Back in March earlier this year, we hosted our first ever opening night for an art project close to our hearts: the Unstoppable Exhibit.
This idea turned into so much more thanks to the many people we met along the way. Before we knew it, what was supposed to be a simple group photoshoot filled with “badassery” became a fundraiser against domestic violence, supporting 2 beautiful charities.
Now, a few months later, it is finally time for us to look back at this wonderful night and tell you everything.
Before the big day
(also known as how we were blown away by people's support.)
We already shared with you how we even came to build this project here. Now, we were a few days away from our big opening night and it was time to roll up our sleeves to prep an event we had never planned before.
It was really important for us to offer an art show à la Française. Not only did the show need to look clean and professional, but we wanted people to dress up, be able to have wine (in real wine glasses!), food and mingle.
The first step that made our hearts sing was getting the prints. When we picked up all the prints from Fotobox, we finally felt like everything we were doing was for real.
The second step was getting an official sticker, like in museum. You can't imagine the feeling of accomplishment a simple sticker on the wall can do. Saman Design took care of this for us, purely out of kindness.
Of course, the set up wasn't without any troubles. Some of the walls were concrete and the only way to hang anything from them was to drill. We can do many things, but drilling concrete is not one of them! Another kind soul named Cormack drove out of his way to make this happen for us.
After a solid 10 hours, a lot of nails and swearing, everything was set up and ready to go for the next day.
The big night
(also knows as : when reality exceeds expectations)
We were both pretty relaxed having set up the day before. Paradise Grapevine and Downtown Winery had generously donated wine, the food had been ordered, glasses were delivered. We expected to just set up the last minute things, relax and partake in the festivities with everybody else.
We told ourselves : if we have 30 people and manage to raise a $1000, we will consider it a big win. We're such a tiny business, absolute beginners in planning art shows, this is already quite the accomplishment.
We sold out at 55 tickets and raised over $3000.
Now, you may think 55 people isn't a big deal. For this space, it is. We were absolutely packed. People showed up right when the doors opened and ended up lining up at the door trying to get last minute tickets.
Meanwhile: we were in way over our heads
We are not going to lie to you, this entire evening is a blur and taught us many lessons such as: we should have thought more about the actual evening. We worked so hard on the before that we kind of forgot to see what work will need to be done during the opening night.
For example: we should have had staff. We ended up having to wash wines glasses, serve said wine, take care of print sales, and walk people through the exhibit. Luckily, a few friends saw our struggles and jumped in, but we wish we had spent more time talking to everybody the way we wanted to.
To our surprise, we also sold most of the prints for the evening. It was absolutely incredible for us as it was a testament that we went from an entrepreneur position back to artists.
This experience is our proudest achievement in our careers so far. We have many ideas brewing at the moment, and we know for a fact that we will be doing it again.
Since videos speak louder than words, you can see below a short clip of the entire evening.
You will also see that we had wonderful performers who donated their talent during the evening. Avah Coco is an amazing singer and Petra Queen of the Nile is a kick-ass burlesque dancer. Thank you both for honouring us with your talents.