Art Crawl

Derek and I took in the Hamilton Art Crawl on Friday night. The Art Crawl idea started last year with an arts supply store owner talking to his neighbours about staying open late one night a month. They chose to do it on the second Friday of the month. The idea grew organically with more and more galleries, restaurants, and local artists opening up their doors to welcome people.

Derek and I were pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm that met us at the venues. Most of the Gallery owners had wine and cheese spreads. The art students on the street were more than ready to talk about their paintings. Several artist co-op studios had bands playing as well as one restaurant who had five young guys playing an assortment of horns. The one on the french horn looked like he was almost having as much fun as the 80 year old guy dancing to the music. Next time we go on the crawl I'm going early so that I can get a seat in that restaurant.

Derek and I have been on many art tours and we have never been to one that was as well attended as this one. From what I am told this past Friday night wasn't as busy as past crawls. I'm impressed. I have heard that the Art Crawl is getting divided up into two camps of thought. One of them is wanting to write up some bylaws, get the city involved and jury the participants. The other side wants to leave things alone and let the Art Crawl continue its organic growth. I personally agree with the second group. Remember the camel was a horse made by committee. The public by their attendance and support will weed out what they don't want or think is relevant and what they do want will prosper.