Arts Council lights up James St. for a Night of Art
Chris Illich

Now on its fourth run, the annual James Street Night of Art plans to illuminate the street and hopefully help people understand the importance of art in public places.
The free event, held by the St. Catharines and Area Arts Council, will take place on Friday, Oct. 16 from 6 – 9 p.m., and features 18 storefronts and restaurants from St. Paul St. to King St. – aiming to bring the many different demographics that St. Catharines has to offer into the arts community for an evening consisting of various forms of art.
Last year, James Street Night of Art had over 200 visitors to the diverse venues throughout the night, and Executive Director Patti Broughton, hopes that this year’s event will encourage St. Catharines’ community to realize how much of an impact art culture can have over a city.
“There are a lot of things happening in arts and culture in Niagara. I think our business community is starting to really recognize how arts and culture can revitalize the downtown core and community in general,” said Broughton. “James Street Night of Art really shows how that is possible.”
This year’s event features a plethora of artistic disciplines; ranging from rock bands, to theatre groups, book and poetry readings and several forms of visual art – such as video artists, painters, sculptors and two dance companies. The event promises to be something that anyone can enjoy, due to its increasing amount of familial content.
“The event is a great opportunity for young people to experience art. Former St. Catharines’ radio announcer Frank Proctor [will be reading] The Day the Welland Canal Monster Met Santa. It’s a 30-year-old story that he wrote for Niagara children and he’s reprinting it,” said Broughton. “The really interesting thing about the reading is that he is doing it in Fight Fit, a boxing ring,”
“That’s what is really fun about the James Street Night of Art, artists can work in spaces that they wouldn’t ordinarily. It gives them a chance to create some new work in new ways. It’s a lot of fun for both the artists and audiences,” said Broughton.
There are many reasons why both students and adults should attend the event. This year’s James Street Night of Art also features several contributions from the Brock community. Gregory Betts, Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature at Brock, will be hosting a continuous open mic poetry reading at Find Grind Cafe.
In addition to this, Dave Allen’s The Kempenfelts will be performing at Coffee Culture, and another Brock-based group named Talk in Blue will be performing at BBBlooms throughout the night.
Nathan Heuvingh, a Studies of Arts and Culture student at Brock, will be performing with Talk in Blue, but he also had a substantial role in aiding the production of James Street Night of Art. Heuvingh, who is also a volunteer at the St. Catharines and Area Arts Council, decided to get involved with the arts community and couldn’t be more pleased with the amount of experience he has received from his participation in the project.
“I’ve been part of the whole planning process, which we’ve been doing for a few months now. We’ve basically been meeting and going down the lists of what to do, and what needs to be done,” he said.
“I think there is a lack of space for artists to go, outside of downtown. James St. was chosen so it was easy for people to move from venue to venue,” said Heuvingh. “Working on this project has been a really great experience for me. I think it’s going to be good to have all the artists together and I hope it will really bring the community together and expose those artists who might not have had a chance otherwise. ”
James Street Night of Art takes place on Friday, Oct. 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in downtown St. Catharines.