May 13, 2005 - Glebe Report

ART Glebe
Report May 13, 2005 22
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Art in the park
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BY CHANDLER SWAIN
The countdown to Art in the Park
2005 has begun! Circle June 4 and 5
on your calendar, and think warm
and sunny! Organizing for the festival,
which now starts in December,
has become a true labour of love.
The event has grown over the past
12 years, from a neighbourhood picflic
put on by Bhat Boy and a few
artist friends, to become the biggest,
most important artist-run festival in
the nation's capital. If you have never
attended before, we are at Central
Park between Patterson and Clemow,
from Bank to O'Connor. We'll
be there, rain or shine.
"Artist-run" is the important term
here. The true essence of Art in the
Park is that it allows the artists to
interact with the public on their own
terms. For the first time, we are
screening applicants to make sure
only artists who make their own
work from scratch with original de-
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signs are involved. The festival has
become so popular that many applicants
who make mass-produced,
although wonderful, objects want to
be there (we are directing them to
the many venues with the "unique
art sale" moniker that, in fact, have
become showcases for "products,"
not art).
An important objective is to encourage
beginners, as well as polished
professionals. Therefore, we
are not jurying on the basis of some
subjective criteria about how good
the art is, but rattier we judge the applicant
on the originality and artistic
integrity of their work. We have also
established an area for students, who
are charged a much lower entry fee.
Make sure you find the student area,
as this is where the bravest, freshest
art is likely to be found.
Like last year, the festival will be
two days long. We are really grateful
for all the support from the Glebe
Report, GNAG and Councillor Doucet's
office in helping us get started
this year. We were able to get an
excellent user-friendly website up
by Januarywww.artinfoboy.org.
We are excited about the art-related
groups who want to come and be
part of our festival. They will add so
much to the weekend. Be sure to
check out the booth of The First International
Puppet Festival (to be
held in Almonte in early August).
The Fringe Festival will be previewing
some work and PHOoM Dance
Troupe will be presenting a new
work just for our event. There will
be amazing live music (we are an
acoustic event!) and much more to
delight the faithful crowds who
come out in droves each year.
The best-kept secret last year (and
I know this because I did a market
survey by having my own space in
this area) was the "upper" park by
Patterson Creek. Many visitors didn't
know that about a third of the
artists and activities were located
across Clemow under the shade of
the gorgeous trees beside the creek.
This year, the space will again be
filled with art, amenities and entertainment.
Here, you will also find a
lovely natural amphitheatre where
much of the entertainment will take
place. Festival-goers will be able to
buy locally-made food and drink,
including Bridgehead coffee, while
they sit on the grass, rest up, and
enjoy the art and music.
We are very proud of Art in the
Park. One of my fondest memories
from last year was the day before the
festival started, seeing a neighbour
of the park on her knees with a shovel
and a broom, busily cleaning old
winter dirt and debris off the steps
down from Clemow. She was pitching
in to help make "her" neighbourhood
art festival look its best. I
saw this lovely lady later the next
day, strolling amongst the art in a
beautiful flowing summer dress, a
couple of friends in tow. They
looked so happy. That gave me a
boost after the last hectic days of
making sure everything, including
the weather, was going to be okay.
See you in the Park on June 4 and
come back the next day too with
more friends! Hours: 10 a.m.-5p.m.
Chandler Swain is the co-ordinator
of Art in the Park 2005.