SKIN Art Show – A Diverse Artistic Event

Saturday June 28th, 2014, 10:00am

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Darryl Litster (left) and Christy Litster (right), the power couple who teamed up to make the SKIN art show possible for the second year in Windsor.

What if you could see the many types of art, all in one convenient location? Christy and Darryl Litster teamed up to make just that happen.

For the second year, The Walkerville Brewery was home to SKIN, Windsor’s Alternative Art Show. When Christy began the show last year, she said she’d never do it again. It was too much work for one person to handle. That’s when her husband Darryl stepped in. Together the power couple tag-teamed the event and hit it off Friday night with a bang.

“I had this idea for creating an event that kind of housed all art in one place at one time, just an overabundance of awesome,” said Christy. “It actually turned out really, really well.”

The two-day event began last night with a “Women’s Empowerment Night” theme. Christy said generally in art, women don’t get celebrated nearly enough. This was her idea to celebrate the female artists in Windsor.

Since it’s St. Clair College’s first year for their fashion program, Christy approached them with the idea of showcasing the student’s work in a fashion show. The theme was 1920’s flapper outfits, which mirrored the 1920’s prohibition era branded by the Walkerville Brewery.

The night also featured a burlesque performance, two belly dancer performances and a full fashion show featuring a handful of local designers and models. The night was closed with a number of musical performances as well – and this was all just day one.

Jill Thompson was one of the featured local artists, with her line “Bra’s by Jillish.”

“It’s a sexy collection of bras and corsets strewn with flowers, fringes and crystals,” said Thompson. “Designed to be worn by entertainers, ravers, festival goers or anyone who wants people to say ‘whoa check out the bra on that one,’ when they walk by.”

Thompson was asked to join the show last year, and said being able to “rub elbows” with some of Windsor’s most talented artists and designers made it impossible for her to miss such an event.

Saturday will be divided in to two parts. From 11am until 5pm a “pop-up” art show, featuring 26 local artists, will be open for free to the public. Acoustic musicians will entertain and Rino’s Kitchen & Ale House will be selling appetizers. In the afternoon at 2:30pm, a local action film will be screened called Black Eagle: Phantasm. Dan Stefanovich, producer at Goodnight Red Productions said he is friends with the power couple who asked him to participate in the show after they watched the film.

“At the end of the day, we’re just there for the show and are very interested in seeing the other types of art and media that people have been working on in the city,” said Stefanovich. “We’re just lucky enough that we’ve been given the chance to participate and we hope that our film can provide some great entertainment for everyone – that’s really what it’s all about.

Saturday evening will also bring many more musicians and light artists to entertain guests, as well as a live painting performance and food served by The Fox and the Fiddle.

“This show is very important,” said Darryl. “We wanted to make sure that if you were an artist you did not have to pay to submit in to a show. And not only would you not have to pay to submit, you’re selling your art and we’re not taking a cut, everything is for the artists.”