A strong arts scene is an important part of a thriving city. And whether it’s a play, concert or festival, Edmontonians come out in droves. But when it comes to visual art — here and in most places — there’s a kind of perceived-but-invisible barrier between most people and galleries: They don’t think they’ll get it, they can’t bring their kids, and parking’s a hassle. Luckily, some local curators have crafted a plan to overcome those barriers and get people in our downtown galleries.
Carolyn Jervis is the director-curator of the Mitchell Art Gallery at MacEwan University. She recently had coffee with Lindsey Sharman and Michael Magnussen from the Art Gallery of Alberta, during which they discussed both galleries having ceramic shows this fall, and wondered if there was a way to connect them.
“Then Lindsay said, almost in passing, that we should do a bus between our two sites. And I said, why stop there?”
And thus, the ArtBus was conceived. At first, Jervis considered tapping MacEwan University, from where her gallery operates, to see if they could use the Griffins’ team bus. Then she thought, “You know, some people are a bit hesitant to come downtown, and to use public transit, and this seems like a good time to work together and give people a positive experience with both.”
So Jervis reached out to ETS and other downtown galleries to create a seven-stop tour with eight participants (the AGA and Edmonton Arts Council share the Churchill Square stop) for anyone to hop on and see what the galleries have to offer — which will be more than the works themselves.
“We’ll have two buses running the route, so you can start at any gallery and catch the next bus every half hour. We have drop-in, all-ages art making at the Mitchell Art Gallery, and hot chocolate. SNAP is doing studio tours and a screen printing activity. Ociciwan has a closing reception for their show, and Alberta Craft Council and AGA have 10 per cent discounts, so it’s a perfect way you can have a nice afternoon visiting galleries and do some holiday shopping.” The group also reached out to Rapid Fire Theatre, which will provide knowledgeable ArtBus hosts to let people know what’s going on en route to each gallery and do some fun giveaways.
Jervis says she knows a number of downtown organizations have had many challenges with attendance numbers, and a place like Harcourt House (also on the tour) “has had challenges figuring out the future of their home.” But she knows the gallery community is closer than ever, and looks forward to the greater community’s response. ” I can’t think of another time in my career where all of the downtown art galleries did something like this together, and I can’t wait to see everyone come out. Hopefully this is the first of many collaborations.”
On Nov. 25, hop on a bus at any gallery location — no ticket required — and let the art lead your day.
