Centre panel: Lloyd Cooke in his tent with Cheryl and Danica
Riverdale Art Walk has GROWN since we last visited! The annual show created a city of tents in Jimmy Simpson park, absolutely stuffed with paintings, photographs and sculptures. Something for every taste, although I overheard an artist saying he hoped for more sales at some other venue. “Toronto sucks”, he opined. Evidently we buy more street eats than artworks.
On that note, I should observe that the Caplansky Smoked Meat truck (as seen on the CBC Dragon’s Den, being rejected) was doing a lot of business. Shops up and down Queen East were also displaying work and pulling in customers for their own wares.
Right in the thick of the tent city, we found our artist friend Lloyd Cooke manning one of the busier tents. Cheryl was standing by her man, bundling up wisely in layers of warm and waterproof clothing. Yesterday’s rainstorm had passed without harming any watercolours but it was still a bit chilly and overcast.
The show continues on Sunday, between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and the weather is supposed to be nicer than today’s (which actually wasn’t bad). There are some pretty good bands playing on Queen Street, too. Full marks to the Artists’ Network. They really pulled things together and their success is clear.