I’m sending giant THANK YOUs to everyone involved in yesterday’s outdoor “What the Pop!” 2022 art event (1), and to everyone who dropped by – despite the ridiculously hot and humid weather. The Humidex or RealFeel temperature was 41C, or 107F, which is far too hot for me! Aside from the heat though, and a bit of late-day rain, the event was a phenomenal success.
First off, I’d like to thank Cardinal Brewing (2) for welcoming the “What the Pop!” artists to their front lawn and stage for the day. This event featured emerging (new) artists across a range of disciplines, from jewelers to musicians, from performance artists to photographers, from singers to visual artists, and more. There was a stage with live music, and a dozen tables – one for each of the artists selected for this event. This location on Main Street, in a busy Village setting, was perfect for this outdoor art show.
Next, and most importantly, my thanks go out to the organizer of this event – the arts arm of the not-for-profit organization YES Montreal (3). The team did a fantastic job of setting everything up, and also of helping the individual artists prepare for what was – for most of us (including me!) – our first-ever table at an art event.
The musicians selected for What the Pop! 2022 did a fantastic job of playing and singing, despite the heat, and gave the event a true party vibe throughout the day. My husband, who hadn’t exactly been looking forward to spending the day helping me at ‘an art show’ was pleasantly surprised to find himself siting at my art table, craft beer in hand, listening to some great music! He said that it felt more like an outdoor concert than an art show – which was really our goal for the day… a celebration. Of the arts, of summer, of new artists, and of being able to get together with people again.
Finally, a big thank you to the real stars of the day – to everyone who came out to visit this outdoor art event. Family members, friends, strangers, you all made the day very special for me. It’s a memory that I’ll treasure for a long time to come. I was pleasantly surprised that there were visitors at my table consistently throughout the day, even before the official noon-1700 opening hours.
Which was great, as I had the opportunity to do plenty of awareness-raising for chronic pain and for my specific rare disease, CRPS or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The postcard-sized “Art despite pain” awareness cards that I’d had printed, with English on one side and French on the other, were very well-received. And visitors to my artists’ table seemed genuinely interested in how my Patient Journey led me to watercolour painting.
As for my table at this event, one of the aims of the presenting organization is to make art more accessible to the public, so each artist was encouraged to display some smaller artwork. For me, that meant quite a lot of 4×6″ and 5×7″ original watercolor paintings. To make each of these ready to frame, I’d mounted them onto mats and boards using all acid-free materials. Even the tape I used was acid-free, specially ordered for me by a local art and framing shop.
I wanted each matted painting to be ready to “pop” into a picture frame, or even a photo frame, fitting in with the “pop” in “What the Pop!” 2022. It was lovely to have people ask about my paintings, and to guess at where the local landscapes had been painted. I’d created a label for the back of each painting, describing the location for landscapes or nature scenes, with a photo of either that location or of the painting in progress.
Those labels were a last-minute addition to my paintings, something that I prepared during the final week leading up to this festival-style art show, and they ended up sparking a number of lovely conversations about cycling, other outdoor sports, and travel. There were even a few people who stopped by specifically because of a Feature article about me in a Montreal-area newspaper.
My happiest moments at this entire art event were when young people would stop by to look at my watercolours, or just to talk about painting. One in particular was a young woman, in her early teens I think, who stopped by to talk with me about painting en plein air – painting outside. Another was a conversation with a university student from overseas, who is studying the arts. These are the kinds of one-on-one conversations and interactions that I’ve missed so much over the past couple of years, which made this event even more special for me.
Whether you stopped by What the Pop! yesterday, or were too far away to visit, I’d love to hear from you. I’ve had to disable the Comments feature here on the blog, as it became too much for me to manage with my CRPS-related ‘mild cognitive impairment’, but I really do love to hear from you. Please drop a comment over on my Twitter (@SandraWoodsMtl) or Instagram (@sandrawoods_creative_arts) pages.
As always, thanks so much for stopping by. Keep well, stay safe, and I hope that you’re able to enjoy these late-summer months.
References
(1) Yes Montreal. Meet The Selection Committee Of What The Pop! A Free Art Pop-Up Exhibition. Press Release (web version). Undated. Accessed 22 Jul 2022. Online:
https://yesmontreal.ca/artists/meet-the-selection-committee-for-what-the-pop-art-pop-up-exhibition/
(2) Microbrasserie Cardinal Brewing. Craft beer, brewed proudly in Hudson, QC (website). Undated. Accessed 22 Jul 2022. Online:
(3) Yes Montreal. Meet The Artists Of What The Pop! A Free Art Pop-Up Exhibition. Press Release (web version). Undated. Accessed 22 Jul 2022. Online:
https://yesmontreal.ca/artists/meet-the-artists-of-what-the-pop-a-free-pop-up-exhibition/