Atlantic Avenue Artwalk: stop in and say hello

"Construction of Time" by Donato Giancola

By Meredith Deliso

Artist Ellie Winberg once heard somewhere that there are more artists living in Brooklyn per square mile than anywhere else in the country.

However equivocal that statistic may be, “it really feels that way,” says the Park Slope-based artist, who has a studio in Carroll Gardens at 160 Union St.

On June 6 and 7, Brooklynites will have the opportunity to say hello to just some of those artists who live and work in the borough through the sixth annual Atlantic Avenue Artwalk, a studio tour along the cultural corridor of Atlantic Avenue spanning Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Downtown Brooklyn.


Over 200 artists, including Winberg, will open the doors to their studios, or occupy various businesses and vacant spaces, over the course of the weekend, providing non-traditional venues for artists to exhibit and people to see art, as well as link the neighborhood’s artist and business communities.

“Because the geography of these neighborhoods that run along Atlantic aren’t your typical art tour neighborhoods, say DUMBO or Williamsburg, we decided from the beginning to incorporate local businesses and merchants and have a way for a lot of different people to participate,” says Lisa Shimamura of Colabs on Atlantic Avenue, who founded the artwalk in 2004 when there were just 30 artists and the tour route was just half of what it is now (indeed, the tour stretches as far south of Atlantic as Union Street). “There’s that other kind of growth,” says Shimamura, “of just discovering people who are right here who we haven’t had a chance to meet yet.”

There is a strong sense of discovery inherent in the artwalk, of finding out there’s an artist working sometimes literally right under your nose.

“It’s not just a show, you’re going into someone’s life,” says sculptor Alex Racine, whose home/studio is at 477 Atlantic Avenue near Nevins Street (look for the little sculpture of a hand above the door). Racine, who just finished up a commission for Gourmet Garage in Manhattan, and whose work also includes the building facade at 694 Degraw Street, sometimes also brings viewers into his work.

“One year I saw a girl making fun of one of the sculptors. I asked her to pose, and she’s now one of my portraits,” said Racine. “It’s that kind of experience that’s priceless.”

Donato Giancola has been prone to including his family in the tour. His studio, at 397 Pacific Street near Bond, is covered with his two young daughters’ work, in addition to his own oil paintings and commissions for publishers, and last year he performed a live oil painting demonstration with his daughter Naomi as a muse. This year, he might have something similar planned.

“Cecilia might want to participate,” says Giancola of his younger daughter. “I might do a drawing demonstration. I found the oil painting was long and tedious in nature.”

Collagist and animator Mac Premo uses the annual artwalk as an opportunity to take stock of his work and reevaluate his “artist statement.”

“Inviting people into the space where you work, it forces you to reassess what you’re about,” says Premo, who shares his space with a children’s book author and a jeweler at 134 Nevins between Dean and Bergen. “As an artist, you tend to wonder what your role is and if you’re doing anything of value. Opening your doors can give you a sense of what kind of value you provide to the community.”

In addition to studio tours, as well as public mural projects, the Atlantic Avenue Artwalk live music all weekend, with, among others, free, outdoor public jazz performances through Connection Works, a Smith-street based non-profit that does music outreach programs in schools and undeserved communities. Though block parties are not an unusual sight in Brooklyn during the summer, for the first time, the artwalk will hold a block party on Nevins between Atlantic and Pacific, too, with music and artist exhibitions. Local restaurants and bars will also be getting in on the action, offering special promotions and happy hour pricing all weekend.

While the Atlantic Avenue Artwalk certainly isn’t the only studio tour in town (Carroll Gardens and Red Hook will have its own through the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition just the weekend prior, on May 30 and 31), it’s certainly one of the biggest, and shows a growing need for artists to find non-traditional, informal ways to show their work.

“I think there is a trend of so many more artwalks because there is a need for people to be able to share their work in this way,” says Shimamura. “By opening doors to studios or doing work in the public setting, viewers are able to live with art or experience art in an unexpected setting.”

The artists, for one, are grateful.

“It’s great to be a part of something that’s becoming a repeating thing that people look forward to,” says Premo. “It’s having a true foothold in the community.”

The Atlantic Avenue Artwalk take place June 6 and 7 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free. For more information, including tour maps and artist information, go here.