Artists may have to battle to earn a spot in the battle.
Now in its third year in Prince George, Art Battle Canada is calling on interested painters to submit their names for this coming showdown. The competitive painting event happens Sept. 18, but the application process is now. With the popular and critical acclaim of the past two events, organizers are expecting keen interest from the local population of painters.
"It is one of those surprising things that has caught on with artists and with audiences all across Canada, and we are proud of what Prince George has been able to do with it," said Community Arts Council project co-ordinator Lisa Redpath. "It gets the names of our artists out there into the community - their community - and gives artists a chance to give an audience a thrill the same way chefs do in competition cooking events or athletes do in sports."
Painters have 20 minutes to wipe their best work onto the canvas, then the audience votes on the best ones. After two rounds of preliminary painting (six painters each, two advance), the final four have a round of their own to determine the ultimate winner of the $500 cash prize and the berth in the provincials held in Vancouver.
In 2013, the winner of Prince George's first art battle was Corey Hardeman, who then went on to win the provincials and compete in Toronto at the national level.
In 2014, the winner in Prince George was Cliff Mann, who then made the finals at the provincials and nearly eked out the overall win for a trip to the nationals in Ottawa.
Redpath said it was telling of the local arts scene that two years in a row have produced such strong results at the provincial level, with two different artists.
The event was so popular with audiences, last year, that it has pushed the host venue past its limits. Instead of being inside Groop Gallery it will be held this year at HeartBreakers Cabaret with Groop Gallery and the Prince George Public Library as support partners with the Community Arts Council.
"HeartBreakers gave us the opportunity to have more people and to put the artists into a more audience-friendly viewing environment," said Redpath. "When we approached the owner (Adriano Spoletini) about having the event there, he was so happy. He became really proud. He said he knew how important the arts were in Prince George and how we need to foster our artists. He's been doing that for years with musicians, but here was a chance to do it for visual artists. So he was all in. Prince George really loves this event, we just needed more space, we found it, so we are ready for battle."
Only 12 painters (the battle medium is acrylics on canvas) get to do battle. Interested artists must submit their application to www.artbattle.ca under the "Apply To Paint" heading (shortcut: www.artbattle.ca/register).
That website is also where you can purchase tickets to attend ($10 online or $15 at the door).
The competing artists slap canvas at
7 p.m. and there will also be music by deejay Andrea Palmer, refreshments, and other atmospheric effects.
Audience members are reminded that each piece of art painted that night will also be auctioned off that night. The organizers and the artists will share the proceeds from these earnings.
