Explore East Vancouver with the 2016 Eastside Culture Crawl - Now in its 20th Year! - Inside Vancouver BlogInside Vancouver Blog

Image courtesy of The Eastside Culture Crawl | Facebook.com

For those of us who are not artists, the creation of art is a mysterious and fascinating process. The Eastside Culture Crawl, now in its 20th year (!) is a highlight in November. The four day event gets you inside the art studios of local favourites to see where the magic happens.

If you’re looking for a new piece of art, some inspiration, or just an excuse to wander around the unique streets of the Strathcona neighbourhood, get set to take part in the Culture Crawl taking place from Thursday, November 17 – Sunday, November 20, 2016.

Image courtesy of Leah Gregg | Flickr.com

Starting with humble beginnings, The Eastside Culture Crawl officially began in 1997 with just 45 visual artists in 3 Strathcona area studio buildings and was attended by a few hundred people. Now, the event has grown substantially to include over 400 artists, craftspeople and designers, attracting an audience of more than 25,000 over the course of 4 days.

In 2016, there are 494 artists showcasing their art in 78 buildings across East Van. That seems like a lot of art to be seen, but when you’re on the crawl – it’s never enough!

Saturday and Sunday (Nov 19-20) are the prime days for crawling, and you’re going to want to make a plan if you want to tackle as many studios as possible. Most of the artists are concentrated in Stratchona (bordered by Main Street, Hastings, Clark Drive, and Terminal) but there are a few outliers in the Downtown Eastside, Commercial Drive, and Main Street areas. There’s a very handy virtual map to give you an idea of all the places to visit.

If you find yourself wandering Strathcona aimlessly, just look for the balloons at participating houses and signage for the crawl. It can be really fun to just go from house to house with no plan in mind. Some of the houses in Strathcona are as interesting as the art that lines their walls.

If you want to make it even more interesting, keep yourself hydrated at some of the local craft breweries in the surrounding areas. It’s also an opportunity to check out some of the murals that were created as part of the 2016 Vancouver Mural Fest.