The Vancouver Eastside Culture Crawl 2009

The Crawl, as it is affectionately known, is one of several throughout BC, and likely the largest of it's type in the province. Over 300 artists and over 60 separate studios and galleries make this three day event a real smorgasbord of artistic expression. Certainly there were many things which to me said very little - that is not such a surprise because I was almost exclusively interested in painting. Even so, there was a great deal to like, and more than anything else I just love being around artists, or rather, I enjoy the conversations between painters and non-painters:

Visitor: "so, how do you decide what your paintings are worth?"
Artist: "It's based on lots of things"
Visitor: "A painter down the hall had paintings twice this size and they were a lot cheaper."
(blank stare from artist)

There were lots of cringe -worthy moments like this. I literally ran through most of the Crawl, but once I found something I liked, I spent quite a lot of time there and thus witnessed many episodes. I guess some people have no way of controlling their inner idiot. I don't know if I could stand dealing with the onslaught of people. I could understand if I was selling McDonald's hamburgers; I could care less, there is no vested interest. But something as personal as a painting, something which I have spent hours on, which is an artistic vision which I've worked hard to capture....I might have a tendency to, oh, I don't know, maybe look around furtively for a fire axe.

The other thing which is rather spooky is that quite a lot of people with cameras were taking pictures of anything they liked. I'm a big believer in allowing unrestricted photography in museums - by and large most of the paintings in museums were done by artists who are long dead and since most museums are funded by tax dollars, I feel I should have the right to study these paintings any way I like so long as I do not detract from this same enjoyment by others. Many enlightened museums also have this policy. However, taking pictures of an artist's paintings, in his studio, most especially with the artist around... I don't know, it strikes me as a bit brazen, if not downright ignorant.

Here, in no particular order, were my favourite artists from this year's crop. Clicking on their names will take you to their websites:

Patricia Atchison
Patty Ampleford
Roselina Hung
Krystian Guevara
Madelaine Wood
Jane Wolsak


As this was entirely an aesthetic outing for me, I tried not to think about money while I'm appreciating a work of art. However, when the price of a work is displayed next to it (along with it's name), it's somewhat impossible to not notice. I made the rounds again on Sunday, and I noticed that there was a very strong correlation between what I liked and the probability of the work being sold. Having said that, very little was sold, and as with any undertaking that has a relatively low barrier of entry, (or no barriers at all, anyone can put out a shingle and declare themselves to be an artist, ((and that is pretty much as it should be)) the supply is obviously far exceeding the demand, which is a shame, as there were many things that I thought were really very reasonably priced knowing from experience how much work was involved and of a really high calibre - and a great deal more that was outrageously over-priced and of questionable merit. Somehow I don't think I would pay $250 for a framed piece of cardboard with a single Cheezie(tm) glued to it.

I suspect as well that there are certain economic realities involved in the geography. Many of the people attending were probably from East Vancouver, and the people who are more likely to spend a few thousand on a painting probably live outside of East Vancouver, so that may be a factor. That may not always be the case, however, real estate prices being what they are, and very little in the area selling for much under 3/4 of a million, it's quite obvious that a huge gentrification is taking place, and while making the area far more accessible and a lot less edgy, the risk is that artists and others whose existence is predicated on cheap housing and flexible work spaces will be forced out. It has happened everywhere else in the world, and now that Vancouver is "world class", no doubt it will occur here as well. This may to some degree be the reason there are so many more artists this year, likely some of them have had to sublease their studios just to make ends meet.

The life of an artist is tough, and while I could think of many tougher places to take up painting for a living, the combination of a largely uneducated and indifferent public and by implication the ensuing government does not make it any easier. Democracy in action. There are lots of things stacked up against artists , and perhaps it might be argued that this is the same in every profession and artists should not have any special treatment because of it; social Darwinism in action. I tend to think that public money should go to the arts, since I am not convinced that the market place is an accurate or even appropriate judge of what is best in art. However, I'm not convinced that the way money is distributed in the arts is particularly fair or reasonable or even efficient. Leaving it to bureaucrats will tend to favour very safe, conservative and risk-free art - nothing innovative or significant has ever been done by bureaucracy. Leaving it to artists will tend to favour experimental and fringe art, not very accessible by the very people who are paying for it. A happy middle ground might be art which is accessible, being mostly representational, but also "out there." Salvador Dali comes to mind, as do many of the symbolist painters. Not surprisingly they tend to do quite well. Also not surprisingly, they know how to paint, by which I mean it is representational, and they either had long schooling and years of training, or grew up in an art filled environment and learned the craft by osmosis (or both).

I know from experience that it is very difficult to live an artistic life, and rather expensive if that is the exclusive way of paying the bills. All of the successful artists I know, mostly writers, painters and musicians, are either independently wealthy, or have "a day job." Having said that, the quality of life of an artist, once everything is going well, is really second to none. The work is satisfying and meaningful, people are usually very complementary, and the sense of satisfaction is wonderful. It's just a shame that we live in such a dumbed down environment that has little value for art or anything that is remotely artistic, creative or original.