Art action Comes Alive for 3rd Railway City Arts Crawl

City-wide arts celebration sees increase in number of participating artists and host venues.
                                                                                      
St. Thomas, ON: The Railway City Arts Crawl is back for its 3rd straight year.

The popular winter celebration of local arts and culture invites people to explore venues throughout St. Thomas and meet talented local artists engaging in the creative process.

A free Arts Crawl passport is available at participating venues and helps arts crawlers locate the venues and artists they'd like to explore over the two-day event on February 26th and 27th.

Arts Crawl Coordinator Megan Pickersgill says there are more artists participating and more interactive projects this year.

“There's an ice sculpture picture frame at the Elgin County Railway Museum”, said Pickersgill. “Visitors can pose inside for photos or take 'selfies'. It's an interactive piece that allows the spectator to become part of the artwork”.

“We also have our youngest arts crawl artist ever. He's 6 years old. He invented his own style of painting that he calls 'universe wars' and the proceeds from paintings he sells will go towards building a playground”.

For emerging Sparta artist Taylor McBain, who works in ink, watercolour, acrylic and oil, the event is a chance to connect with the public and display new work that he describes as off-beat surrealism.
 
"Illustration work is a passion of mine”, says McBain. “I like black and white for the high contrast but also like to inject a lot of colour."
 
Laura Woermke, Executive Director of the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre, believes that the Arts Crawl “is a great opportunity to continue to do what we do everyday in our community”, which is encourage and support the practice of visual arts in St. Thomas and Elgin.

​“This year the Art Centre is featuring 500 works from young student artists in our ‘Great Beginnings’ exhibit. It is a wonderful and pure example of the joy of creating”, something the Arts Crawl is all about.
 
An after party is being held Saturday night following the event, with fireworks at 6:50 pm and live music at the Midtown Tavern at 701 Talbot Street.
 
The passport, containing information on both the venues and the artists, is available at participating venues and downloadable on the Railway City Arts Crawl website (www.railwaycityartscrawl.com). Each venue will stamp the passport and if the participant reaches 10 venues, they are eligible for a prize draw.
 
Stephen Hotchkiss, an artist who will be stationed at Railway City Tourism, believes in the power of art to bring people together.

“I'm interested in using art as a way to community build. Art has always been a great fermenting source for communities”.
 
WHEN:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26: Crawl runs from 6pm-9pm
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27: Crawl runs from 11am-5pm | Fireworks 6:50pm | Midtown after-party 7pm
 
For more information, visit www.railwaycityartscrawl.com.
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PHOTOS FROM THE 2015 CRAWL:

Artist Chris Golding works on a painting.

Art Crawlers heading up Talbot Street.

Blacksmith Scott McKay demonstrates his art.

Railway City Brewing during the Crawl.