Eastside Arts Society (EAS) welcomes art lovers to experience the diverse range of established and emerging artists practicing their art in Eastside Arts District (EAD) studios, workshops, and galleries at the 28th annual Eastside Culture Crawl Visual Arts, Design & Craft Festival from November 14-17, 2024. This year’s Culture Crawl promises to be one of the festival’s biggest events yet, with more than 500 registered artists representing more than 55 buildings, including roughly 90 new artists participating in the four-day festival for the very first time.
“This is an exciting time of growth and discovery,” says Esther Rausenberg, Artistic & Executive Director of the Eastside Arts Society. “Both artists and visitors alike are eager for connection, to feel part of something bigger than ourselves. The Culture Crawl offers a unique opportunity to connect with our communities, to support artists in their livelihoods, and to come away inspired and reinvigorated by the countless ways in which artists explore and share their creativity with the world.”
In addition to this year’s traditional lineup of artists at work in their EAD studios, workshops, and galleries, the Culture Crawl will introduce a brand new pop-up exhibit designed to enhance accessibility for artists who work from their homes, but who are unable to open their studios to the public. Five artists will participate on-site throughout the weekend at the Culture Crawl’s pop-up studio space at the Progress Lab for the first time (1422 William Street).
One of the biggest cultural events of the fall season, the Culture Crawl open studios attract and inspire tens of thousands of visitors annually. Encompassing the region bounded by Columbia Street, 1st Avenue, Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront, the Eastside Arts District (EAD) is the most concentrated area of artists, designers, performers, craftspeople and culture producers in Vancouver and is known nationally as an area rich with creativity and inspiration. The festival offers visitors a window into the artistic practices of artists living and/or working in Vancouver’s EAD, representing creators specializing in painting, jewelry, sculpture, furniture, leather goods, photography, glass works, textiles, and more.
Leading up to the 2024 Culture Crawl, preview programming will kick-off in late October, with the annual Take Flight fundraiser, Moving Art Film and Video Exhibition, and 2024 Preview Exhibition. This year’s multi-venue, salon-style curated exhibition explores the unlimited human emotions and experiences related to the word, “Green.” The exhibition represents a broad and diverse range of mediums from 90+ selected artists at four galleries and venues from Oct. 29 to Nov. 29, 2024. Jury members include Paul De Guzman, Eri Ishii, and Hugh Kearney, who represent a diversity of art practices and representation in the arts community.
Full programming details include:
PREVIEW EXHIBITION
Oct. 29-Nov. 29, 2024 (Dates vary depending on venue)
Exhibit Opening Receptions Nov. 7 6-8pm
Pendulum Gallery (885 W Georgia St)
Alternative Creations Gallery (1659 Venables St)
The Cultch (1895 Venables St)
Charles Clark Gallery (Strange Fellows Brewing, 1345 Clark Dr)
This year’s multi-venue preview exhibition is informed by the theme “Green,” which explores the many human emotions and experiences associated with the word, including (but not limited to) envy, health, peace, greed, luck, growth, naivety, and more. The exhibition will feature 90+ EAD visual artists, selected by a jury. Full details at culturecrawl.ca/events
TAKE FLIGHT FUNDRAISER
Oct. 25-Nov. 8, 2024
In celebration of 28 years of Vancouver’s beloved art festival, the EAS holds Take Flight – a festival launch benefit for the 2024 Culture Crawl festival, featuring an online silent auction, and the return of our wildly popular Art Roulette draw.
This year’s silent auction features some extraordinary items, including a Bocci table lamp, a 3-night stay at The Ivy on Parker Guest House, diamond stud earrings from Era Design, a $350 Fluevogs gift certificate, a double magnum from Burrowing Owl winery, VQFF all-access Festival Passes, and much more. The auction will open Oct. 25 and closes Nov. 8.
This year’s Art Roulette fundraiser includes in-person viewing at EAS (716 E Hastings St.) from Oct. 8 – Nov. 7, check event listing for times). Each ticket holder will go home with one of 30 original pieces of artwork, donated by Eastside artists. The Art Roulette draw happens Nov. 8. Preview the artworks and purchase your tickets at culturecrawl.ca/events/takeflight2024
MOVING ART: 5 Senses, 4 Elements
Online Premiere Nov. 4, 2024
Projecting at Lumiere Festival Nov. 7-10, 2024
The 11th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl Film and Video Exhibition, in partnership with the Lumière Festival, will be projected outdoors at the West End Community Centre (870 Denman) nightly from November 7-10, 2024.Short films from 11 participating artists explore the theme of “Transmission: The Elements,” selected by Moving Art curators Esther Rausenberg and Kate MacDonald. Full details at culturecrawl.ca/events
TALKING ART
Nov. 4-6, 2024
This year’s series of Talking Art panels will feature three events, and will be shared online at culturecrawl.ca/events:
Breath: The Art & Mechanics of Air
Nov. 4, 2024 at 7pm
Artists Rashi Sethi & Inanna Cusi, Honeytta Eyvany and Suzy King explore the substance of air in recent video works: its impact as an unseen force and its role as a dynamic medium that shapes perception, movement, and experience. Moderated by Kate MacDonald.
Collaboration, Craft, and the Art of Cross-Disciplinary Creation
Nov. 5, 2024 at 7pm
Artists Tara Lee Bennett, Hope Forstenzer and Tristesse Seeliger will share about their artistic journeys and how collaboration and experimentation with new mediums inspires innovation. Moderated by Sierra MacTavish.
World-Building and Storytelling through Visual Art
Nov. 6, 2024 at 7pm
Artists Aimée Henry Brown, Jaime Giraldo, and Kari Kristensen will explore the diverse ways visual art inspires imagination, connection, and a sense of belonging. Moderated by Sierra MacTavish.
Full details of Eastside Culture Crawl events, artists, talks, and locations can be found at culturecrawl.ca/events.
About the Eastside Arts Society (eastsideartssociety.ca)
The Eastside Arts Society (EAS) is a visual and performance arts organization dedicated to connecting the public with the arts. EAS produces the annual Culture Crawl Visual Arts, Design and Craft Festival involving artists on Vancouver’s Eastside opening their studio to the public. The event includes painters, jewelers, sculptors, furniture makers, weavers, potters, printmakers, photographers, and glassblowers; from emerging artists to those internationally established. EAS produces additional programming including Talking Art, juried exhibits, Studio 101 arts programming for children in the DTES, and the Moving Art Film and Video series.
In 2021, EAS began a pioneering new initiative: developing an Eastside Arts District (EAD). The EAD will transform the arts and cultural assets in the Eastside from an informal and grassroots network of stakeholders, into a formalized organization with stable funding and secure, long-term facilities for artists and cultural venues. The EAS also produces the annual Eastside Arts Festival
28th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl
November 14-17, 2024
Thursday & Friday, 5–10pm
Saturday & Sunday, 11am–6pm
In-person at various Eastside Locations Between Columbia St. 2nd Ave., Victoria Drive, and the Waterfront (check out the map)
facebook.com/eastsideculturecrawl
instagram.com/culturecrawl
#eastsideculturecrawl
Media release provided by Rona Goodman, Murray Paterson Marketing Group.
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