Let your inner artist out Saturday at Art in Motion

By Samantha Johnson Special to the News on July 6, 2022.

Downtown will be ablaze with colour and events Saturday when the first Art in Motion event kicks off.

Daytime activities are from 1-5 p.m. at the Esplanade, Towne Square and Riverside Veterans Memorial Park.

“I’m very excited about this event,” said Candace Lundrigan, community development public services at the Esplanade. “It will be a great one to promote vibrancy and to support (everything) local – vendors, artists and businesses. I think there is an appetite in the community, we’ve seen so much vibrancy here on the weekends, I think this will be one more piece of it.”

From 1-5 p.m. at the Esplanade will be a collaborative paint-by-numbers mural designed by local graphic designer Flag Five. Lundrigan explained the Mural “will incorporate scenery from Medicine Hat. It has been done in a grid pattern with numbers on it.” The paint is pre-numbered, which can be used by participants to colour in the blocks.

A Little Windows Art Station will be set up for those who prefer free painting, or for the little ones who only want to scribble and let loose with colour. Glitter tattoos will be available for everyone, and the bar will have food and drinks.

Along with demonstrations by the Strathcona Art Studio water colour painters and chainsaw artist Marina Cole, there will be hands-on activities with other local artists. Another activity to try is a 14-foot pendulum painting station.

“It is interactive in two ways,” said Lundrigan. “The disc spins and then you can spin the paint, creating a spiral graph-type image.”

Exhibiting artist Heidi Mackenzie, who did a residency at Medalta and has an exhibition up at the Esplanade called Brick by Brik, will be in her gallery space from 1-3 p.m. PULP.digital.creators will also be there doing an augmented reality exploration.

In the back parking lot will be graffiti workshops with Jeff Goring. In addition, Cousins Skateboard Community has paired up with the Medicine Hat Skateboard Association to do a skate school. Along with teaching kids how to skate, there will also be demonstrations.

Outside the front entrance will be the Sensational Path Sensory Bus, an indoor, interactive play space. Dina Jubrak, who does Hula from the Heart and other engagements with the community through hula hooping, will be giving hula hoop demonstrations along with workshops. Kona Ice will arrive at 2 p.m.

At Towne Square, Painter Girl will be creating chalk murals. Chalk will be provided for children and Painter Girl will be engaging with them as they draw. The Hat Club Art has co-ordinated with the Esplanade organizing an open-air art market in the sea cans, where local artisans will have their work for sale. Balloon animals, live music and more hula hoops will be on site. Food trucks booked for the day are The Whipple Tree Truck, Sausage Shack and Lara’s.

Riverside Veterans Memorial Park will have cultural performances, a picnic area, demonstrations by Sway Aerial Fitness and a water colour fight. Lundrigan explained that Holi colour powder will be used to make pigmented water to fill the water guns with. The area will be fenced off and run from 1-3 p.m.

Back at the Esplanade in the evening, will be a free showing of Style Wars in the studio theatre at 6 p.m. Style Wars is an iconic documentary on graffiti and graffiti culture in New York.

The Art Gallery Reception begins at 7 p.m., and usually ends about 9:30 p.m.

“The Art Gallery Reception kicks off Artwalk with all participating venues downtown that are having art on display or an art event,” said Lundrigan. Events at venues could include meet and greet with an artist, an art auction, live music or even performance art.

The Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with a downtown collective group of stakeholders, will launch Midnight Madness 2022 at 4 p.m. Many businesses will be open late and offering exclusive deals.

MuralFest, the Great Big Paddle, the first Railroad District Historic Walk, Miywasin Story Tour, Pickleball Championships and Dancing Queen: a tribute to ABBA, are also happening Saturday. Visit the Esplanade website for full details.

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