One of the many events that aims to bolster Peterborough’s arts community is the First Friday Art Crawl, a monthly, free, art crawl where galleries, cafes, and restaurants host artists and art work on the evening of the first Friday of each month.

Each location is in downtown Peterborough, with many of them being on Hunter Street W. One of these locations is the George Gallery and Jason Wilkins Factory, which is home to an arts organization called the Peterborough Arts Collective (PAC).

The PAC is a contributor to the arts community in Peterborough, even outside of the First Friday Art Crawl. To learn more about PAC, Trent Radio spoke with Coordinator of PAC Kevin Gallagher.

“The Peterborough Arts Collective is a group of locally based artists of any, and all, disciplines who come together to put together shows for First Friday. And who also, generally, disseminate knowledge and skills within the group,” says Gallagher.

As a member of PAC, artists get access to the knowledge and assistance of all of the other members in the group. Members also have access to the Jason Wilkins Factory, which is a large art studio in downtown Peterborough.

Gallagher shared that a lot of what PAC does is to make producing art accessible for artists, especially new artists: they want to provide studio space, shared knowledge, and an audience, to remove some of the risk from earning as an artist.

“We want to figure out how we can do [art], not why we can’t do those things.”

Gallagher shared some of PAC’s plans for the near future, including upcoming First Friday Art Crawls, and an art vending machine. To learn more about this arts organization, visit their website.