By Pepper Parr
March 12, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Last year it was one of those quiet hits – those who knew about it were amazed and those who didn’t get to the event said they wished they’d known.
It was called No Vacancy and took place at the Waterfront Hotel – the event lasted less than four hours and had hotel management skittish – it wasn’t quite the kind of thing Burlington had seen before.
It took place at a time when the city was getting a sense as to just what it was in terms of its cultural depth. It was edgy.
Selina Jane Eckersall points to one of the locations for some of the “installation art” that will be on display for seven hours September 19 – a not to be missed event.
The best way to describe what Selina McCall Eckersall called No Vacancy is to say “installation art” and if that doesn’t mean all that much to you – think in terms of giving an artist a room or a space and telling them they can do whatever they want, make whatever artistic statement they want – just don’t put any holes in the walls.
With a small but very successful first step behind her Eckersall decided to up her game and go for a bigger venue. Date will be the same – September 19th – the location will be different and perhaps a surprise to many. Oh – and there is a name change as well.
Newly named and branded as the Cirque, Eckersall wants the event to be Burlington’s Nuit Blanche. A Call for Entries that will go out this week. There will be 30 installations in various spaces at the Village Square which Eckersall hopes will bring new life to a location that was once the artistic hub of the city.
Eckersall peeks into one of the locations she expects to use for the Cirque “installation art” event next September
The Square has languished for a number of years; it was put up for sale and then taken off the market. Eckersall will be working closely with Jack Friedman’s daughter Debra who recently closed the Artists Walk operation she ran for years.
Eckersall sees the Village Square as the local for the Cirque for at least five years – “After that” she said, “I’ve no idea where this project will go.” Eckersall added that the Art Centre has decided they want to use one of the 30 spaces for an “illustration” they want to create.
Eckersall is now in the process of raising the $50,000 it is going to take to get the event off the ground.
“We expect to have all the submissions in by around the middle of April and then we will see what we have in the way of concepts and begin developing sponsorships around them.” The Son of the Peach, an upscale pizzeria that will open soon, is sponsoring one of the instalations. This new restaurant will be right beside Pine, next to the Paradiso at the south end of the Village Square.
A Facebook page has been set – the Call for Entries will be at that location.
Home for a new upscale pizzeria – The Son of a Peach, the location will also host one of the installation art events next September.
Some of the sponsorships will come from the existing Village Square tenants said Eckersall who needs to determine just what they are comfortable with. Several of the “installations” at the waterfront were very avant-garde, almost aggressively so, which is what gave the event last year that wonderful edge it had.
The event will begin at 7 pm and run right through to 2 am. Should be enough time left to catch the last call at Honey West.
Working with Eckersall is Leila Hurley of the Downtown Business Development Association and Shannon Kitchings who sits on the Steering Committee of the Arts and Cultural Collective.
Background links:
Short show, stunning presentation – No Vacancy
