Have you been looking for an opportunity to buy affordable art, support local artists, and local charities and nonprofits? The Ferrari 500 event is your chance to do all of those things. I interviewed artist and founder Amy Ferrari. Read on for more information about the event.
The first rendition of the Ferrari 500 happened at Button Factory Arts in Waterloo on February 24th of 2017.
Ferrari 500 debut
We had roughly 200 art lovers come to our event, which featured art by 12 artists. Within a single 5 hour period, this amazing group of 12 artists sold over $6000.00 of art, raising over $600.00 to donate to Button Factory Arts, an important community arts hub.
Artists: Cathy Amos, Gary Barnett, Dominique Cinq-Mars Delay, Amy Ferrari, Jennifer Gough, nik harron, James Nye, Roslyn Ramsay, Jax Rula, John Rula, Julian van Mossel-Forrester, Raflar (Ralf Wall).
I think we’ve proven the concept that a price point of $500 as a maximum for an art show really does have the power to bring in buyers. Affordable Excellence!!
Mach 2 Details
Where: Communitech’s Hub, 151 Charles St. W., Kitchener
When: Friday, October 13th, 2017 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
The Ferrari 500 is a pop-up style art show and sale featuring local artists, where no piece of art is over $500, and 10% of all sales are donated to The Working Centre in Kitchener.
Art by Dominique Cinq-Mars Delay
Barb Di Renzo
"Tree of Life" by Barb Di Renzo
Diana Erb
Amy Ferrari
Jennifer Gough
nik harron
Desiree Lichty
James Nye
Nancy Peng
Roslyn Ramsay
Art by Roslyn Ramsay
Steven Restagno
Pamela Rojas
Amy Roger
Jax Rula
John Rula
Julian van Mossel-Forrester
Raflar (Ralf Wall)
1. Tell us about yourself and your art.
I am an independent contemporary artist, living in the Waterloo region. I moved to Canada from Texas ten years ago with my husband, Marco Ferrari so that he could take a new job at RIM (Blackberry) as a Product Designer. We are both extremely proud to have become Canadian citizens!
I’ve always been keenly interested in art, as my Grandmother was an artist, and her paintings were hanging everywhere in our home. I thought, if she can do it, I can do it! And thus, my interest and love for painting grew and continues to grow! While I loved art, my parents were not on board with having me pursue art as my major at University, so I did the next best thing and enrolled at North Carolina State University’s School of Design, where I studied Product Design. The greatest thing about Design school was the whole first year that was devoted to the Fundamentals of Design. While not exactly an art school education, it seems design school was a solid foundation for pursuing the creation of art. While in school, I doodled constantly, perhaps my way of focusing on the subjects at hand. This mindless drawing started to become more and more distinct, and over the next several years, had become my own unique style with wonderful wiggly curved lines. So the origins of my work are based on line. Next, I had to consider the marriage of my lines with color and soon started to create actual paintings. Then, it finally felt like I was going to be an artist, after all – that was around 1990. Since then, my art has slowly evolved into the unique style that I have today through independent study, art classes, and mostly, painting!
My favorite type of painting is abstract! And even when I’m doing paintings that are more representational, the imagery is always abstracted, at least, to a point. My technique for creating art is an intuitive transformational technique. Instead of dealing with a blank canvas at the outset of a painting, I always begin with a reference image or a scrap of paper with random marks that seem interesting. After I reproduce the image onto the canvas – that under-painting becomes my starting point. Then, I alter the lines, shapes, and colors until I achieve a harmonious flowing balance. Since I’m making so many changes as I work, my paintings end up having multiple layers before I’m satisfied with the result. Using Acrylic paints allow my layers of paint to dry quickly, and thus, is key to my process of transformation.
When people ask me what category of art I think my work is, I always say that my work is ‘Visual Optimism’.
My mission with every painting is to create art that enhances creativity, positivity, and happiness in any environment.
I’ve been very fortunate to be able to show my work locally through the Box shows, among other venues. More recently, I’ve had the honor of being a member The Art District Gallery, a local cooperative gallery located in St. Jacobs. Over the last fifteen years, I’ve added teaching to my art practice, giving workshops in art community centers. My very favorite class to teach is my color theory class because….Color!!!!
2. What inspired you to come up with the concept?
Frustration. The frustration of not having enough sales of my art was the big motivator. The frustration of having my unsold paintings start filling up my limited storage space in my home and studio. I needed to move some art!!
So, I had the idea of a show where all of the art was very affordable, which to me, means that each painting would be priced at $500.00 – or under! And then the ideas exploded from there…The idea for the name, well, at first, it was just a giggle…
But, to my surprise, it seemed to have staying power! Well… why not? Why not capitalize on having a very recognizable last name that also is synonymous with the highest quality and undeniable aesthetics? It also makes sense, because all of the artists involved are top-notch (Ferrari quality!) local artists – and – a big part of the point of the show is to move art!
3. What is the mission of the Ferrari 500?
The Mission of The Ferrari 500is ….. Moving Art!
•The first purpose is to benefit our local art lovers, allowing fine local art to be found and purchased at easily affordable prices. ($500 or under!!!)
•The second purpose is to benefit local non-profits and/or charities by selling art and donating a percentage of funds from the sales of art to a local nonprofit or charitable foundation.
For this rendition of The Ferrari 500, 10% of all sales will be donated to The Working Centre in Kitchener.
•Last, but not least, the purpose of the F500 is to benefit local artists by providing an exciting venue to sell fine art.
4. How did you select the participating artists?
Since this was going to be a relatively small show, I knew that I’d like to have an invitational type of show, where artists that I personally know, and whose work I deeply respect, could come together to put on an event. And together, we would be able to accomplish much more than we could individually. I am truly honored to have so many of my friends and local artists agreed to be a part of this show!
For the first rendition of the Ferrari 500, I started with the people I know best, so first I talked to artists that I’ve worked with in the past, and not surprisingly, a major group of artists I know best are also members of the Art District Gallery Co-op. But I wanted to have artists beyond the ADG Co-op, so I also approached local artists who I worked with who I admire both in terms of their professionalism and their art, many of whom have much experience with pop-up style art shows.
For this 2nd rendition of the Ferrari 500, I have officially partnered with The Art District Gallery to help with some of the logistics of putting this show together, thus all of the ADG artists were invited to participate. It was also important to invite back the participants of the first rendition, and people who helped support the 1st rendition, but were not able to participate.
5. If local artists want to participate in future events, how would they go about doing so?
As the Ferrari 500 grows we will be able to secure larger venues to accommodate larger numbers of artists, and thus, we will be able to put a call for additional regional artists to participate. I encourage artists to check with the ADG or myself for opportunities in future venues. The good news- for now - is that the Art District Gallery is currently looking for new members!
6. What's next for the Ferrari 500?
For the future of the Ferrari 500, I envision being able to exhibit in larger spaces, giving me the ability to invite even more regional artists. The first rendition at Button Factory Arts in Waterloo had space for 12 artists. For this upcoming 2nd rendition at Communitech’s Hub, we’ve increased the number to 18 artists, so we’re on our way to growing this event!
My ultimate dream for the Ferrari 500 is to have it become a large indoor festival with as many as 50 or more regional artists, that recurs once or twice a year.
You can find Amy Ferrari online at her website, Facebook page, and Twitter
You can find The Ferrari 500 online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Interview by Glodeane Brown
All photos supplied by Amy Ferrari
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