Money is not a barrier to local artists

Posted Jan 5, 2012 By Michael J Brethour

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EMC Lifestyles - Belleville - Art from an alternative perspective.

That's the idea behind the newly formed artists group called Artists Below the Line which is comprised of a dozen artists who live within their means, economically speaking, and who will display their unique art at the end of next month.

Frustrated by the lack of venues for artists seeking to have their work seen, especially venues for artists without a great deal of disposable income, the group found inspiration by an art show hosted by Kingston Street Health called Art in the Street last year.

Kenny Leighton, Lisa Morris and Peter Paylor joined by a few others from the friendly city participated in the show which accepted the artists' work and framed the pieces for the artists which were featured in the show.

"They put on the show, rented the space, brought in food and put on a big opening. For the most part these are people from the streets and people with a variety of issues. On opening night you could just see them vibrating, that night they were not clients, street people, survivors or consumers, they were artists. The place was packed, the artists were all there, people were all talking to them and they felt like a million bucks," explained Paylor.

After the show, the Belleville group decided the model of the Kingston show is exactly what they wanted for their show.

Brainstorming for venues, the loosely formed group decided to talk to the administration at the Core Centre at the former Belleville Public Library, mostly as Paylor noted, "We had no idea what went on there."

"They were totally supportive. The day we walked in they gave us a three-hour tour of the facility and welcomed our idea," said Paylor. "We walked in and said we are artists, we want to do a show, we don't know what or how it will look."

Though it has not been confirmed the group hopes to hold the opening of the show February 29 and subsequent weeks within the old Parrott Gallery.

"Oddly enough that is the only area that the Core has not renovated yet, so it is a perfect place," he said.

The group asserts that the work will be of an inspirational variety that local art lovers will have not seen before.

"We don't have anybody that is going to do a country road with beautiful leaves and everything, though that is totally legitimate work, that is not our reality," explained Leighton.

But why not approach the community of artists already developed within Belleville? Paylor explained that like it or not it is about economics.

"There is no place in town for people of limited means to show art," he stated. "We have quite a few galleries in town, but for the most part they are inaccessible to most of us."

He noted that current venues require a financial contribution, something almost out of the question for struggling artists.

He said that in the local area there are a lot of people doing incredibly creative work.

"Work that people just don't get to see. The reason is that there are a lot of people that don't fit into the current model, not to disparage the other art organizations in town, but for the most part it is a money or middle class thing. It is easier if you can afford to frame your work and make it look pretty, to make it look like the kind of thing people want to see," explained Paylor.

The formation of the group, comprised of roughly a dozen members, is not a shot against any other organization, Morris said the group fills a much needed niche.

"We're not pointing our finger at anything that is wrong, there just needs to be something is different," said Morris.

Costs of framing the artists' works are being handled by donations the group receives from community sources.

She also noted that observing the success of last year's Art Walk and Door Open event, the Artists Below The Line (ABTL) show will run in conjunction with the first annual Belleville International Documentary Film Festival, Downtown DocFest. The event will hold its gala opening at the Empire Theatre on March 2, 2012, with plans to screen more than 30 international, national and local films over the weekend of March 2 and 3.

The criteria to become a member of the new group is simple. "Anyone can join, to be a member of the organization you have to be living, working, playing, or being educated within the Quinte region," Paylor explained.

The one stipulation for membership is the artists need to identify themselves as an individual of limited means, though documentation for that claim is not required. "We try not to use the word poverty at any point, but it is there, it is understood," he said.

For more information on the upcoming show or to inquire about more information on ABTL e-mail them at .




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