The temporary art event held at Pier 8 over the month of Novemeber, immersed community in a unique sound and light show in an effort to draw them to the waterfront
From Nov. 1 to 26 between the hours of 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., the city of Hamilton held a temporary art exhibition at the Pier 8 waterfront called Sonic Runway. The event immersed citizens in a light installation, which sent sound signals to create patterns of light down a walkway. The exhibition was free for everyone to attend.
Peter Fortune, placemaking, public art and projects manager for the city of Hamilton, explained that from, the beginning, the exhibition hoped to create awareness for the waterfront, showcase the potential of Pier 8 and encourage community members to visit.
Fortune's role in the city is to come up with placemaking and public art initiatives to transform spaces and make them appealing places to visit. Placemaking refers to developing a part of a city so that people would want to live and establish themselves there.
Community members can approach Fortune and share with him what they are hoping to see and he can then work with them to bring creativity to the city.
Fortune discussed how Sonic Runway was the first large-scale placemaking initiative the city has run.
"I don't think the site has experienced anything like that before. . . also this is one of the few times that we've brought in nationally recognized artists [for events like] Sonic Runway," said Fortune.
Feedback for the event was overwhelmingly positive. Over 20,000 people visited the exhibition while it was open.
Fortune hoped that, with this event and others like it, the collective creativity identity of the city will continue to develop as the community gains more insight and involvement with Hamilton's creative and artistic side while taking part in placemaking and meaningful experiences.
Fortune also highlighted how the principal part of the exhibition was to encourage students and others to dream, by showing how the things they learn in class can be translated into the real world and offering an opportunity to learn more about the chance to learn about the technical side of placemaking, such as user interface design and electrical engineering. Students could see how they might apply their own skills within this field and how choosing an arts-based career, while it might be difficult, does pay off.
Fortune also hoped the project helped to change student perspective of the city, highlighting how there is more to it than just campus and giving places like the waterfront a new image and identity, rather than being only seen for industrial purposes.
"Instead of just being on campus and cloistered there, go and explore the city and realize that [it] has the ability to surprise you. This is one of those examples of something that could definitely surprise you because I'm not sure if a lot of people [realize that]," said Fortune.
Instead of just being on campus and cloistered there, go and explore the city and realize that [it] has the ability to surprise you. This is one of those examples of something that could definitely surprise you because I'm not sure if a lot of people [realize that].
Peter Fortune, placemaking, public art and projects manager, city of Hamilton
Fortune encouraged students to check out future events the city of Hamilton will host, especially for the winter and holiday season. With so much creativity in the city, there is sure to be something for everyone to enjoy. Events can be found here.
This digital hub aims to increase local engagement with arts and culture by connecting community members and artists with local arts events and opportunities
The Arty Crowd is the Hamilton Arts Council’s digital hub for connecting artists and community members with arts-related events in the city.
In 2017, a symposium called The Big Picture brought together local artists and arts organizations to examine challenges and opportunities for the community’s arts and culture scene. Out of this event came the idea to create a website housing arts-related resources.
David Huson, artistic director at the Hamilton Arts Council, explained that the process for organizing the website was lengthy. It involved collaboration with the local community through discussion with citizens. The website's creators looked at numerous case studies to learn what content would be relevant and useful for the website to include.
Even the name of the digital resource has a story, according to Hudson. The intent of the name is to take “the arty crowd,” once used disparagingly, and to re-purpose that for the community, giving it a new and more positive meaning.
"Basically there was a bit of uproar in the art scene, and Mayor Lloyd Jackson in 1959 declared. . .I've got the quote here: "The people of this city have made it abundantly clear that they want no part of this modern art. We can't let the arty crowd run things." We've reclaimed that name as The Arty Crowd," said Hudson.
Individual artists, art organizations, art lovers in the community and non-artists in creative industries can all create accounts on the website. The Arty Crowd website is controlled by the account holders themselves, where those who organize the events post their information, keep it updated and manage their general account. Hudson has pointed out that there are over 1,500 account holders.
The website focuses on these areas of content: chances to contribute to creative and artistic events, funding opportunities and employment opportunities. These are mainly posted by the users, but the Hamilton Arts Council does contribute from time to time. The events that are promoted are often local, but the website also promotes events outside of the city for those who have access and might be interested.
The Arty Crowd is a unique database for Hamilton due to its sole focus on the arts and the sense of autonomy for its users.
“I think there are event listings in Hamilton that do encompass some arts events, but they'll also encompass eating out and tourism," said Hudson.
Hudson also pointed out that the reception for the website has been warm and positive. Many arts organizations and artists have been taking advantage of the site and the support from the community has made it a successful endeavour.
Students should check out the website if they are interested in the arts community and would like to get involved with more events. Hudson also encouraged those who might not consider themselves to be artists, but who are creatively inspired, to get involved and still be able to contribute in some way, stressing that membership for artists and creatives is completely free.
“It's a portal to get connected with the arts in any way, whether it's just to attend and watch or whether it's to get involved or get connected. I encourage people, if you are an artist or creative or you contribute to the arts landscape, to set up an account, set up a profile and add your content,” said Hudson.
It's a portal to get connected with the arts in any way. . .I encourage people, if you are an artist or creative or you contribute to the arts landscape, to set up an account, set up a profile and add your content.
David Hudson, Artistic Director, Hamilton Arts Council
Hudson added that they are currently working on adding a new feature to the website for artists to look at spaces to show their work. Those who want to rent out a space will be able to look at profiles on the website and find their best fit.
The Arty Crowd is also currently running a TV show live on Cable 14 called The Arty Crowd Out Loud! where monthly episodes showcase local arts venues and events to build support and audience for the website’s purpose and the city’s art scene. The show can also be seen on demand here.
If any students are interested in attending arts events or would like to become more involved with the arts in Hamilton, The Arty Crowd is a great digital resource for locating these opportunities.
Hamilton is a well-known centre for the arts, with events like Supercrawl bringing in people from across the GTA and beyond. However, it hasn’t always been like this. In a 1959 statement, then Mayor Lloyd Jackson—the namesake for Jackson Square—claimed that the city had no need for modern art.
“The people of this city have made it abundantly clear that they want no part of this modern art . . . we can't let the arty crowd run things,” said Mayor Jackson in his statement.
Building Cultural Legacies is a digital storytelling platform that is proving Mayor Jackson wrong. In response to his statement, the Building Cultural Legacies exhibit has the subheading “The Arty Crowd Runs Things”. Their exhibit at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (123 King St. W.) has the quote blown up as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Mayor Jackson, showing just how far this city has come since those words were first said. The arty crowd is definitely running the show now.
The physical exhibit for Building Cultural Legacies is not currently accessible because the AGH has closed its doors until April 5; however, their online content is freely available and easy to access. On their website you can search through art based on criteria ranging from the type of material used to the decade it was made in. If you need a little break during your social distancing, you can just pull up the site and browse through Hamilton’s art history.
Alexis Moline is the Content Curator for the Building Cultural Legacies project, and she says that they chose to represent the second half of the 20th century because these records are most at risk of being lost.
A screen capture of the "explore artists" page on the Building Cultural Legacies website (buildingculturallegacies.ca)
“We'd like to make sure that those things can be preserved and available so that people [can] access them and learn from them, as well as celebrate those artists and their legacies and the great collections of things that they have built up over the years . . . So the point was really taking over our artistic past and learning from it and to continue bringing it to the present,” said Moline.
One of the ways that Building Cultural Legacies has been helping Hamiltonians connect to the past is through facilitated discussions and public talks. With the mass closures resulting from COVID-19, these talks have been postponed. However, once things are up and running again, here’s a brief taste of what you can look forward to.
The next two talks that Building Cultural Legacies plans to host is a roundtable discussion with the Native Indian/Inuit Photographers’ Association and a discussion on mentoring in the artistic community. NIIPA was one of the longest-running Indigenous arts services organizations in Canada, and they were founded on James Street, right in the heart of Hamilton. Moline says that the events are designed to encourage connections across communities.
“[I]t's really a chance for people to come out and listen and hear stories and then afterwards speak amongst themselves and make those connections. It really includes talking to each other, [and] intergenerational exchange; we really encourage young artists or Mac students to come out. And so that's a great opportunity to have a friendly, relaxed environment for people to connect about all of our shared history and present,” said Moline.
Building Cultural Legacies is continually working to improve and add to their site. Moline says that she is working with Dr. Angela Sheng's Art History 4X03 Intro to Galleries and Museums class—a fourth year Art History seminar offered at McMaster—to develop new artist pages for the Building Cultural Legacies site, to be published tentatively this May, although this may be impacted by the closures on McMaster’s campus.
Building Cultural Legacies encourages artists both young and old to work and grow together, and encourages Hamiltonians to learn more about their own history. Whether or not you’re an art devotee, the message to work and grow together is one that we can all benefit from.
Explore Artists - Building Cultural Legacies Hamilton
Building Cultural Legacies has been generously supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Due to COVID-19 being declared a pandemic, The Good Foot has decided to postpone their first in-person event. They plan to hold an Instagram live-stream on Saturday March 21 at 8 p.m. instead, in order to lift people’s spirits up during this time. Stay tuned to their social media for updates.
Ring of Fire, You Can’t Hurry Love and Hard Day’s Night; you may not be able to name a 60s song off of the top of your head, but you definitely know the words to one. Starting soon, The Good Foot will be bringing the songs of the 60s to a dance floor near you, complete with prizes for best outfit and a songlist perfect for boogying down.
The Good Foot was created by a group of local DJs, dancers and vintage fashion lovers looking to liven up the Hamilton dance scene with 60s tunes. They include owner of Girl on the Wing Whitney McMeekin, illustrator and dancer Jacqui Oakley, DJ Spaceman a.k.a Stacey Case, DJ Donna Lovejoy a.k.a Rachael Henderson and Jen Anisef of Weft projects. Anisef says that Weft projects’ aim is to create collaborative opportunities for local creators and makers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9CR8ArpSAJ/
“[I]t's like the weft are the threads that bind everything together. So the idea is to serve the community through facilitating creative collaboration. So this project, it's brought together a lot of different folks that all have different areas of interest and expertise, to throw a really fun party that is hopefully intergenerational and is just unpretentious and to celebrate dance and fashion, and have a good time,” said Anisef.
Henderson, also known as DJ Donna Lovejoy, describes herself as a Jill of all Genres, and she definitely lives up to her name. Thanks to collaborators like her, The Good Foot is set to cover songs from every nook and cranny of the 60s.
“It’s gonna be Soul, Motown, Early Funk [and a] bit of Rocksteady, Britpop, Mod, just a bit of everything,” said Henderson.
Social distancing is making it more difficult than ever to connect with other people. The Instagram live stream that The Good Foot will be running will hopefully help bring people from all walks of life together that might never have met otherwise. Anisef and Henderson say that they are hoping that their future parties can create a sense of intergenerational bonding and community.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9xryXrHvft/
“I think the beauty of 60s music is that most of us kind of know it deep in our soul, even as kids it was around and the music has endured so much. Plus, it's really nostalgic for older folks like the music of their youth. And I think it also really is like, it touches a lot of different cultural communities as well. So our hope is that it draws people together,” said Anisef.
Henderson says that in all of the events that she DJs, whether they be corporate events, weddings or club nights, 60s music appeals to everyone.
“I do find that 60s music crosses generations and does actually speak to a younger crowd. I'm always impressed when the younger people know all the lyrics and they get really excited,” said Henderson.
When Anisef lived in Glasgow, Vancouver and Toronto, she says that there used to be regular 60s and soul dance nights, with attendees dressing to the nines and dancing their cares away. There will be a contest for the best 60s outfit at the event, but Anisef says that everyone is welcome to come as they are.
“Some of those nights, people would really like to make an effort to dress up. And so I'm hoping that we can also build that we're trying to build that culture in the event. You don't have to, by all means come in your sweatpants and just have a great time. But if you're inspired, we'd love for people to play around and dress up,” said Anisef.
The Good Foot may not be shimmying to a dance floor near you just yet, but once everyone is safer they hope to bring the 60s back to Hamilton. In the meantime, having a 60s dance party in your very own home might just be a great way to add some spark to your day.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
I Am Beauty
Ink Illustration and Digital Art
This artwork illustrates the beauty of sexuality and the immersive experience behind self-empowerment. A mixture of space, nature, and modern identity, the self represents the beauty of openness and freedom to express oneself. It also represents the complexity and ambiguity behind a person’s desire to find meaning in a world that demands homogeneity.
Pluto’s Heartbreak
Ink Illustration and Digital Art
This artwork illustrates heartbreak within broken relationships in a postmodernist society. Living in a technological and ever-changing era has rewired the way humans process relationships. Little details such as the melting snow, rewind and fastforward button on the television heads describe the different stages of ‘time’ and overall healing process people experience.
Untitled 1
Untitled 2
Painting
In my work “Untitled 1 & 2” I looked to explore representation and identity. These two works happen to be representative of two strong women from my life. Because of this I decided to paint both figures with strong and decisive postures, looking into the viewer and contesting the gaze cast upon them. Another way in which I wanted to challenge the use of representation within painting is my use of a tricolor system of black, white and red. By removing any sense of skin color or in turn reality of identity I was looking to challenge how representation within art history was commonly used in the renaissance and baroque period. By not providing any visual cues to background of the subjects in any way, the vagueness and multiplicity of identity becomes more clear. The inclusion of many expressive formal elements, such as uses of the brush and colour is meant to represent emotion throughout the fragility that is the human experience and inner strength. Overall, I was more interested in creating portraits of strength and challenge the representational nature of identity throughout the classical art history canon.
Lights Get Bright Tonight
[pjc_slideshow slide_type="katie-van-kampen-satsc-2020"]
Photography
One day, my friends and I wandered into the Penticton Art Gallery to the main exhibit to be struck with a neon light of reds, purples, blues and pinks. I pulled out my camera to take some shots, gesturing wilding at my friends to pose near the light, trying to capture what I saw at that moment. All my three friends are some form of LGBT with two of them identifying as bisexual women. I raised my camera to take the photos and when I looked down at the 3 inch LCD screen I saw something I thought was beautiful. The light hit their faces perfectly, the colours that make up the bisexual pride flag smearing across their faces and fading into the shadows of the room.
This article is part of our Sex and the Steel City, our annual sex-positive issue. Click here to read more content from the special issue.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
