it’s the 10th year of the BIG 500, (also known as the BIG 100, 200, 300, and 400, til it got to be good enough to just say 500).
500+ artists of all types,genres,medium,skillset/level,amateur to pro and all those dreamers inbetween get to make art on wood panels (generally) and show them all at once in a large public place, (randomly mixed, no tags, so the art itself shows) with the business being that if you were to have $40, you could take it off the wall and buy it then and there. Artists get $30, and the house splits the rest to them and the Oregon Food Bank (which is also treated as a food drive, bring a can/donation for the show).
It’s a beautiful thing.
Every year, for me, it’s a stretch –getting the ideas, working the substrate (an 8″x8″ panel) applying the idea in an interesting way, usually experimenting with the medium, taking risks and being OK with process if not the product. Or, in TL;DR, there’s winners and losers every year, but it’s all good. Besides, I’m told we’re our own worst critic.
So, anyways, rough math is 500 (more like 600) artists making somewhere’s around 10 pieces each equals probably about 6000 works of art. complete and total eyeball saturation! Something for everyone, if not to buy, then to witness at least once in your life, the veritable brain salad of raw, art.
It’s a beautiful thing.
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larrychristensen 