Music and art will come together in perfect harmony at the end of September for an eight-day experience in Collingwood, both downtown and online.
The eighth-annual Collingwood Art & Music Crawl will be taking place Sept. 19 to 26 and will, for the first time, be offering both virtual and in-person experiences.
Tanya Mazza, co-ordinator of arts and culture with the town, works with a group of town employees as well as original organizer Andrea Rinaldo to put together the event annually. The art crawl itself was the brainchild of Rinaldo, owner of Butter Gallery, who started the event eight years ago.
“It’s going to span eight days; one for each year of the Collingwood Art Crawl’s history,” said Mazza. “We’re offering Crawlers the opportunity to curate their own arts and music experience.”
Two years ago, the Town of Collingwood merged the Collingwood Art Crawl with the Live and Original Music Initiative. The partnership will be continuing this time around.
All music experiences will be done through the crawl’s website, where all participating musicians will have samples, profiles and a 20- to 30-minute virtual offering of their choosing. Local artisans will also be able to create their own online profiles and galleries.
“We’ll be featuring those throughout the week on our Collingwood Art Crawl Facebook page,” said Mazza.
Interested attendees can choose to peruse the website to view music and art, visit local downtown venues who will be displaying some of the art throughout the week, or do a bit of both.
The Unmissables, a list of special events that will be taking place during the festivities, will continue this year, although the Battle of the Brushes will not be part of this year’s plans due to social distancing concerns.
“This year it will be virtual through Facebook,” said Mazza. “There will be concerts by the musicians, virtual studio tours and demonstrations by the artists.”
Planning for the event this year had its challenges with COVID-19.
“Rather than have it all on one evening virtually, we thought, if we can have this virtual content, people can pick how they want to participate,” she said.
The event is free for the public, and this year, it’s also free for musicians, artists and businesses to participate as well.
“For the artists and musicians who are creating content for the Facebook page, we’ve provided them with payment for that. It’s a difficult time. We really wanted to elevate the artists and musicians and give them an opportunity to showcase what they do,” said Mazza.
For more information on the Collingwood Art & Music Crawl, click here.
