Round 1: Paint!

on April 9, mix of emerging and established Calgary artists will face off on the canvas, armed with nothing more than acrylic paints and a brush. Originating in Toronto, Art Battle is a painting tournament which pits 12 artists against each other to see who can make the best painting in 20 minutes. The audience is invited to watch and cheer the painters on through two rounds, voting on the winner of each. The two victors then go head- to- head in round three, rushing to create another painting within the same time limit. “It’s quite amazing what the artists can produce in that short amount of time,” says Chris Pemberton, co- founder of Art Battle. “They don’t have a chance to second- guess themselves, so the artists go with

their first instinct and do the best they can. If you secondguess yourself in a 20- minute time frame, you can end up with a bit of a mess.” The winner of the night will move on to the provincial event to compete against finalists from the other Art Battles in Alberta. Art Battle also hosts a national and PanAm championship. The artists aren’t just painting for prestige either; a silent auction is held at the end of every night and painters get to take home a chunk of the dough. Pemberton says it’s not uncommon for the winner to take home $ 1,000 an evening. “We have about a 99% approval rating from the artists who come and perform with us,” says Pemberton. “Only one wins at the end of the night, but they’re always asking when they can come and paint again.” — Craig R. Palmer