Alton Mills calling on all local artists to compete in upcoming Art Battle

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

Alton Mills strives to allow local artists to promote their work and make the world known of their talent.

Art Battle was initially established in 2001 in New York City by Sean Bono who has strived to advance live art competition. But, the Art Battle Tournament first took place in Toronto by Simon Plashkes who works alongside Art Battle communities from around the world to help and celebrate local artists. 

The Art Battle Tournament includes 12 local artists who perform in three 20-minute rounds. The first round includes six artists who compete against each other, in which two winners are selected by the audience. Those winners move to the third and final round. The same thing for the second round, two winners are chosen by the audience and move on to the third round where the winners compete, where a final winner will be chosen and announced.

 The winners are chosen by members of the community, artist judges and social media. Residents of the local communities gather to cheer on the artists and to watch their art come to life in this artistic, eventful evening.

This will be the second year Art Battle will take place in Caledon, after Samantha King discovered the event in Mississauga and decided to bring it to the local community. 

“I just happened upon going to an event probably six years ago now. It was a great event. I had a friend that ended up being picked as a wild card and competed. I have a number of friends that are painters and they started to compete in events all over the place,” explained King. “The Alton Mill did have Art Battle a couple of years ago. They had a round of them previously and so I had a friend that painted at that as well, and then I approached them to bring it to Brampton initially, and I did a series of nine events in Brampton three years ago.”

She added, “I began working at the Alton Mills separately in the summer and because of my previous experience with Art Battle, and because it fits the Mill perfectly, I decided to approach the Mill and ask if they'd like to bring it back, especially since they've already participated in Art Battle in the past.”

The tournament encourages artists of all ages to come and compete. 

“There's something for everyone and I find that a lot of people who are perhaps intimidated by art or haven't found that they've been able to engage or find art resonate with them before, find the experience in Art Battle, because you actually get to watch somebody create something in front of you. It allows people to interact with art in a completely different way,” said King.

Competition is tough. There are specific rules, the pressure of being judged by several people, and the fear of not doing as well as you'd hoped. But, the Art Battle holds a completely different aura of competition. Though there are judges, and several rounds and winners at the end, this type of event allows local artists to show off the talent, to allow the public to witness what they're able to do with a canvas and art utensils. 

“There is an element of intimidation that people have to get over, because initially when you live competitive, do you think competition? I think people put up a wall of fear, but it is a lot more casual and fun,” said King. “The competitive element is there, but it's very accepting. All of the artists of all the events, end up getting to know each other, and doing things later on down the road together. It's a way to promote yourself, but also to connect with others.” 

The Alton Mill is proud to host the Art Battle and is excited for artists and members of the community to enjoy an evening of artistic talent and competition.

“Art Battle is a really fun and entertaining form of art in action and we hope it will attract a good audience. I will add that part of the event that's very cool is the music that accompanies the artists while they paint,” said co-founder of Alton Mill Arts Centre, Jeremy Grant. 

The Art Battle Tournament is taking place on three different dates beginning Feb 16 at the Alton Mill Arts Centre at 2 p.m. following with March 15 and April 5. 

For more information about the Art Battle Tournament to apply to compete, please visit altonmill.ca.