The Battle Rages On!
Brantford, specifically The Rope Factory, will once again be hosting Art Battle® on Thursday, July 5th for the Southwestern Ontario Finals! Presented by Murky Productions, Paint-Club and The Rope Factory, Art Battle Brantford has had 3 previous battles over the past year.
During the course of the evening, twelve Painters create the best work they can across three timed rounds and as they work, the audience continually moves around the easels , allowing them an up close view of the creative process. The only medium used is acrylic paint and the tools allowed are brushes, palette knives or any other non-mechanical implements. At the end of the round, the audience votes for their favorite painting and the top 2 artists move on to the Final Round with a new canvas. The top 4 artists from the two rounds then square off for the final round and the winner moves on to the regional battle. Audiences can also place bids in a silent auction to take the paintings home at the end of the night. There is no theme and Artists are not limited in subject matter.
Art Battles are unique, live competitive painting events that take place in cities across the world. The Art Battle craze was begun in Toronto by Chris Pemberton and Simon Plashkes in 2009. Since then there has been an event at The Great Hall on Queen Street West every month.
There have been 3 battles in Brantford over the last year and they have become very popular locally, with sold out events ever since. These events are a wonderful evening of creativity and community, with audience vote determining the winner who will represent the region against painters from all across Canada. It is a licensed event, however, all ages are welcome to come and watch as professional artists do their best in 20 minutes. It is a great opportunity for enthusiasts of all ages to see the creative process in action.

Dave McCreary paints in – March 2018. Art Battle Brantford. Photo credit: Belinda Bee Clements
Brantford’s latest AB winner, Dave McCreary is one of the artists who will be representing Brantford at this battle – his quirky and hilarious cartoons were a fixture for several years in the Brant News. In his other roles, he is the Media Arts teacher at BCI where aside from being an awesome mentor, he heads the Cross Cuts Film Festival and is also a participant in the Holmedale Art Crawl. His talents are showcased in a brow wiping frenzy as he competes for top spot once again!
Other participants in the regional finals include:
Robyn Robinson, Gale Lemery, Thomas Lavoie, Christina Devries, Raven Wilkins, Robyn Lightwalker, Barbara Rusnak, Ralph Wall, Jay Ramdhanie, Stefan Simonovic, and Suzanne Earls .
Winning Artists from events this season in Brantford, Norfolk County, London, and Kitchener paint again with hopes of earning a spot at The National Championship in Toronto.
There are still a few tickets available for a wonderful evening of creativity and community – a live painting tournament showcasing regional artists and connecting Brantford through the arts to towns and cities around the world.
Art Battle Brantford is proudly sponsored by: The Crew / Real Estate and Crazy Bill’s! Music provided by: NMEdj of Pynx Productions! Doors open at 6pm and the painting begins at 7 – 10pm. Please note that this is not a sit-down event. Tickets are available here.
Banner and poster photo credit: Dellisart, Dean Ellis
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