Hundreds of Brantford residents went out to explore the tenth installment of the Holmedale Art Crawl on Sunday, June 14, 2026.
Aliki Mikulich, artist and event chair, said she and the rest of the committee were happy to be welcoming everyone back to the annual art crawl.
“It’s incredible to see all the familiar faces and the new faces that have been kind of recruited by the others, as well as the people who maybe just moved to Brantford and somehow found out about it,” she said. “It’s just wonderful. We’ve been really busy today, which is great considering the weather. It’s been like this since 10 a.m. and we’ve never had that before.”
The event chair said the art crawl is organized entirely by a volunteer committee that works together to make the annual event possible.
“We do it because we just want to do something for the arts. Dave McCreary designs the ads and our flyers, and Patsy Wicha distributes them,” said Mikulich. “Kim DiFrancesco does the website, Jane and Bob Flinders do all our mobile signs, and Julie Whitbread does all our social media. and so it’s a really well-oiled machine now. We’re just really, really happy to present this every year. It’s a lot of work but it’s very gratifying.”
The one-day event has been running since 2017 and is a chance for local artists in the Holmedale neighbourhood to set up their very own art to showcase their talent and sell their wares.
Several mini art galleries popped up both inside and outside of homes, in driveways, on lawns and in backyards, scattered around the Holmedale neighbourhood.
“The crawl is a bit different from other art markets because it’s not an art market. It’s not necessarily an event where people are set up behind their art with a table and tent, it’s going into people’s spaces and experiencing that,” said Mikulich. “Even when you sell your work in a shop, you don’t get to make a connection with the people. And to have people looking at your work, commenting on it and appreciating, it’s really gratifying.”
With the help of both online and paper maps, residents chose to either walk, bike or drive from each of the 29 locations to check out this year’s collection of 53 artisans.
Throughout the seven-hour event, photographers, beaders, painters, potters, fabric artists and woodworkers displayed their work on tables and wire racks for visitors to browse, chatting with those stopping by.
Many residents took the opportunity to support the local artists by buying jewellery, cards, paintings and prints, textiles, pottery pieces, stained glass work and more.
Mikulich said the crawl offers visitors something they can’t find in a typical shopping environment, adding to the overall appeal of the event.
“There’s something about getting to see these makers, talking to them and hearing how things are done. We also live in a world where you have all these mass-produced items that no one has ever really touched or cared about, and so I think people really like finding something special that no one else has. It’s nice too because there’s a real variety of pricing so people are out picking up something small or even gifts too, so it’s just a fun day. Plus, we have several local businesses who have gotten involved. They don’t sponsor us or anything, but we appreciate that they’re part of us.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
