WALKERVILLE WEEKEND ROCKS FOLKS OF ALL AGES ENJOY ART EVENT BY REBECCA WRIGHT, THE WINDSOR STAR
Taking a blank brick wall and transforming it into a Mexican masterpiece, a live graffiti art installation was one of the highlights at this year's Walkerville Art Walk & Rock on the weekend.
"Every time I have the opportunity to do something like this, I take the time to do it because I think there's a misrepresentation of graffiti and graffiti art," said local artist Meca Seph, who took about 15 hours to finish the graffiti mural on the side of Walkermole restaurant on Wyandotte Street East.
"People think it's the stuff that's scribbled on the walls all the time, but when you do stuff like this, other business owners and other people see it, and kind of gain an appreciation for the artwork itself."
Walkerville BIA coordinator Joan Charette said this was the festival's most successful year, with hundreds, maybe thousands, flocking to the historical neighbourhood to attend. She said this year had the most businesses participating, with 46 hosting local artists to present and sell their material to the public. The artists featured paintings, photos, jewelry, musical acts and more.
Stephanie Najor teared up as she watched her daughter smear paint on a canvas at a live art display. Najor has attended the event for the past nine years, and her five-yearold daughter Taaj has grown up attending it alongside her since she was born. She said it was a proud moment to see her daughter be a part of the festival because she has such fond memories of attending while Taaj was a baby.
"I think they need this to grow and help bring out who they are and what they could be, and inspire them or aspire them to do something with it," said Najor.
Her daughter and goddaughter, Clover Bagley, who's also five, were applying several coats and splatters of a wide array of bright colours to the canvas alongside local artist Peter Baillie, who was being a bit more precise about the strokes and colours he was using on his blank slate.
He said this is the fourth year he and a group of artists from Pop Hair Gallery, a professional hair salon and art gallery on Erie Street, have participated in Art Walk & Rock. He said because the other artists hadn't arrived yet to take part in the live art display, he opened it up to the young girls. He said in addition to selling their art, they always paint something right at the festival for people to experience something different to do with art first-hand.
"People get to pull the curtain back and be a part of it," said Baillie. "They like seeing how something evolves from a bunch of scribbles to an actual piece of art."
Nawal Connell, who co-owns Shears hair salon on Chilver Road, has participated in the festival for two years. She said Art Walk & Rock not only gives her an opportunity to work with a local artist to help them with their business, it boosts her own business and provides exposure. The artist she hosted at her business last year is now a client of hers, which proves what a great business connection the festival creates, she said.
Connell attended with her four-year-old son, Owen. She said he loves music and that she couldn't pry him away from banging bongos during a public drum circle that was featured at the festival outside of Ten Thousand Villages. She said she enjoys perusing the different vendors to soak in the many talents this community boasts.
"There are so many artists around here, but everybody does something so different, so it makes it so exciting to see all the different art," Connell said.
Charette said Walkerville is the best neighbourhood to host the event because it respects its history and is "also very trend forward."
Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/entertainment/Walkerville+weekend+rocks/6973730/story.html#ixzz21ZZyMna1
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