September 23 -24, 2023
Queen West Art Crawl / Trinity Bellwoods Park
The Quest West Art Crawl was celebrating its 20th anniversary and has gone through some transition recently. There were just over a hundred booths this year and the artists also were online (for 6 days). I chatted with artistic director, Jonathan Brett who had a long history with the Crawl. He selected most of the participating artists. Some were veterans who had returned and for a few it was their first time with the Crawl.
Artistic Director, Jonathan Brett
Brett said that the Crawl now has a major donor, TD Bank as well as money from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and under his direction had become more assessible and diverse, not only with artist booths but with performances too. There were activities set up for children as well and the event seemed to work well with families. The Crawl includes 2 SLGBT and Kids zone plus Drag that is 50% BIPOC. They also partnered with Workman Arts and the Native Canadian Centre donating booths to artists at the suggestion of those organizations. The CRAWL is also a hub for ON CULTURE DAYS.
I had arrived early on the Saturday morning but there seemed to be a lot of people out already and there a few booths set up with food vendors as well. Brett had said that having Nuit Blanche on the same night had been a bit of a drain on resources especially security and he had reached to the organizers of the Geary Street Art Crawl to look for common solutions.
Artist, KJ Chong
Artist, Cherie Daly
Artist, Deepti Saxena
Everything seemed to be well organized and functioning well. There was a variety of art works to choose from with different styles including mixed media, textiles and more. One of the main benefits of the Queen West Art Crawl was its location in a lush park that was big enough that if you got tired of the crowds you could disappear into another corner of the Park. Jonathan Brett said that they did follow up surveys of the booths and online sales and the results had all been good. During these difficult times it is reassuring that people are buying work and helping artists to survive. It was good to see the Queen West Art Crawl again with renewed vigor.
Geary Street Art Crawl
This year’s street crawl had a few cutbacks in terms of funding which meant no street closure. However it went ahead and was lots of fun.
Most of the art was in artists studios spread out along Geary Street. But there were a few outdoor installations set up in the grass or in one case in a shipping container on the street. Outdoor patios were packed and there was a festive mood.
A lot of vintage clothing stalls were set up in the Parkette and people strolled through, some with children or dogs. There were a few stages with live music and a number of venues set up with DJ’s playing. The lack of street closure didn’t stop pedestrians from wandering through the crawl. A few signs were written with arrows pointing out ART. Not sure if there was a map but it was actually fun just discovering things as you went along.
The energy reminded me of Liberty Village in the 90′ s when there were many artist studios in that neighborhood. The big difference is that technology is heavily involved now. There are now art galleries located in the Geary neighborhood. The massive Bau-Xi Gallery at Dufferin Street and the new Station Independent Projects Gallery at 220 Geary, a much smaller 2nd story walk up.
Michelle Cieloszczyk, embodied, shattered
The brew pubs were doing good business and there was some live outdoor music. Some neighbors even celebrated their outdoor community garden offering people a taste of salad. Geary Street seems like a last refuge for some displaced artists as industrial space gets eaten up by developers. Lets hope Geary Street keeps its vibe going for years to come and the Geary Street Art Crawl gets more funding next year.
Text and photo: Phil Anderson