124 Street Provides an Enlightening Stroll With Art Galleries and More
Beauty meets the eye throughout a 12-block area just west of Edmonton’s downtown core district.
In this district, an annual 124 Street Gallery Walk takes place each year on a spring weekend in mid April, then once again in the fall on a weekend in mid October.
The Gallery Walk was initiated in 1981 to attract more people to downtown Edmonton, and the organized art stroll was the first of its kind in Canada. The event specifically promotes seven galleries that display artwork from artists of merit, focusing especially on works by Canadian artists.
The walk is ideally set along 124 Street, which is in the centre of a vital business community known for its many quality restaurants, clothing shops, entertainment venues and bookstores.
The seven member galleries on the walk are all easily accessible. The participating art destinations are Agnes Bugera Gallery Inc., Bearclaw Gallery, Electrum Design Studio, Peter Robertson Gallery, Scott Gallery, Tu Gallery and West End Gallery.
Although the spring and fall walks are specifically organized, the seven galleries encourage more group walks throughout the year and happily assist in the planning. Those individualized walks can be scheduled for schools, conventions or other specific groups.
And besides 124 Street, all of Edmonton continues to serve as a haven for up-and-coming artists, as well as established painters, sculptors and photographers. In fact, more than 60 new art galleries and public art exhibits in the Edmonton area were scheduled to open in 2009 alone.
Story by Kevin Litwin
