Emerge is a collective art experience engaging all members of the community in a variety of high-quality creative outlets while offering a platform for emerging artists to cultivate their careers as professionals.
Emerge has 3 main components; gallery/performance space, classrooms for arts education, and community art events. We hold 12 gallery exhibits per year spotlighting ascending artists based in and around North Idaho. Exhibit openings align with Coeur d’Alene Arts and Culture Alliance ArtWalk events, showcasing live music and artist receptions. We provide support and training as needed: pedagogy, hanging an installation, writing an artist statement, etc. Ensuring artists and participants have sufficient and appropriate materials to complete quality work is a priority.
Each year Emerge holds space to highlight BIPOC / LGBTQ+ community artists through a partnership with the Northwest Pride Alliance to find LGBTQ+ artists to participate in an exhibit during Pride month. The gallery is an affordable event venue, providing additional income and community engagement. Additional monthly events include Live music, spoken word/poetry, Open Draw/Social Sketch nights, Micro shows (small-scale installations within the monthly feature), and Maker markets. In 2018, Emerge has partnered with North Idaho Literary Arts to co-host 8 CDA Lit Crawl events featuring local poets, writers, and musicians. We provide 6-8 youth and adult classes per month. In 2019 we had 45 different art classes. The classroom space includes a full pottery studio, printmaking equipment, a photo development darkroom, and many resources for students and instructors. Emerge, classes, not only benefit the student but also offer teaching experience and supplemental income for instructors. Emerge‘s ongoing workshops include darkroom photography, pottery, creative writing, printmaking, fiber arts, and drawing. Emerge focuses on exposing youth and adults to fine art techniques seeking out instructors who have high-quality work themselves. Our learning studio/gallery is a platform for aspiring artists to cultivate their creative and professional skills. Having a place to exhibit, sell, and talk about one’s work is a vital component of artist development and is a focal point for engaged, community-based arts dialogue. Our youth-focused programs expand structured out-of-school activities, and artist incubator programs. With less than half of high school graduates in our community moving on to higher education directly after graduation, having courses available at low to no cost showing participants the first steps to developing an art practice can build the confidence to seek a degree in the arts. Emerge has provided supervision for high school Senior Projects, internships, and other technical mentorships for young adults. This has been successful in serving 5 core students annually.
Three unique large community events mark the year. The Block Party (formerly The Pop-Up Show) is an annual open call show exhibiting over one hundred artists along with live performances from local musicians, poets, and dancers. The one-night event is held in various vacant commercial spaces and is attended by 4000 patrons annually. The INK! Print Rally highlights the art of printmaking. Before the community event, artists chosen accepted via a proposal process, carve a 4X5 wood block. During the event, artists work together in teams to ink the blocks and print them onto fabric using an asphalt roller. The event includes food trucks, live music, art vendors, and printmaking demos. The Ceramic Throwdown and Cup Frenzy focus on ceramic arts with professional and amateur potters competing in timed pottery wheel challenges while offering guests 350 handmade ceramic cups and other pieces from participating artists for purchase.
To learn more about Emerge visit us on Facebook or Instagram. For class and event info visit our website at http://emerge-cda.myshopify.com.
Have a question? email us at emergecda@gmail.com
