collective. Wood sculptor Cam Vilcsak was a new kid himself when he first took steps on his artistic pathway. Apparently, woodcarving was a hobby of his when he was young. Now that he's older, the St. Albert Catholic High School grad has moved on to carving with a chainsaw.

"The Collective will be an interesting new space for us to partake in," explained Pam Gendron, the rental and sales gallery associate at the Art Gallery of St. Albert and the main spokesperson for ArtWalk St. Albert.

"We haven't had someone along St. Thomas Street there in a while so it closes the loop finally. We have this full circle going this year, which is really nice."

VASA: featuring the Nature's Garden Group Show

The Visual Arts Studio Association is celebrating the start of spring with this floral exhibit featuring Al Anderson, Connie Osgood, Miles Constable, Judy Schafers, Memory Roth, Victoria Armstrong, Rayma Peterson, Peg McPherson and Cheryl Moskaluk.

The Corridor Gallery also has some action going on with Doris Charest's exhibit Retro.

The gallery is the western outpost on the ArtWalk circuit and is not to be missed.

St. Albert Public Library: starring librarians

SAPL's Got Talent! is what they're calling the show so expect to be blown away by the artistic prowess lurking behind the cool demeanors of the library's staff members.

Perhaps they've been spending a lot of time in the 750 section where all of the non-fiction art how-to books are.

WARES: with the St. Albert Potters' Guild

Continuing with the spring theme, the St. Albert Potters' Guild has been busily creating works for its Garden Art show and sale. Some will be decorative and others will be functional but many will be both. Of course, there will also be a fine selection of other functional ware, porcelain, decorative stoneware, raku, sculptural pieces, and dinnerware.

ArtWalk coincides with the first of the three days of the guild's annual show and sale. It continues on through Friday and Saturday and will include live demonstrations.

Musée Héritage Museum: featuring Stella Kaufman

The museum will feature a different artist every month. Along with that, it will partner with WA.R.E.S and the library to bring music to the plaza in front of St. Albert Place for each ArtWalk event.

A Boutique Gallery Bar by Gracie Jane

The name says it all. It's a bar. It's a boutique. And yes… it's a gallery from floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall and across every tabletop in this one-of-a-kind venue. Gracie Jane Genereux's art is filled with familiar faces from pop culture over the last 50 years. If you haven't been there yet, then you have to see it. If you've already been, then you've probably become one of the regulars who can't get enough.

Art Gallery of St. Albert and its Rental and Sales Gallery

High Energy is the gallery's annual showcase for artistic talent from Bellerose Composite, Paul Kane, école Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d'Youville, St. Albert Catholic and Outreach High Schools.

"It looks great! It's always an exciting show. There's just such a variety and it's just so full of different styles and techniques. It's just really nice to see what kind of talent is being produced by the young people in St. Albert," Gendron said.

"We don't usually see a lot from teenagers with programs and so on. They're a bit of a hard group to engage so this is always such a great opportunity to bring them into the gallery."

There will be a special walkthrough tour of the exhibit on Thursday, May 18 from 12:05 to 12:45 p.m.

Painter and printmaker Karolina Kowalski is the featured artist for the art rental and sales gallery on the second floor.

The Bookstore on Perron

The bookstore is the last stop on the ArtWalk rounds, depending on where you decide to make your start. For the last few years, the longstanding fixture on Perron Street has given members of the St. Albert Painters' Guild the opportunity to brighten up Gallery 7, its backroom space, for the ArtWalk season.

"The Bookstore has given our artists the opportunity to show their work in an alternate venue, interact with the public, and feel a connection to our community," said Diane Stone, the president of the guild.

"It is a long-standing partnership for the guild and our members look forward to it every year. Some of our artists exhibit at the Bookstore, some paint outdoors in front of the Art Gallery, and others come to paint in the foyer of St. Albert Place during the June ArtWalk."

In-between the landmarks

While there's plenty of art to see and experience inside all of those locations, the weather will hopefully shine on the intrepid artists who will find their spots on the sidewalks along the route.

Look for artists and musicians including Amanda Penner, Autism Artistry, Ceilidh and Meighan Johnson, David Scott, Dwayne Huzar, Elizabeth Reid, Jana Brodkin-Singh, Judy Schafers, Kateryna Young, Khalid Joher, Kristin Anderson, Megan Irvine, Riley Tenove, Sarah Hudson, Tereza Siryova, Tunde Vari, and Busby Blossoms.