Nextfest

I’d Walk 500 Miles (Whyte Avenue Art Walk)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

When I wake up, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you. When I go out, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you. If I sell art, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who sell art right next to you.

Edmonton is well known for it’s festivals and it even hosts events like Nextfest and The Works to help out burgeoning visual artists. These events are fantastic for exposing artwork at a gallery and curatorial level, but what they don’t do is address the part of art making that is ALWAYS on the mind of creative professionals.

How are we gonna get paid?

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Well truth be told, there are ways to achieve these results, but most of them require networking, whether that is through the traditional method of gallery representation, word-of-mouth, developing a virtual gallery online and pursuing networking opportunities through social media, or if you live in Edmonton, there is a special event every summer that serves as both sidewalk gallery and outdoors studio.

The particular festival is called The Whyte Art Walk. Sometimes known as The Art Walk by long-time fans.

With over 40,000 visitors Whyte Avenue becomes quite a sight to behold, catering to your production machine types to your contemporary subversives, Edmonton brings on the best and the brightest to show you a broad range of art. There is definitely something there for all of us.

Now for the hard part.

Unfortunately you just missed The Art Walk this year, as it already took place last weekend from July 8-10, but that doesn’t mean you can’t mark it on your calendar for next year! In 2017 The Art Walk will take place from July 7-9 inclusive, and it will run a 4km walk from 101 street all the way to 108 street and along Whyte avenue. Artists will also spill out into grassy areas like the Dr. Wilbert McIntyre park on 104 street and near The Station on 102 street.

It really is incredible to witness all of the hundreds of artists available to buy from and witness in the act of art making in the Old Strathcona area.

The event is organized by The Paint Spot, as it was cofounded by The Paint Spot and The Old Strathcona Foundation, this annual festival has now been running for over 20 years. And if YOU want to be part of The Art Walk, you should reach out to The Paint Spot team via The Art Walk website.

I hope you take a look dear readers, because The Art Walk isn’t just for you or me, it’s for the local community and a way to connect us all a little bit closer to the arts. But that’s just a theory. Have an excellent weekend and I’ll see you on Sunday for something rather stimulating.

Tim!

Talkin’ About My Generation (Nextfest 2016)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

It’s Thursday time! it’s Thursday time!

And you know what that means… personal updates, calendar occasions, or local events!

Let’s spin the wheel and find out. Tick, tick ticktick tick tick tickticktick ticktickticktickticktickticktick ticktick tick tick tick tick tick

And the wheel stops on local events!

Which is fantastic because I want to write about a local event today – it’s an event that started exactly one week ago and which will be wrapping up this Sunday, an event called Nextfest.

Nextfest is a multi-disciplinary event which showcases the talents of dancers, musicians, actors, writers, and visual artists. It has been around since 1996, which means this year marks the 20th anniversary of the festival.

Founded by Bradley Moss and now run by festival director Steve Pirot, Nextfest is a celebration of the next generation of artists. Those up-and-comers who are undiscovered and just sorting out their individual voices. It is a well known festival in the Edmonton arts community and if you are talented & lucky enough to be selected to participate, you just might be one of the 700+ artists that gets featured in the event.

To top it off, if you are a visual artist, you might even have the tremendous opportunity to grace the cover of the festival program. Which is pretty dang cool.

I’m probably going to date myself somewhat by writing this, but I remember when I think about this event I am transported right back to when I graduated from the UofA in 2007. 4 of my friends and members of my graduating class were invited to showcase their work in the exhibition and that was my first exposure to the festival. It was a lot of fun and the parties were fantastic. Then a couple of years past by and then my girlfriend at the time was also invited to exhibit her work, which gave me even more exposure to how the production worked and incredible amount of time spent by the artists and the festival organizers.

So when it came time to see my little brother participating on the theatre side even more years later, I had a deep respect for Nextfest and a belief in it’s inherent significance for the Edmonton landscape.

Which is why I decided that this year would be a great time for my re-entry into the mix and an opportunity to attend the Nextfest Visual Art Niteclub, a gallery event hosted within the larger framework of Nextfest and tonight happens to be THE best night to attend the gallery.

the Nextfest Visual Art Niteclub features art making all night, a play, live music, and performance art pieces for small audiences of 1 or a few. The event is licensed, all ages, and FREE. I’ve already been down to meet with the curator Steven Teeuwsen, and meet with one of the artists, who MAY be doing an interview with me shortly.

So come on down to Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre tonight and enter in the west door between RBC and Bonnie’s Lounge – It’s gonna be awesome. And that’s all I’ve got for this week folks, I’m out of theories, so I’ll see you on Sunday!

Tim!

Behind The Theories (timotheories June 2016)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Well we finally made it! We’re now into the 6th month of the year and I’ve got another fantastic monthly update for you, dear readers!

Yes, it’s time to unveil the show and give you a sneak peek of things to come in the month of June. We’ve already started things off right with a post about the importance of plans, and I think it’s a great indicator of the continued quality we are able to offer at timotheories.

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Before we get into the schedule though, I need to share my disclaimer with you. It’s old hat but always important as I don’t want to disappoint.

*Disclaimer* As always, every week I purchase an album and movie one week ahead of the actual review release and while I have the best intentions, I don’t always get what I want… so if you follow me on instagram (@timotheories) you can actually see what’s coming.

Great! Now we can get into the thick of it. And of course I’ve included the week of May 29-June 4 as a reference point, though you’ve already read my review on Eric Clapton’s new record and we’re in the midst of today’s post:

Stimulating Sundays – (06/05) David Wiens interview, (06/12) Cross Talk Ep.6, (06/19) Formalist Art, (06/26) Just In Time Games
Melodic Mondays – (06/06) Holy Fuck, (06/13) Paul Simon, (06/20) The Veronicas, (06/27) Radiohead
Theatrical Tuesdays – (06/07) Love In The Time of Monsters, (06/14) Zootopia, (06/21) 10 Cloverfield Lane, (06/28) Midnight Special
Wisdom Wednesdays – (06/01) Plan to Make Plans, (06/08) Multi-Tasking, (06/15) George Orwell, (06/22) Why You Must Keep A Journal, (06/29) Snopes
Timely Thursday – (06/02) timotheories June, (06/09) Nextfest, (06/16) Father’s Day, (06/23) The Works, (06/30) The Fast & The Furious

The year of all killer, no filler continues friends! Now I should warn you, I do have something extra special planned with the interviews going forward, and because we feature interviews on Sundays, I may or may not be pushing a few things around in the Sunday and Thursday posts to accommodate the influx of international artist Q&A opportunities, but more on that when it comes up.

This month’s Cross Talk is going to be an interesting one as Chris and I talk about how fandom can impact film and influence studio direction, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad.

You won’t want to miss it.
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And of course the David Wiens interview is forthcoming; now that will be a fantastic entry into the fold of existing timotheories interviews. It’s my most precise and informative interview yet, and with a sculptor of light, no less.

And now we’ve covered it all, my friends. Or have we?

I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but seriously been working the format over on the tabletop gaming series and I now have a serious partner to host with, and an excellent local location to shoot the videos, and it’s just in time.

And those are all of the theories I can come up with for now friends.

Please leave some comments, to let us know what you want to see in coming months and subscribe to the blog too!

Tim!