Artword Artbar Sept 4, 2019, Ronald Weihs and Judith Sandiford. Photo Cathy Coward Hamilton Spectator
Announced September 4, 2019: News (Big News!): We’ve sold Artword Artbar. Our lovely place on Colbourne Street.
This fall will be our last! And it will be a blast! So don’t be downcast. Don’t look aghast. Just get here real fast.
We’ve been doing this for ten years, and it’s time to celebrate. This fall, we’re featuring some of the musicians that have been through the journey with us. We’ll be going like always until November 16, when The Hill Brothers Bluegrass Band will be serenading us out with some lovely harmonies and ultra-fancy picking. (Due to demand, we’ve added a second Hill Brothers show on November 17 at 3 pm.)
Starting December 5, 2019, 15 Colbourne Street will become the new home of SMPL Architectural Design Studio. …What happened? Ron got a phone call. A young architect, Joel Tanner, had been looking for two years for a place to turn into studio/office that would showcase his architectural ideas. He has an office on James Street, but he wanted a free-standing building, hopefully in the James North district. He’d been peering through the windows. We wouldn’t, by any chance, consider selling?
Well, we’d already been thinking that Artword Artbar couldn’t go on forever. Another year or two, maybe. The offer was good. We liked what would happen with the building (no condo!) We liked the architect’s commitment to the neighbourhood. So we said yes.
Artword has been a magazine, a theatre, a theatre company, a publisher, and an Artbar. We’re ready for the next phase, which will probably mean more theatre, more publishing and more writing. We’ll also be continuing our involvement in Hamilton’s amazing music scene. We’re just figuring it out, and we’re really having fun dreaming and planning.
Regrets? We’ll miss all the wonderful musicians playing for us three or four or five nights a week. What luxury! We’ll miss the best audiences ever, all listening attentively and treating us like family. Hopefully, we’ll stay connected.
We’re ready for the next phase in our vida loca, our checkered career, our crazy carousel. Stay tuned.
Ronald Weihs and Judith Sandiford
