Hundreds of Brantford residents took advantage of the warm weather to explore the Holmedale Art Crawl on Sunday, May 26, 2024.
The one-day event has been running since 2017 and is a chance for local artists in the Holmedale neighbourhood to showcase their talent and sell their wares.
With the help of both online and paper maps, residents chose to either walk, bike or drive from each of the 30 locations to check out this year’s 48 artisans. Several spots were set up outside of homes, organizations and businesses like Flume, Heron Head Bikes and the Brant Curling Club.
Throughout the seven-hour event, the many photographers, painters, potters, and woodworkers sat under tents with their art displayed on tables and wire racks for visitors to browse.
Many residents took the chance to support the local artists by buying handmade soaps, paintings, prints, textiles, pottery pieces, charcuterie boards, door decor and more.
Aliki Mikulich, one of the founders of the art crawl, said she and the rest of her team were happy with the day’s turnout.
“We’re just really thrilled with how many people rise to the occasion to come check out all the art and it’s so nice to see them enjoying it,” she said. “The weather has been so perfect, everybody seems happy to be out and about, and that all of that makes it worthwhile because its run by a six-person volunteer committee and it’s truly a labour of love for us.”
Mikulich shared several reasons why the residents appear to enjoy the event so much.
“I think that it’s the variety of art that you can see, and I think buying from the artist directly is another big part of it too, even just knowing where your art comes from gives it a personal touch as well,” she said. “It’s a lovely outing and it’s a bit different from other things you may do on a Sunday and there’s a real social aspect to it because you’re getting to chat with neighbours and such.”
