The biggest show in the room

The Enjoy Centre is going to transform from a greenhouse into a massive party tent of many colours this weekend, as the Night of Artists takes over for its 19th annual celebration.

What’s more, it now has a grand gala to kick it off. The Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts is the new opening night feature of the three-day smorgasbord of performing and visual arts that has attendees as thrilled as the participants.

Certainly, no one will be more thrilled than producer Phil Alain.

“It’s fantastic! It’s a great new partnership. The whole room is full of artwork so it makes a perfect backdrop for the arts awards.”

The annual awards ceremony – now moved to spring to add extra oomph to this weekend event – will first celebrate the best and brightest of St. Albert’s creative community, Alain continued, before people go on to appreciate the art from all over the region, the province and indeed the country.

Those artists and performers are eagerly anticipating the chance to show off their stuff to the masses.

Painter Wei Wong said that this show is critical for giving artists, both experienced and novice alike, the opportunity to gain exposure and make contacts.

“A lot of new artists wouldn’t have the confidence to put themselves and their works out there if they didn’t have opportunities like this,” he said.

“Now, as a more established artist, I still find shows like this crucial for interacting with the public face to face. It always helps if I can explain the story behind an art piece in person and allow the art buyers to understand and appreciate the whole process of how the piece was created.”

Local painter Oksana Zhelisko couldn’t agree more. She has been a part of Night of Artists for six years and she continues to benefit from it time and time again. She said that she’s blessed to be a part of this amazing group of artists and friends.

“We live for the shows like this one to share our own creations, find inspiration from one another and reach out to our audience. I am very excited for this fantastic art weekend, which is going to be bigger and better than ever.”

She added that she is ready to “wow, shock and impress” art patrons with her new series of paintings.

Jennifer Noseworthy has only been in the game about half as long as Zhelisko but it already seems like she is pretty fond of the camaraderie and the reverie of the spectacle. In fact, she calls the entire experience “dreamy,” a sentiment that likely comes in part because she first started to paint only seven years ago and now considers herself to be in a class above because of the company she keeps with the Night of Artists.

“A majority of the time an artist creates in solitude, but with a group like this you don't feel alone. I've learned a lot in three years and it's because I am part of Night of Artists!”

She offered a huge ‘thank you’ to her cohorts, especially Alain who works so hard and never stops believing in the goal of arts promotion.

“He's a rock star!”

Rock star though he might be, Alain certainly won’t try to hold a candle to some of the acts that are set to shake the scene with musicians and performers including Romi Mayes, Ellen McIlwaine (a former collaborator of Jimi Hendrix’s), Mile Zero Dance, the Mission Hill Brass, and Mercury Opera, among others.

Nathan Carroll, one of the featured acts of the Friday night gala, has nothing but praise for Night of Artists and other arts-related events. He admitted that he’s thrilled to be a part of the community that promotes artistic expression, especially on a smaller, more local scale.

“In a world rife with mass-marketed expressions of the arts, it is encouraging to see efforts to esteem grassroots arts and local artists.”

That’s not to say that Alain himself isn’t getting a bit of the limelight. His Mural Mosaic collaborator Lewis Lavoie has gained a bit of a reputation as a phenomenal live performer in his own right, doing live paintings for gala events for many years now.

This time, the two will actually be in direct competition in a head-to-head-to-head Art Slam with Denise Lefebvre taking the challenge as well.

“I don’t know how much of a competition it’ll be when you have a guy who does live art,” Alain laughed, “but we’re going to give it our best shot. Take on the monster.”

For her part, Lefebvre said she is looking forward to the battle. She said that she’s the longest running member of the Night of Artists excluding her combatants of canvas. Even if she doesn’t come out on top, she said that she’d still feel like a winner.

“I’m confident that I will create a nice little painting, but I’m up against the one and only Lewis Lavoie so I’m quite nervous about that,” she admitted. “He’s the master of this kind of thing so I’m certainly not expecting to win. I just want to have some fun.”

She added that she’s happy to give back since the group has given her so much to foster her career and talent. Besides that, “the weekend is always a blast,” she said.

Alain is also looking forward to two major announcements. The first one is the launch of the 11th edition of the Night of Artists magazine, something that he usually waits to release till after this annual weekend of madness.

The second is the kickoff to Mural Mosaic’s new two-year mega-project called the Canada 150 Mosaic. It will tie in to the celebration of the country’s sesquicentennial in 2017 by creating art to bridge from coast to coast.

“We’re going to be creating 150 murals across Canada that connect to form one long mural. It’ll end up being four football fields long when it’s completed. It’s a pretty major project,” he indicated.

People can come down during the daytime on Saturday or Sunday and paint a tile for the first mural for the project. Artistic experience and talent are not necessary.

With all that’s going on over the course of these three action-packed days and eves, what is it that Alain looks forward to the most?

“Can I say the end, when I can relax?” he laughed, again.

“What I like the most about the weekend is the fact that everybody gets together. There’s nothing better than when the whole arts community gathers in one place.”