Digital Art in Edmonton
(Photo by: Linda Hoang)
(Editor’s note: This is an item which includes a video cross-posted from Linda-Hoang.com – the web home of Edmonton journalist, and lady about the Internet, Linda Hoang.)
The tablets are coming! The tablets are coming.
The tablets are here.
And artists are finding ways to use them. Heck, there are even tablets out there JUST for artists.
We’ll let Linda Hoang explain what’s going on in Edmonton. (more…)
Gonna Make You Sweat
Since we’re always looking for excuses to plug our ShawTV show “the edmontonian presents” (Sunday nights at 9pm on Shaw cable channel 10), we figured we could do so every now and again while actually making it worth your while.
If you’ve seen episode 3: spring then you know there are exercise workstations through the Alberta Legislature pedway. There’s even a workout mat for you to use at one of them. (Something we did not know before working on the show and exercising with Defining Eve’s Alex.)
So, we’ve got a lovely Edmonton prize pack from Whyte Avenue print/art shop Vivid Print for someone who works out down there.
Just e-mail us a photo of you working out at one of the the Alberta Legislature pedway exercise stations, or post a link to a photo in the comments (if you Twitpic, upload to Flickr, or something like that), and we’ll enter you into a draw for:
- Edmonton postcards with work by Jason Blower
- 1 Art Gallery print by Bee Waeland
That’s a whole lot of great Edmonton landmarks and locations (including the Alberta Legislature). Plus, you’d be getting some exercise. It’s winning all around!
*We’ll be accepting exercise photos until Friday, June 24. You can’t win if you’ve won anything in the last 30 days.
A whole lotta Wednesday
The sun is shining (at least, as I type this sentence), the temperatures are reasonable, and Edmonton is ripe for adventure. Good thing there are plenty of options for your Wednesday night.
You can check out Ice on Whyte, which is ever so much more fun when it’s the Long John Index isn’t off the charts.
DemoCamp’s back, at the University of Alberta (Telus Centre), with new startups and entrepreneurs talking about their tech projects.
Sarah Harmer is at the Starlite Room tonight. The show is sold out. You can still get tickets to tomorrow night’s show (also at the Starlite).
National Treasure is playing Wunderbar, with Joe Nolan.
And, if you’ve thought about hanging some art around your home or office, but don’t know the first thing about collecting art, you can check out an information night at Luzzara. The coffee shop will have help from The Paint Spot to inform you about buying art and how to look like you know a thing or two about a thing or two.
Churchill Square, on a sunny Sunday
Previous to this latest taste of winter, I enjoyed some of our more spring-like weather and wandered around Sir Winston Churchill Square.
I feel like if I don’t force myself to spend some time in the most obvious of Edmonton spaces I’ll end up running between big box centres and forgetting that there’s some pretty neat stuff here.
First thing I did was take a visual spin around the square. (more…)
Art Gallery – video
I couldn’t think of any good zinc jokes.
But I did take over Sally’s Mac to edit this video.
Go to the Art Gallery, it’s open! Go now!!
Or don’t. It’s your call. But you’ll miss all the sweet art and cool design.
Your AGA is My AGA
Because there aren’t enough blogs out there with photos of the new Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA).
You've already seen this, if you've been downtown.
These people love art more than me.
It will be interesting to see if the AGA is ready for opening day.
One of the big shows that will be opening the AGA.
- You’ll be able to access the AGA from Churchill Station (LRT).
- You’ll come out in the basement level of the AGA.
The terrace has one piece of art and some good views of downtown.
More great views (and the art).
I am going to rent so much art.
And, no tour is complete without a peek in the washroom. Fancy.
Today the Art Gallery of Alberta, tomorrow the other news stuff
If you follow any number of Edmonton bloggers, webbies or photogs you’ve probably surmised that the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) hosted a tour of social media folk. Being a part of this expanding online media force, I tagged along.
Having experience in the world of traditional media, I’d say this was just your average photo-op, where you get dragged around the building and told stuff about it.
AGA Executive Director Gilles Hebert and Communications Coordinator Sarah Hoyles listen intently to a question.
I hope to have a little more on the actual make-up of the building and its appearance once I come up with some good jokes involving zinc, glass, steel and Douglas Fir (all oft-used components in the design of the new AGA).
Right now I want to touch briefly upon the whole idea of social media-ers being invited to an event like this. There are some other opinions on this popping up. (I’ll note both of these folks are like me, and have previous or current experience in the traditional media world.)
First of all, it’s thanks mostly to the persistence of Edmonton’s Twitter King (Mack D. Male) that this even happened. The other portion of thanks goes to the AGA for being open to the idea.
The AGA isn’t the first organization to offer access to those from the blogosphere. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, for example, invited bloggers to last summer’s Symphony Under the Sky. They’re also looking at doing more with bloggers in the regular season.
And it’s tough to keep bloggers and freelancers away from most public news conferences, so there have been plenty of stories from outside the usual suspect newsrooms on happenings here in Edmonton.
I think this is about the best idea organizations could try. (more…)
Calling all artists
Wouldn't you like your art to grace a cover, like this?
If you’re artsy with a paintbrush, a pencil, camera or even some crayons, you may want to read on.
The Old Strathcona Business Association (OBSA) has an open call to artists for the cover of their yearly guide to the trendy neighbourhood.
They’re looking for something that captures the spirit of Old Strathcona’s culture, creativity, energy and meeting place-vibes.
(What? Nothing alluding to constant weekend binge drinking?)
Anyway, you can send a digital format of your work over to Stephen Liley, Marketing and Events Manager of the OBSA.
I hope to see your art on the cover of the new magazine.
p.s. Your deadline is January 31, 2010.
Get your Art on
Tomorrow means Art. It’s Alberta Arts Days.
That’s a real thing. It’s the 2nd annual, you know.
Tomorrow kicks off Alberta Arts Days, as it’s a whole weekend of artsy stuff, right around the province.
One neat thing that I’ve found is the Edmonton Public Library’s “Experimental Novel.” The EPL is asking people to help them write the story, via online posts, and they’ve got an author to moderate and edit.
Oh, and CKUA is touring the province, so you can feel like you’ve been everywhere, man, without actually leaving your radio (or computer).
In Edmonton, here are some of the art ideas. They include open houses, workshops, performances, showings, author readings and book launches, concerts and performance art, food, tours, films, and, and, and…
It doesn’t matter where you are, however, since the government of Alberta is backing this (read: paying for some stuff) and you can find out what’s happening wherever you may be this weekend.
This speaks to the challenge of mankind. And why you need to find real artists to spend time with this weekend.
Just plain interesting
This was handmade like nobody's business.
I saw this on a lamppost a few days back, and thought it was quite a bit of interesting street art.
You’ll see by the end of this story why it won’t be (or shouldn’t be) at the same location anymore.
Its location during this photo shoot was a post outside the Alberta Craft Gallery, the southwest corner of 102 Avenue and 106 Street.
If my poor photography skills are hampering your reading, here’s what it says:
All summer long
A dog named Daisy
raised a baby fawn.
When the spots faded
poor Daisy was
left to be lonely again.
So, does anyone out there know the story here? Have you seen something like this anywhere else in the city?
You can see from the following photos that the fabric was stitched onto the post, which takes more skill than I probably have with thread and needle.
Also, the note mentions it will be taken down by the artist by a set date, which is kind of nice, and kind of a request I suppose.
Letter from the Editor – Jeff – July 20/09
Great view. But when does my wifi kick in?
How do you do it, Edmonton? How do you make time for your passions?
Not that this website is the greatest thing in forever to come along and rock your world, but I’m pushing hard and going to bed too late. I also was writing for the website last week, while vacationing in Ontario. If I had a Blackberry I’d have been writing from the limo at the wedding of my good friends.
I know that Sally is also squeezing the edmontonian into all minutes of her free time. We also have people sending us photos and stories.
Why am I giving up beautiful sleep for this?
Things that Give Me Nightmares, Vol. 1
I don’t want anyone thinking I lack an appreciation for art. The skill and artisanship necessary to create something like this piece (artist Ron Mueck’s “A Girl,” currently residing at the Art Gallery of Alberta) doesn’t go unnoticed. And though I’m confident that had my only exposure to the giant baby been during a visit to the gallery, I could make my peace with it, these posters are EVERYWHERE, every time I turn around. And they terrify me to my very core. I keep waiting to look out the window of my Jasper Ave. workplace and see a 10 ft. baby storming westbound and crushing fleeing pedestrians – no longer art, merely a godless killing machine.
(“A Girl” is part of the AGA’s REAL LIFE exhibit and will be on display until September 7).
