REGIONAL REPORT
ART VANCOUVER
The idea was born out of Lisa ’ s time as a fashion designer for Christian Dior , and she felt that everyone gets to know the art ; the artist often remains a mystery .
“ Nobody knows who the artist is ,” she said . “ You never see them in the gallery . No one sees who they are .”
And while Art Vancouver is commonly used to describe the international art fair , it has grown into so much more than that . Through the VVAF , they now host an entire yearly calendar of events , each with dedication to the promotion of connecting various communities through art .
One of the first to be introduced was Art Masters . Born out of Art Vancouver , it has become an event in its own right , hosted separate to the main exhibition at different times and locations throughout the year .
Lisa imagined Art Masters like a cooking show on television .
“ It ’ s going to be eight artists , and they ’ re going to have one hour ,” she said . “ You don ’ t know what you ’ re getting to paint with . It ’ s a mystery box , no paint brushes .”
Art Masters has gone on to great success , packing in venues wherever it has been held .
“ The beauty of it was there were 19-year-olds to 85-years-olds . It didn ’ t matter .”
Art Vancouver was also the venue where Art Talks was tested . It too has blossomed into its own event , held locally in Vancouver separate to the exhibition .
“ They were starting to get more and more popular , so that ’ s why we decided to do a speaker series outside of Art Vancouver ,” Lisa said .
Art Talks is a speaker panel series . Artists are invited to speak about their journey through their career , and business-minded individuals come to speak about how artists can market themselves , handle their books or operate themselves as a sole proprietorship or collective .
The global pandemic has also pushed VVAF , like all over organizations and businesses , to be creative in how they reach an audience . This past summer , Art Downtown was the answer .
Art Downtown took over two busy plazas in the downtown core of Vancouver and set them up with live painting and music , an Art Masters event and numerous spaced-out exhibitions .
Lisa said it was her time living in Paris during her early adulthood that gave her the idea . She wanted to create a space that mirrored Montmartre , which has famously had live outdoor art for hundreds of years .
It was in Paris where she worked for Christian Dior , learning not only the fashion world , but the business of creative pursuits as well . It also exposed her to a culture that thrives on art .
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