Art lovers will be on the move again this weekend as the New Westminster Cultural Crawl returns for its 11th year in the city.
What started out as a seven-venue walk just over a decade ago has since gained dozens of other stops throughout the Royal City. Upwards of 30 artists will have their work on display as crawlers drop in on the numerous studios involved in the self-guided tour this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9 and 10.
“The inspiration was to shine a light on the creative talent we have here,” said Trudy Van Dop, owner of Van Dop Gallery and organizer of the crawl. “We wanted people to sort of explore their community and recognize we have a lot of arts and culture happening.”
The New West crawl encompasses five neighbourhoods – Sapperton, Uptown, the West End, Victory Heights and Queensborough – and was hatched out of Van Dop’s launch of the B.C. Cultural Crawl, a celebration of artistic treasures throughout the province that’s been running for 13 years.
“What I do in New Westminster is an example of what other communities can do,” she said. “It’s a fun event for people, it’s free, and they can figure out what is New Westminster’s unique cultural footprint.
“It’s also a vehicle for artists to sell their work – it’s important that artists make a living doing what they’re doing.”
There’s a wide range of artists involved in this year’s event, making everything from jewelry to ceramics to oil, acrylic and watercolour paintings. Van Dop noted the importance of getting the public to see different types of artwork and give feedback to the artists.
“I think artists are probably their own worst critics, so when they have a chance to meet the public and they see the response, it’s really rewarding for them and affirms that they’re going in the right direction,” she said.
Some of the crawl’s venues are the 100 Braid Street Studios, Cap’s Bicycle Shop & Free Museum, the Amelia Douglas Gallery, Throwing Neon Studios and the Port Royal Community Garden Society.
The Van Dop Gallery has new pieces from painters Carole Arnston and Corre Alice, as well as photographic work by Gabor Gasztonyi, who was recently recognized by the Professional Photographers of Canada with the Master of Photographic Arts award.
Van Dop said people come from all over the Lower Mainland to see the rich artistic culture of New Westminster, both in historical and modern art pieces.
“One of the artists that I worked with some time ago said to me, ‘I think that New Westminster is the Brooklyn to New York,’” she recalled, “and when we have the opportunity to showcase this talent, then it does resonate that statement.”
The crawl runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and Von Dop assures attendees will need both days to see everything. For more information or to download the guide, visit newwestculturalcrawl.com.
