There’s a new art gallery in town and they want to make their mark on Red Deer by lighting up the night with Nuit Blanche.
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night or nighttime arts festival, said Organizer Luke Whittle.
“Nuit Blanche has been running for quite a few decades set up in Paris to bring arts and culture to the streets.”
The event will be set up in the alleyway behind the gallery, A Whittle Piece of U at 4732 50th St. and will extend west.
Currently, Whittle said they are just waiting on their permits to come back to allow them to close down the alleyway.
“Right now we have about 30 artisans involved and we are just waiting to confirm final numbers. The final date for artisans to register is Sept. 6.”
There will be all different forms of art including projections of digital imagery projected onto the walls, photography, as well as performing arts displays.
“The artists involved with the gallery will be there and there will be all sorts of interactive and visual arts.”
The event runs from 7 p.m. to midnight on Sept. 21 and Whittle said it is definitely a family-friendly event.
“It falls on a Saturday and we are going to have things for the kids from about 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.”
Nuit Blanche has never been held in Red Deer but Whittle said he hopes it becomes an annual event.
“It usually runs in Calgary and Edmonton, but we’ve just found out it won’t be running in Calgary this year so we are hoping to get a hold of them and see if some of their artisans will come up and join us.”
It is a not-for-profit, free to the public event and Whittle said everyone is welcome to come down and take part.
The Downtown Business Association has been on board with the project and is thrilled to be bringing a lively event such as this to the City.
“We did originally plan to do it on the streets but it was just too big so we decided to bring it to an alleyway and utilize the lighting to make it have more impact.”
Businesses will be offered to keep their doors open late and there will be some food trucks present at the event as well.
The gallery, A Whittle Piece of U, has been up and running in Red Deer for two months and was designed to showcase local artisans and their works.
“A lot of my friends are artists that we started with and we have just been building clientele since.”
The gallery has everything from locally made jewellery to clothing, wall décor and accessories.
Whittle said they are slowly building up to do indoor markets and the first one will be hosted at the gallery on Sept. 5.
For more information on Nuit Blanche visit www.nuitblanchereddeer.com or for information on the gallery visit A Whittle Piece of U on facebook.
kpalardy@reddeerexpress.com