Elle Cota, Spectrum Editor
1708 Gallery hosted its 17th monster drawing rally on Aug. 22. While no monsters were present, 80 artists were split into four rounds, each lasting an hour. From 12:15 p.m. to 5:25 p.m., artists worked on their not-strictly-monster-related pieces as attendees walked around and watched. A whistle signaled the beginning and end of each round, adding to the event’s fast-paced atmosphere.
Artists worked in a variety of styles and mediums, while nonparticipating attendees created their own monster designs on a chalkboard wall.
The event began in 2009 after Southern Exposure, a San Francisco-based organization, shared details on a similar event with a 1708 Gallery board member. The gallery has continued the tradition ever since, according to Emily Smith, director of 1708 Gallery.
“I think it’s both the novelty and curiosity of seeing people make work and what that looks like and how it comes together,” Smith said. “Then you get to hopefully take one home and you’ve got an original work of art and that’s pretty cool.”
Over the years, Smith has watched participation grow from 60 artists to 80 artists, as more people have expressed interest in taking part.
Smith said the rally provides artists the opportunity to connect with Richmond’s larger arts community while also allowing 1708 Gallery to support local artists.
“They get to see their friends making work or artists that they admire and so it allows them to all be in the space together, in addition to being an awesome opportunity for our audience to see it happening,” Smith said.
Abby Altizer Davis, a returning participant, said this was their sixth or seventh time attending the rally.
After experimenting with different mixed media techniques, Altizer Davis focuses on creating art that interests them. This year, they utilized watercolor paper to create a giant jack-o-lantern.
“I just want something colorful and joyful and interesting to look at for this type of event,” Altizer Davis said.
Buying artwork and supporting artists through an event, such as the rally, offer diverse ways to contribute, Altizer Davis said.
“Making art, I just want people to feel joy of life or to feel emotions at all,” Altizer Davis said.
“A lot of my artwork is either more colorful or darker, but I really like fantasy and silliness, whimsy.”
Alexis Turner, a first time participant, said they enjoy the challenge of creating artwork without extensive preparation.
Turner primarily works with collage. They said working in smaller pieces helps them organize their ideas into manageable steps without becoming overly attached to any one part of the work.
Watching the layers of a collage develop is one of the most rewarding parts of creating the work because viewers can see how the individual pieces come together to form the finished composition, Turner said.
Turner is an art educator and regularly teaches composition and technical skills, while their personal work allows them to experiment with more playful and unconventional approaches.
A returning participant, Barry O’Keefe, said supporting 1708 Gallery is one reason he keeps coming back.
“They do a tremendous amount for the city for being such a small organization,” O’Keefe said. “I always am happy to find ways to support them.”
O’Keefe’s piece continued a practice of documenting materials he encounters while walking or traveling. He arranged the materials inside a stenciled grid of circles on paper to create what he described as a pseudo-scientific record of a walk through Manchester earlier that morning.
His piece incorporated cobwebs, an inky rag, crushed brick, ditch grime, grass seed, rust sand, river pebble, glass and cigarette butts.
O’Keefe prepared several sheets of watercolor paper in his studio before the event, hoping the preparation would make the one hour limit less stressful, but left the prepared pieces in his studio.
The act of creating remains more important than simply viewing finished artwork, according to O’Keefe.
“I think any good art form has 10,000 times as many people making as consuming,” O’Keefe said. “I think an art form dies when people are consuming more than they’re making. So, I think it’s really important to make art.”
After each artist finished, the pieces were hung for viewing and purchase. Each artwork was priced at $100, with artists receiving up to 50% of the proceeds from their sales. The remaining proceeds support 1708 Gallery’s exhibitions and programs.