What's going on Downtown North Bay Vol.1 October 2013 | Page 22

Resources for Start-Up & Expanding Businesses What we offer: Free Business Consultations Business Plan Development Assistance Market Research Assistance Youth Entrepreneurship Programs Save the Mentorship program date! Workshops and Special Events Small Business Week October 24th 2013: WorkInCulture Workshop Check out our website for all upcoming events! thebusinesscentre-nps.com Contact us: Toll Free: 1-800-465-1882 6th Floor, 200 McIntyre St. E North Bay, ON, P1B 8H8 705-474-0400 x2443 [email protected] 1 College Drive Parry Sound, ON P2A 0A9 705-746-5892 [email protected] For those who are unfamiliar with this event, the Downtown Gallery Hop is an event where galleries, studios and retailers alike open their doors to create an evening of art, culture and shopping in the downtown of North Bay approximately every two months. This event is becoming more and more popular within the community and proceeds to expand its boundaries and success. The event was unofficially founded March 2009 by W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery coordinator Alex Maeve Campbell as an initiative through her Gallery position. The first Hop event was stumbled-upon when the W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery, The White Water Gallery, and Art on Main all had opening receptions scheduled for that same wondrous March Evening. This was inspirational to them all. The galleries then found structure and inspiration from other similar initiatives like Hamilton's Art Crawl and James Street North SuperCrawl. They began to approach other galleries with their inspiration and vision. Of which Joan Ferneyhough at Ferneyhough Contemporary was quick to see the potential in this initiative. T he first Hop brought many familiar smiles to the streets, from the fun that was had at this inaugural event. From that point on the event began to schedule and orchestrate more of these events. As each event went on, more studios, galleries and even tattoo studios began to see the vision and take part of the event. Commercial arts and culture venues also joined the event and now the event keeps growing and growing. This event continues to attract arts and culture venues as well as a new audience and brings them to our downtown. 21