Eastside Culture Crawl marches forward for 2020, fuelled by hope
The annual art walk has been entirely reconfigured for the pandemic era, but its celebratory spirit is unchanged
Bronwyn McIvor’s Hornbill is one of hundreds of works that will be on view during 2020’s reimagined Eastside Culture Crawl.
Eastside Culture Crawl runs November 12 to 15 and November 19 to 22, with a virtual preview week from November 2 to 9. Find COVID safety protocols here
Call it Vancouver’s most ambitious and colourful open house: Eastside Culture Crawl has, for more than two decades, been an electric weekend that sees hundreds of artists open their studios to the public, welcoming thousands of arts enthusiasts and curiosity seekers alike.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that the wreck that is 2020 left organizers at a loss for how to reshape an event of such magnitude with so many moving parts in tune with pandemic times. And you’d get it if Esther Rausenberg, artistic and executive director of the Eastside Culture Crawl Society, was feeling down or daunted by this year’s unfathomable turn and its effects on events that rely on crowds. But if there’s a theme that sums up the Crawl atmosphere now, on the eve of its 24th launch, it’s one of hope.
“I’m feeling quite buoyed by the fact that we’ve been able to pull this off,” Rausenberg tells Stir. “It has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride here. Going back to lockdown, it stunned us all personally and professionally. I would say like everybody else I was despairing those first couple of weeks, thinking ‘This is it, it’s over.’… I went into quite a dark place for a while. Then I went ‘Hey, wait a minute…
“We might not be able to do it the way we normally do it,” she says, “but is there something we can salvage from this? Can we do something to provide some hope for artists—something for artists to look forward to, showcasing and exhibiting their work on some level so that the public can view it and have access, too? The word that most guided me was hope.”
The reimagined ECC is happening virtually and via intimate, in-person happenings with full COVID-19 procedures in place. That sense of promise extends to emerging and established painters, sculptors, printmakers, potters, photographers, jewellers, weavers, furniture makers, weavers, glassblowers, and other creative minds of B.C. and beyond.
During “normal” times, the art walk would take place over a single weekend in East Vancouver, in the area bounded by Columbia Street, East 1st Avenue, Victoria Drive, and the waterfront. This time out, the Crawl will run over two consecutive weekends: November 12 to 15 and November 19 to 22.
Prior to that, from November 2 to 9, is a new virtual Preview Week, comprising workshops, demonstrations, and discussions. Talking Art: Creative Resilience, a series of three online discussions with several Culture Crawl artists, and Moving Art: Flipping the Script, the Crawl's seventh annual film and video series, will also unfold during this period.
Dis(place)ment: Explorations of Place, Past, Present and Future runs November 7 to 23 at the Skwachàys Lodge Gallery. Curated by Cheyenne (Natoyihkii) McGinnis, the exhibit shines a light on displacement in Indigenous communities and aims to inspire people to create their own spaces through the sharing of culture, self-reflection and community-building. And ECC’s Take Flight Virtual Benefit, its key fundraising initiative, is on till November 7.
While the Eastside Culture Crawl will have a completely different feel this year, it’s perhaps never been a more vital event, a desperately needed way to celebrate and support the arts community.
A recent survey by the ECC found that 66 percent of Crawl artists could not foresee being able to practise art beyond one year under the current conditions. The organization plans to follow up with another survey in about a month.
“All of their exhibits were cancelled, their workshops were cancelled, the teaching they were doing was cancelled….The rug was pulled out from underneath them,” Rausenberg says. “Some of those things are not going to be captured back and those opportunities are lost. I have to say every single artist I have spoken to about this has said thank you for pursuing this….They’re happy we moved forward and are trying something.
“I keep getting back to that word hope,” she says. “I think the fact that we’re doing this, for many artists is something to look forward to. There is an opportunity of some kind. For many artists, that’s enough.”
Dream a little dream by Suzy Birstein
Logistically, the fest has a few facets. There are 360-degree virtual studio tours, open studios via livestream viewing, and interactions with artists using live chat functions. In-person studio visits will still happen this year, only rather than people coming and going as they please, blocks of time will be available by appointment for limited numbers. A flip-through e-catalogue is another way to browse artists, the digital book containing a link that takes viewers to their full profile page.
The Crawl features close to 250 artists—down from its usual numbers of over 600—and 30 buildings. The Parker Street venue will not be open because of public-health guidelines, but more than 80 artists from that space are participating virtually, some through private appointments.
“That spontaneity is not going to be there; we’re not going to have food trucks or people roaming the streets throughout various neighbourhoods,” Rausenberg says. “But we’ve settled in a really good place. Artists are still creating work, and there’s lots of amazing art to see.”
Another reason the Eastside Culture Crawl Society was determined to push ahead despite the pandemic was to keep the fest’s momentum going in the leadup to its 25th anniversary next year. The festival is also a chance to remember two Crawl artists who have passed on: Judson Beaumont was a mainstay, known for his animated furniture; Dieter Schlatter, a provocative mixed-media artist, had taken part for the last 15 years or so.
Whether arts enthusiasts end up speaking with a creator at a safe distance or hearing the backstories of different pieces and about artists’ creative process through their screens, the importance of connection is still at the Crawl’s core.
“Sometimes you glance at something and at first, it’s not to your taste, but when you engage and have that conversation, it’s so interesting; you might look at the work differently,” Rausenberg says. “The connection between the public and the artists is vital. We’re known for that.
“I know when people view artwork, how they are moved by it or connect with it,” she says. “For me, art always feeds me. The places that creative minds go to are just mind-boggling.”
Moss by Beata Kacy
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