Vancouver, the newest member of the BC Ale Trail, is about to host the 21st annual Eastside Culture Crawl.
This four-day visual-arts festival, running Nov. 16-19 and featuring more than 500 artists across 80 buildings in Vancouver’s Eastside, is not to be missed if you’re in town and a fan of both the arts and craft beer.
“The event is focused on the area bounded by Columbia Street, 1st Avenue, Victoria Drive and the Waterfront and involves painters, jewellers, sculptors, furniture makers, weavers, potters, printmakers, photographers, glassblowers; from emerging artists to those internationally established,” organizers say.
Wonderful. However, art crawling makes me thirsty. Luckily, the ECC happens to take place within one of the densest (and walkable) areas for breweries in BC, known as Yeast Van. Seven Vancouver Ale Trail breweries fall inside the event boundaries — including the three featured below.
Tradition and creativity, strange and extraordinary
Strange Fellows Brewing, an ECC event sponsor, will be hosting a printmaking workshop on Nov. 18 and 19 from 1-4 p.m.
Christine Moulson, the talented artist behind Strange Fellows’ branding, says: “You may or may not know that all of our brand imagery are hand-carved block prints. So in the spirit of the Eastside Culture Crawl of exposing folks to artistic processes, I will be showing those interested how to make a block print.
“For kids, it will be a simple relief printing technique using foam and no sharp tools, and for older kids and adults, I will be showing them how to make a linocut print.”
For something less hands on, Strange Fellows is running a video project on its screen in the tasting room, which is a series of short, silent films. The Charles Clark Gallery adjoining the tasting room is currently exhibiting Small Portrait Work by Richard Cole.
The tasting room will be featuring the brewery’s vintage bottle list, which includes beers from the Fellowship membership program and other rarities, along with its stellar regular lineup — ranging from the popular Talisman West Coast Pale Ale and Nocturnum Dark IPA to the Penelope the Tart and Coup de Foudre sours, Bayard Saison and the roasty, warming Boris Arabica Stout.
Four beer brands, Three Views under one roof
An easy 15-minute walk down Clark Drive takes you to Callister Brewing Co, a brewery incubator that’s essentially like visiting four breweries at one.
In its tasting room gallery space, Callister is displaying the “Three Views” contemporary art show, presented by Goldmoss Satellite Studio, featuring Lee Roberts (sculptor and mixed media artist), Bon Roberts (painter and fine art photographer) and Jonathan Dy (photographer and painter).
The opening reception is Friday, Nov. 17, 5-10 p.m., and the artists will be in attendance. If you’re a regular visitor to Callister then you’ll likely remember seeing the beautiful and striking pieces from these artists.
To quench your thirst while taking in the exhibit you might want to check out the new beer releases from Callister’s four brewing teams: Midnight in Peru coffee porter from Callister Brewing, Shot in the Dark coffee milk stout with cherry from MorningStar Brewing, English Strong SMaSH from Real Cask, and Pidwidgeon classic Northwest IPA from Night Owl Brewing.
Colombian culture, British Columbian craft beer
Just five minutes away on Powell and McLean is Andina Brewing Co. Portside Studios, on the second floor above the brewery, is the home of 901 Artists Cooperative, a non-profit group of visual artists with a mandate to provide affordable studio space, which is currently featuring 17 artists.
To quench your thirst after Portside, head downstairs to Andina to try its newly released Mapalé Milk Stout. Show them a purchase from Portside and you’ll get a bonus pint!
Andina will also have a special lunch menu available Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. for $12, with $1 off your accompanying beer. The regular menu applies for Saturday and Sunday — meaning flavourful South American fare such as ceviche, chifles and arepas.
Also on the Vancouver Ale Trail and nestled among the Eastside Culture Crawl’s vast network of studios are Off the Rail Brewing, Bomber Brewing, Powell Brewery and Parallel 49 Brewing. For more information on the galleries, exhibits or artists mentioned, visit the official Eastside Culture Crawl website.
