James North: Neighbourhood of the Arts
A PLACE WHERE CREATIVITY LIVES
Since 2010, Supercrawl has showcased visual art installations in a variety of media, including projects and artwork by Hiba Abdallah, Kim Adams, Donna Akrey, Mark Ainslie, Asli Alin, All Our Relations Collective, Jaime Angelopoulos, Arts For All, Sonny Assu, C.R. Avery, Nedda Baba, Mary Anne Barkhouse, BecauseDesignMatters, Sarah Beck, Monique Aura Bedard, Beehive Craft Collective, Connor Bennett, BGL, Kiera Boult, David Brooks, Adam David Brown, Lea Bucknell, Dawn Hackett Burns, Nathan Eugene Carson, Tia Cavanagh, Tracie Ching, Jefferson Campbell-Cooper, Roy Caussy, Clear Eyes Collective, David Collier, Cesar C. Cordoba, Vanessa Crosbie Ramsay, Adrienne Crossman, Nathan Cyprys, Marco D’Andrea, Shayne Dark, Tanya Davis, Sara Deck, John Dickson, Eric Drass, dpai architecture, Dean Drever, Jason Edmiston, En Masse, Justin Erickson, Simon Frank, Jason Freiburger, Frenly, Melissa General, Shlomi Greenspan, Group of 7 Billion, Ann Marie Hadcock, Anthony Haley, Anitra Hamilton, Hamilton Perambulatory Unit, John Haney, Adad Hannah, Sandi Hartling, Alexa Hatanaka, Robert Hengeveld, Dave Hind, Katie Huckson, Alicia Hunt, Natalie Hunter, Alex Jacobs-Blum, Erika James, Carey Jernigan, Thea Jones, Svava Thordis Juliusson, kírkē, Koe Design, Jason Krugman, Leafton Labs, Ness Lee, Maria Legault, Gareth Lichty, Little Dada and the Boys, Tor Lukasik-Foss, Drew MacEachern, Vincent Marcone, Kelly Mark, Laura Marotta, Sean Martindale, Christopher McLeod, Nancy Anne McPhee, Andrew McPhail, Robert Michael, Zeke Moores, Chrix Morix, Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas, Marie-Jeanne Musiol, Shelley Niro, Susy Oliveira, Andrew Owen, Patrick Paine, Megan Press, Mark Prier, Sean Procyk, Nathalie Quagliotto, Red Tree Collective, Paige Reynolds, Jim Riley, Mitch Robertson, Jessica A. Rodríguez, Matt Rogalsky, Al Runt, Dustin Seabrook, Shake-n-Make, Chris Shepherd, Coral Short, Kimber Sider, Site 3 Fire Arts, Skawennati, Stephanie Springgay, St Marie φ Walker, stylo starr, Jordyn Stewart, Kyle Stewart, Max Streicher, Kearon Roy Taylor, Tyler Tekatch, Reece Terris, TH&B, Alison Thompson, Patrick Thompson, Matt Ryan Tobin, Kevin Tong, José Luis Torres, Brandon Vickerd, Matthew Walker, C. Wells, Elinor Whidden, Peter Michael Wilson, Tom Wilson, and Shellie Zhang. That roster will expand with the release of details around the 17th annual edition of Supercrawl in June 2025.
Supercrawl provides opportunities to local, regional and national artists and performers at both early and established stages of their practices. An annual call for submissions is issued to invite proposals from artists working in a variety of media.
Art-loving festival-goers will also find numerous gallery spaces and artists’ studios in and around Supercrawl’s neighbourhood, including Art Gallery of Hamilton, The Assembly, B-SIDE, Centre[3], Coloma Studio, Gallery 4 Annex, Melanie Gillis Studio, Hamilton Artists Inc., HCA Gallery, Mills Hardware, RE-Create Outreach Art Studio, Studio on James, The Studios at Hotel Hamilton, Workers Arts and Heritage Centre and You Me Gallery.
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TOP TO BOTTOM: Dean Drever, Bear Hunt, at Supercrawl 2014; Max Streicher, Giants Ascending, at Supercrawl 2011
Video shot on location at Supercrawl 2019 by Thrillhouse Studios
Massive Thanks!
Massive thanks to everyone who came out for Supercrawl 2024. You made the festival’s 16th anniversary especially sweet and proved beyond question that Hamilton is a creative, dynamic, welcoming community.
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s Supercrawl real: To our volunteers, staff, artists, vendors, and everyone who dug deep, filled their art with love, and worked incredibly hard to make this festival special. To the residents and merchants of our amazing neighbourhood for their generous hospitality. And, of course, thank you to the festival-goers of all ages — more than 285,000 — who came from far and wide and embraced all of it.
Mark your calendars for the next edition of Supercrawl, returning to James North September 12-14, 2025!
Supercrawl Reveals 2024 Festival Lineup
Supercrawl organizers have unveiled the festival lineup for the 2024 free festival weekend, taking place September 13-15, 2024 along James Street North in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, made possible by presenting sponsor TD Bank Group (TD).
Supercrawl’s schedule and festival map will be released in the last week of August.
Musical performers at Supercrawl 2024 (in alphabetical order) will include Matt Andersen & The Big Bottle of Joy, The Anti-Queens, A Side B Side, Rich Aucoin, Bend It Like Beck, Born In The Eighties, Boys and Girls Club, Colour Film, Charlotte Cornfield, Danko Jones, The Dears, Elliott Brood, Ellis, Explosions in the Sky, Golden Feather, Hamilton Children’s Choir, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Hamilton Superstars (featuring Steve Strongman, Dawn Tyler Watson, Roly Platt, Alfie Smith, Joel Parisien, Colin Lapsley, and Dave King), Haters, iskwē, Jambassadors, Kaïa Kater, Mia Kelly, Kellie Loder, Matthew Runaway, MonkeyJunk, MOONRIIVR, My Son the Hurricane, Peter Dreams, Rise Carmine, Royal Castles, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Sadies, Jamie Shea & the Gentle Reminders, Superstar Crush, The Wild High, Yassin + Sean Terrio, and Zeus.
Supercrawl will host an interactive residency from globally acclaimed Squonk, who made their festival debut in 2022 to popular acclaim. The Pittsburgh-based post-industrial art rock performance troupe will be presenting their new production Brouhaha, an immersive outdoor spectacle bursting with rollicking music, dazzling imagery, and the thrill of audience participation.
In addition, the festival will feature:
• visual art installations from Arts For All, BecauseDesignMatters, Nathan Eugene Carson, Clear Eyes Collective, Cesar C. Cordoba, Frenly, Anthony Haley, Koe Design, Leafton Labs, Little Dada and the Boys, Chrix Morix, Open Window Artist Talks, and Stylo Starr;
• fashion showcases from Amici, Ashes, The Better Days Club, Certitude by K, Dope Chief, The Eye Of Faith, HeyHey & Co., Kandy Intimates, Mooncraft Market, The Muses, RoyalTeeP33, sariKNOTsari, Steel City Slither, Supercrawl Cosplay Showcase, Theatrix Costume House, and True Hamiltonian;
• dance from Defining Movement Dance, Garba Groovers, Omega Dance, RXD, Schiehallion Dancers, and Tocani;
• theatre from Catherine Allen & Tarah Ahmad, Emerson Arts, Make Art Theatre, and Carly Pokoradi.
• author talks and spoken word from Gary Barwin, Raymond Beauchemin, Gloria Blizzard, Lana Button, Kate Cayley, Steacy Easton, Dustin Galer, Ai Jiang, David Neil Lee, George Matuvi, Paige Maylott, Lishai Peel, Deepa Rajagopalan, Aimee Reid, Jessica Rose, Nicola Ross, Nicholas Ruddock, Jamie Tennant, Brent van Staalduinen, Anuja Varghese, A.G.A. Wilmot, and Nicola Winstanley;
• plus Hamilton Pro Wrestling, James North Yoga, The Local Invitational Skate Competition, MovementOM, and Sapphyre Poison Drag Xtravaganza.
Supercrawl will also offer dozens of food trucks, scores of craft vendors, plus a Family Zone packed with creative options for children and youth. Announcements on all three will follow shortly.
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Supercrawl is Hamilton’s premier multi-arts festival, fusing new and independent music with art installations, fashion, performance, literature, theatre, and artisanal craft. Supercrawl’s diverse multidisciplinary program of sound, performance, visual and media arts is staged along a pedestrian-only creative corridor in the heart of downtown.
A not-for-profit arts organization, Supercrawl is committed to honouring, showcasing and celebrating all varieties of creative work, positioning local and emerging artists alongside significant provincial, national and international peers. The festival fosters and promotes arts and culture as well as the myriad benefits they provide.
Founded in 2009, Supercrawl has successfully evolved from a modest arts-based single-day occurrence to a multi-day event with national/international profile and attendance. The festival has gone from a one-day celebration on a single block to a weekend-long experience encompassing over two kilometres of downtown streets, with attendance growing steadily from 3,000 to over 275,000 in that time. In addition to its namesake free festival weekend, Supercrawl Productions also produces ticketed concerts and events throughout the year.
Supercrawl was shortlisted for a 2019 Ontario Tourism Award of Excellence for Tourism Event of the Year and 2017 Canadian Tourism Award for Event of the Year. The festival received the 2015 Ontario Tourism Award of Excellence for Tourism Event of the Year and has been repeatedly recognized as one of Festival and Events Ontario’s Top 100 Festivals/Events (2015-2020, 2023-2024). In 2019, Supercrawl’s Family Zone programming earned a Festivals & Events Ontario Achievement Award for Best Youth Initiative.
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Supercrawl’s schedule and festival map will be released in the last week of August.
Supercrawl 2024 Call For Artists – Now Closed
Supercrawl is a free annual outdoor art and music festival held in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, showcasing a diverse and dynamic lineup of music, art, fashion, performance, talks, crafts, food and fun. In 2023, Supercrawl covered 22 city blocks and attracted more than 275,000 visitors over the course of the weekend. Organizers look forward to building upon that foundation at this fall’s festival — Supercrawl’s 16th anniversary — taking place September 13-15, 2024 on James Street North.
Calls for Artists for the 2024 edition of Supercrawl are now closed. Thanks to all who applied.
Please do not contact organizers regarding the results of your application before they are communicated to you. When decisions are made, you will be contacted.
Only materials as part of the official application will be considered. Third-party petitions, social media polls, gimmicky marketing campaigns, cold calls and the like will not favourably impact your likelihood of having a successful application. To the contrary: Attempts to influence curation will be counterproductive.
Please do not telephone, text, direct message, or use social media comments for artist-related requests/communications. All official communications will be conducted via email only.
Call for Volunteers will open in June.
Details on the first-come, first served Supermarket program will be announced September 1.
Follow our socials (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) or watch our website for more details!
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Supercrawl was founded out of a desire to showcase the city’s cultural vibrancy and eclectic arts landscape, and remains dedicated to honouring, showcasing and celebrating all varieties of creative work. Supercrawl prioritizes curating a diverse and representative festival lineup. We recognize our responsibility to amplify voices that have traditionally been marginalized, both in our community and in society as a whole.
Supercrawl is committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. We strive to create an environment in which all participants may flourish. We are committed to removing systemic barriers to access and opportunity, and welcome artistic proposals from all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, or economic status. We welcome submissions from artists of all backgrounds, including but not limited to Indigenous, Black, people of colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, women, people with disabilities, and members of equity-seeking communities.
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Supercrawl Unveils New Public Art
AUGUST 20, 2023
Supercrawl is pleased to announce the unveiling of two large-scale public works of art now on display in downtown Hamilton. On August 28, 2023, Reckoning, a digital collage work by artist stylo starr, was installed on the south facade of 118 James Street North. A short distance to the southwest, Nathan Eugene Carson‘s painting The Conversation was installed in a new location, on the south facade of 91 James Street North, on August 29, 2023. The artworks are presented as part of Supercrawl’s 2023 Visual & Public Art programming and will be on display for a year.
stylo starr, Reckoning, 2023, digital collage Image Credit: stylo starr. Image courtesy of the artist
stylo starr
Reckoning, 2023, digital collage
Artist Statement: I create intuitively, and believe there is a visual alchemy that happens in the process of cut and paste. I am energized by the tactility of old books, magazines, scrap paper or other found materials, and I appreciate collage for its accessibility. Working digitally unlocks a whole other way of approaching collage that further motivates me to stretch my imagination as I muse on possible futures. The focus of my work is the elevation of Black people and asserting our existence in fantasy and the future. I remove all spatial and temporal references. Challenges of limited representation are often encountered while sourcing material – not to mention the potential of engaging with historically harmful sources. These challenges are often met through experimentation with photography and digital collage as a solution. In either practice, the subject ultimately is recontextualized and appointed the power of
the gaze. The subject is Divine.
Artist Biography: stylo starr is a collage artist whose work centres nature, fantasy and the Afrofuture. Her work is driven by the observation and integration of fine layered detail in a collaboration with her deep amateur interests in astrology, crystals, herbalism, lepidopterology and the metaphysical – all of which are frequently explored in her collages. stylo’s art reflects beauty and power, and she believes prominent and positive representation of Blackness in the arts is critical and necessary. stylo has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Art Gallery of Burlington among others and is an emerging curator and arts educator. She also facilitates creative mindfulness workshops open to a variety of age groups and experiences both in-person and online. stylo is based in her hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas, where she works and lives with her feline companion, Samo.
Presented by Supercrawl in partnership with McMaster Museum of Art and McMaster University
Nathan Eugene Carson, The Conversation, 2023, painting. Photo Credit: Jonathan Groeneweg. Image courtesy of the artist
Nathan Eugene Carson
The Conversation, 2023, painting
Artist Statement: My artistic practice is focus on creating individual and bodies of work that inspire, inform, and invigorate both the viewer and myself to meditate on the beauty existing in the world. My process focuses on the reclamation of discarded materials such as paper, cardboard, and paint, and non-traditional materials such as gift cards, plastics, take-out food containers etc. Reclaiming, repurposing and repairing are important parts of my practice ensuring that the artwork created is truly “something out of nothing” giving materials a new sense of purpose and new life in the form of artworks. The subject matter within my art varies with thematic seasons of creation, however the focus on these reclaimed materials remains consistent throughout. Every finished work of art conveys that a life or soul has been breathed into it, magically reincarnated, and then the work is complete.
Artist Biography: Nathan Eugene Carson (b. 1980, lives and works in Hamilton, Ontario) received a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2005. His drawings and paintings have since been shown at Verso Gallery, Lennox Contemporary, Gallery One, and the Drake Hotel in Toronto. Carson’s work was also featured during the AGO First Thursdays in partnership with the RBC Emerging Artists Projects and StreetARToronto. In 2016, he was part of an exhibition titled Ponto, the first of several held at Hamilton’s Oswald Gallery. Other group exhibitions include Free Fall (2016) and Worked Over (2017), both at Oswald Gallery, as well as 100 Paintings (2019) at The Carnegie Gallery, Dundas, Ontario, and Cut From The Same Cloth (2021) at the Power Plant Toronto, Ontario. His most recent solo exhibition Black Carnival (2022-23) and artist residency took place at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
nathaneugenecarson.ca
Presented by Supercrawl in partnership with McMaster Museum of Art and McMaster University
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ABOUT SUPERCRAWL
A not-for-profit arts organization situated within the traditional territories of the Erie, Chonnonton (Neutral), Wendat, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee nations, Supercrawl is committed to honouring, showcasing and celebrating all varieties of creative work. Positioning local and emerging artists alongside significant provincial, national and international peers, the festival fosters and promotes arts and culture as well as the myriad benefits they provide.
Presented by TD Bank Group (TD) as part of the TD Ready Commitment to amplify diverse voices, Supercrawl is Hamilton’s premier multi-arts festival, fusing new and independent music with art installations, fashion, performance, literature, theatre, and artisanal craft. Supercrawl’s diverse multi-disciplinary program of sound, performance, visual and media arts is staged along a pedestrian-only creative corridor in the heart of downtown.
Since 2010, Supercrawl’s Visual Arts programming has showcased upwards of 100 artists and featured visual art installations in a variety of media. Supercrawl provides opportunities to local, regional and national artists and performers at both early and established stages of their practices. An annual call for submissions is issued to invite proposals from artists working in a variety of media, and art-lovers will also find roughly two dozen gallery spaces and artists’ studios in and around Supercrawl’s neighbourhood.
Supercrawl was shortlisted for a 2019 Ontario Tourism Award of Excellence for Tourism Event of the Year and 2017 Canadian Tourism Award for Event of the Year. The festival received the 2015 Ontario Tourism Award of Excellence for Tourism Event of the Year, and has been recognized as one of Festival and Events Ontario’s Top 100 Festivals/Events for six consecutive years (2015-2020). Supercrawl is a member organization of the Major International Festivals and Events Network of Ontario, the Canadian Music Live Association, and Festivals and Events Ontario.