Spring Awakening kicks off with our parade led by Batalá, through the Streets beginning at 11 a.m. at El Sol Brillante, 522 E. 12th St. between Avenues A and B, walking east to Avenue C, south on Avenue C to Seventh Street, west on Seventh to Tompkins Square Park, meandering through the Park and ending at Avenue B and Ninth Street.
"We came here with a purpose to get our work out there and to make something of ourselves, and they took advantage of that and they stole from us,” said Charlotte Art, a Flint, Michigan-based artist. "I had a lot riding on this. And I'm a mother of four. 'How dare you' is what I have to say."
"We got a notification one minute before 7 p.m., and the event was at 7:30 last Friday," said Melissa Driscol, whose brother-in-law’s art was part of the exhibit. “Not an email, not a phone call, not a text, just to tell the artists, 'Hey, this event isn’t happening."
"We've been calling and Instagramming and emailing and phone numbers have been disconnected," said Christine Ditolvo, whose friend from Vermont had art in the exhibit. "It's really sketchy."The EVAC Instagram account described the event like this:
The Immersive Art Experience is a 360º, digital, physical, and musical art exhibition in NYC with East Village Party Vibes.THE EVAC invites you to step foot into the expansive universe of art to be surrounded by paintings, canvases, holograms, photography, fractals, and sculptures.Live Music and drinks for this special night.You as the guest will be able to connect and experience art on a different level like never before. The East Village Art Collection is unlike any gallery in the world. We focus on quality and unique art experiences. We are the opposite of boring. Art is everywhere!VIP doors open at 7:30 PM VIP entitles you to a private viewing prior to doors opening to the general admission. Upon your entry, you will be greeted with a cocktail of your choice, where you will be able to interact with the artists in a more intimate setting. You will also have access to the downstairs VIP lounge area with a couch.
So now they have our art. Paintings and photographs ranging from $5,000-$10,000 each in value. The gallery's phone goes to a voice mail, and their personal cells have been disconnected. No one knows why. Did they go out of business? Did they have an emergency? Or are they just scum bags? All I know is there were lots of broken hearts and dreams last night mixed with embarrassment. We all had invited peers, friends, and art collectors to this event to see a mess of us just standing on the sidewalks, looking at each in disbelief.
The EVAC website features a ticker with daily cryptocurrency prices by market cap. It states that it is "dedicated to providing a quality gallery space for artists of all mediums while merging physical art with the rapidly growing digital world."
Our new home will allow us to revive and regenerate past programs that had been squeezed into such small spaces, they began bordering on non-existence.Our new home will allow us to embrace and embark on all of the projects we put on the illusive back burner for the past 7 years.Our new home will allow us to conjure and collaborate with our broad and growing community of artists, aligning with our mission to nurture the exploration of new concepts in artistic practice.
