Vancouver Art Book Fair
September 2017 – November 2017
Vancouver, Canada
Program Intern
•Work with board members to draft out a membership renewal letter
•Work with volunteers during Vancouver Book Fair, assisted in carrying carts of totes
•In charge of the welcoming gate and the information table.
•Conclude happenings during VABF and provide some feedbacks.
Last task for Noelle and I was to summarize our experience volunteering with the VABF over the weekend October 13-15. I was very glad to hear from Emma who’s also a staff of VABF again, because we haven’t been assigned any tasks after the fair for a while. I hope to learn social skills and to connect what we learned from class to society so I treasure those experiences with them.
Blog Post #3
During the second and the last day of VABF, I really experienced that this organization cannot be operated without a powerful team that is the volunteer. Besides, I felt I did a great job on observation — watching viewers with different dressing styles talking in different ways with kindness and observing how volunteers’ work influenced each other within the volunteer team.
It is a non-profit organization so that’s why it recruits lots of volunteers to keep each event running. Noelle and I also took part in VABF as volunteers. We worked for 4 hours during the second day, and I was assigned the task of handing out totes for around two hours and a half with a boy from whom I’ve learned a lot. To begin with I only handed totes out with smile and simply said hi to the guest, but after a while I began to notice the boy’s enthusiasm when greeting: “Welcome to Vancouver Art Book Festival! Would you like free totes?”, “I like your hair style”, “Your stickers fit you well!”, “Enjoy the show!” He also cared about the people who were leaving: “Did you purchase anything today?”, “Have a good weekend!” Those greetings were accompanied by his fervor which made the visitor’s experience even more enjoyable. He is indeed positive with a powerful voice, and this positive attitude made me brave to say some simple phrases such as “welcome to the book fair”, “enjoy the show” … It was actual progress for me, especially when people asked me some questions about VABF, I could make myself confident enough to answer them. Thus, I noticed that people got influenced by each other positively within such a group.
Moreover, I gained a lot of perspective interacting with such a variety of people. I’ve always been afraid to talk to people with a certain unique and alternative style, because I was afraid they’d be cold and brush me off. However, as I greeted them while handing out totes, to my surprise, everyone was warm-hearted, especially when they accepted the totes with appreciation of my role as a volunteer. Then I realized it is not proper to assume how a person is especially when you haven’t gotten in touch with them yet.
On the last day of VABF, Noelle and I both felt tired, as we both stood for three hours during the second day and it was even harder for me to carry lots of totes in order to prepare for handing them out. However, we got different jobs each day and we were schedules to work for the Info and Membership table this day, so I felt really excited for this new job and ignored the fatigue I felt.
On the Info table, there were programs of the VABF, free stickers, and the task for us was to hand them out if needed and to answer questions posed by the public. I got nervous and I asked myself if I need to grasp more information about VABF to answer questions without a cheat sheet. How can I organize my language well to answer well instead of making grammar mistakes which would make people confused more? However, after working for half an hour, I realized questions were more related to when and where the VABF is, and even though I answered with an accent, they didn’t mind it. One hour later, I became more active, making conversations with people so that they felt more comfortable to ask me more: “are you looking for the book fair?”, “it’s free for public. It’s around the corner, so you just have to follow this way and you will find everything!”, “please take a program and a bunch of stickers!” These are words I used often when I was working at the Info table. I realized it was the first time I enjoyed speaking English when I got here, perhaps it’s because I find myself useful helping people find the way, becoming a “local” where visitors turned into the role of traveler.
First day of VABF, I was so excited to be there as this was my first time to Vancouver Art Book Fair. The Fair is around the corner of the gallery and has three floors. Noelle and I worked together as Exhibitor Room Floater, basically floating between two rooms of the third floor to see if there was any need for help. I was glad we got such a job as it was a great chance for us to know what’s going on there, and it was also a great chance for us to join into the event, getting chances to talk with exhibitors and artists.
When I was walking in, I noticed that all the stuffs were carefully set, and they could make you feel casual, for example, the setting of hydrogen balloon, colorful books and table cloth. Few minuets later, visitors walked in. The room then, filled with talking, laughing, emotions like satisfactory and exciting. The exhibitors could even go to others’ tables to have conversations or get others’ works. All of these experiences, discussions and settings make the atmosphere within VABF seemed to be easy going which was totally different from the gallery nearby, which seemed to be cheerless, totally surrounded by white wall, formal front, and all forms seem to be immutable.
Moreover, there was a digital art in the lobby near the second floor we found interesting. It was two different subject matters with different movement, one was about fire on a car and the other was about endlessly growing mushrooms. They were shown on screen of machines, but the machined might make people feel that such an artwork should have been in a gallery, as people could watch them but feel not free of touching them or bringing them home. However, it was so excited that Noelle and I found two flip books from one of exhibitors, they were exactly presenting the subjects in that digital art with same movements! It was tagged with price which means that it became accessible and one can bring this digital art home! I couldn’t find a word to describe my mood at that moment, because it was the time I could really feel the VABF’s existence of making art closer to public and I really felt art world does have connections with normal people … It reminds me of what we learned from the class: because of these non-profit art organizations such as Vancouver Art Book Fair, people are getting close to art world and to artists, they could not only touch these art works but also have abilities to bring them home.
I also found that people here were polite, they showed respect to each other. For example, they took the book they hoped to see while they would put it back following the same position. Thus, because of such fine behaviors, I felt the public are welcome to art and they are interested and paying attention to what happens within art world now. Conversely, exhibitors and artists were also show their passion about this event as they are always excited talking to visitors about their works. “Take a free sticker, here! This is the last one! “ “-Can I take a photo? –Yes! Sure!”. Words were always warm spoken from them.
The final task for Noelle and I was back to the lobby, calling for donation but also handing out stickers which is also a logo of VABF. There was an older just finished his visiting, walking towards us and say:” Amazing place! You could hear artists express their own ideas about their own works. It’s a crazy place people gather together! It’s amazing… “ the conversation was quite brief and I lost some of his words but it made me rethink about the whole event during first day. It’s true that people are gathering discussing about the artwork with artists who did them or exhibitors who knew them well so that visitors could know the real meaning of the work or even progress of making it. While if a person stay in the gallery, he might be only thinking by himself and might be confused about that. So, people are getting close and getting to know each other through art in VABF and people are getting to know art through discussion with each other.
“Are you two also including in shows?”, also asked by the older. Lol, I guess, this sentence can be the perfect ending as the first day of VABF.
As the largest art book fair in Western Canada, garnering over 5,000 visitors from Greater Vancouver and worldwide, the Vancouver Art Book Fair is an integral part of Artists’ Book Week. ABW is a series of events hosted by artists, collectives, curators and institutions across Vancouver to promote art through publication. This week-long event not only allows artist to share their work and expand their audience but shows that there is a growing interest in art within the community.
The VABF is a volunteer run grassroots organization that meticulously focuses on being beneficial for both the practice and consumption of art, with community growth in mind. The money made through memberships, sponsorships, donations etc. all go towards keeping the event free for the public as well as pay fair fees to presenters and arts workers. The VABF focuses on printed ephemera; the art work shared is easily accessible, you can touch it and even purchase it. The VABF offers a different way to experience art, it supports an art scene that is inclusive of everyone.
Vancouver Art Book Fair (link to poster)
The main problem for me studying abroad is language proficiency. I am ok when I’m studying in the university as teachers are patient and you have peers helping you out. So although I have volunteered, I have never joined society as a worker. I am glad to have met Helen with my peer partner Noelle, who also helped me a lot and has worked alongside of me most of time. Helen is really sweet as she has made me more confident in our work, as she told me this is actually a really excellent stage for me to not only practice my English but also a chance to know how art becomes more accessible for public through the Vancouver Art Book Fair. The last tasks Noelle and I got are separate ones, assigned through email. “We are looking to push out a fundraising initiative with our members through a membership renewal campaign. This would mean working with some of our Board members to draft out a membership renewal letter, coordinate to see who need renewals and send out the letters in time for our preview on October 13.”, emailed by Emma who is part of VABF’s staff. I am embarrassed to read the email and to think about the task, as honestly, There were words that I was not familiar with, for example, I know campaign is an activity but how can it be related with “membership renewal” or what “Board members” is referring to. So I asked Noelle for some clarity as I felt Helen might be too busy to answer my “simple” questions. Even though after that, I’m still confused, it might be because it is hard to accept new words used in another culture. I then decided to wait for more information through other emails. Patience here became a good way to resolve my problems. Finally, we got another email with specific tasks. I was assigned with the task of “Membership Secretary” which was to add information of new memberships from the signup sheet to the membership list. I was attentive so that I wouldn’t miss any information. Even so, it was not smooth sailing. There was information recurring, and I was unaware if it was happening by error, and there were also problems for me to open documents because of security reasons. As there was due date for this task, I contacted my partner who oversaw it immediately, solving the problem. I emailed them a lot and hoped to complete the first task in a perfect way. There’re always solutions if you are patient and passionate about the work, I felt this way!
September 28th
Leading up to/Installation day for Fall Fundraiser:
-Worked closely with Sylvana who is curating the live auction.
-We hope to learn more about placement and how art work can work together to create an overall vibe.
– Use our creative skill set to promote the VABF’s events.
– Our partnership would really like for us to explore ways that social media can help boost memberships.
September 29th:
Day of the Fall Fundraiser:
-Overall assist Sylvana, Helen and other VABF members
October 13-14:
Day of Vancouver Art Book Fair:
-We are expecting to jump from a management role to a working role throughout this event.
November:
Exploring the VABF’s archive:
-Learn more about the interest of the VABF as well as their working process after their big events end.
-Learn more about the mindset a curator has when choosing themes and works to display.
-We hope to make the curated exhibit about the theories and concepts we learned in class.