Despite the downpour of rain, well over 100 people spent their day exploring the fourth annual Banfield Art Crawl on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
The event has been running since 2023 and is a chance for local artists in the Banfield neighbourhood to showcase their talent.
Jeanette Obbink and Christa Potter, two of the four event organizers, said the art crawl was created after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the longstanding Brant Studio Tour to a halt.
“We couldn’t do the studio tours in 2020 and when we reconvened for 2021, they got closed down again,” recalled Obbink. “I know Jennifer (Budd) and Christa from the tours, and eventually we said, ‘Why are we even doing a wide-spread event like this, when we probably have enough artistic people in the area that we can do something very local?’ And so that’s what we did. In 2022 we canvassed the area, which is called the ‘Banfield Pie,’ to see how many people would be interested.”
Potter added “we already knew that this geographical area of Paris tends to collect artists, that’s something Jennifer and I had talked about previously, and that year we got at least 35 responses which was amazing.”
What started out as an event showcasing artists living in the neighbourhood has since expanded to include those invited by participating Banfield residents. And while this year’s rain may have forced participants to pivot and find new ways to display their art, the spirit of the event was not lost.
The event featured around 40 artists set up in 20 different locations, and residents and out-of-town visitors alike braved the rain to roam the streets on foot or by car.
“We’ve had close to 100 people stop in so far and it’s not even the end of the day yet,” Obbink. “That is very exciting to me because it means that we’re doing something that is resonating with people. They come, they buy, they pay attention and they’re appreciative of the arts, which is great.”
Potter said that over the years the event has done what it was designed to do. To not only showcase art, but to bring the community together.
“The neat part is that there’s a lot of people who come back because we have a following of guests who have known about it and have been attending since day one, but then we also hear that people are coming from places like Guelph or London, and even Toronto,” she said. “Not only that, but parents are bringing their kids too. It’s just cool because it’s bringing the Banfield neighbourhood together, but it’s also bringing people from the edges into this space and creating community too. It just goes to show you that people want to see local artists and they want to see a variety of art too.”
There was plenty of variety, from handcrafted modern-rustic woodwork to fibre art and jewellery, pottery, mixed media, photography, rug hooking, ink and watercolour painting and more, there were plenty of different styles of art to browse and buy alike.
Cindy Corner, who has been making pottery for the past eight years, said this was her third year participating in the local art crawl.
When asked what she thought made the event so special, Corner said part of it has to do with the neighbourhood itself and the strong artistic community within it.
“It’s one neighbourhood and it’s not too spread out so it’s walkable. We also have some amazing artists in town, but in this neighbourhood in particular,” Corner said. “It’s interesting, I think because there’s a core group of artistic people here, they tend to draw out people who have always been an artist, but never thought they would sell anything. It’s nice to be part of this and it’s fun to show off my work.”
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.
