Behind the Art Crawl
Meet some of the people who make Collingwood a creative place
It’s more than galleries, studios, stages and one extraordinary night each September. It’s the artists finding their voice. The people creating spaces for them to work. The conversations, collaborations and connections that happen along the way.
Last year, the Rebel Artists Through Time podcast sat down with members of Collingwood’s creative community for a special series of conversations.
The result is a glimpse behind the scenes — into the work, purpose and community that exist long before the doors open and the Art Crawl begins.
Listen to the full episode below.
Prefer your podcast app? Continue listening and discover more conversations from In the Making.
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Inside the Episode
Gracie Jet
Finding your voice
Singer-songwriter Gracie Jet talks about the reality of building a life as an independent musician — from playing small bars and wondering whether anyone is listening, to finding collaborators, developing her sound and learning to see other artists as a community rather than competition.
For Gracie, finding her way has meant continuing to show up, reaching out and slowly becoming clearer about who she is as an artist. It’s a process of learning not only how to make the work, but how to build a creative life around it — one connection, collaboration and opportunity at a time.
“It’s all about connection, finding, meeting other people.”
Leah den Bok
Finding your purpose
Photographer Leah den Bok began taking portraits as a teenager simply wanting to become a better photographer. Then an encounter with people experiencing homelessness changed what she believed her photography could do.
Her ongoing Humanizing the Homeless project uses portraiture and personal stories to challenge stereotypes and ask viewers to look directly at people society often overlooks.
What began as portfolio-building became something much larger: a purpose for the work.
“This is so much more important than simply building my portfolio.”
Rick & Anke Lex
Creating a place
Before the Tremont became one of the anchors of Collingwood’s arts community, it was a deteriorating historic building that had been slated for demolition.
Rick and Anke Lex saw something else.
Inspired by creative spaces they had encountered elsewhere, they imagined artists working in the Tremont’s former hotel rooms — individual studios within a larger creative community.
The artists believed in the idea, too. They signed leases before the restoration was complete.
Today, the Tremont and the surrounding creative spaces demonstrate something essential about an arts community: artists need places to make work, but they also need places to find one another.
“Surround yourself with an encouraging community.”
Finding Your Place
There’s a thread running through these conversations.
Sometimes finding your place means discovering your voice.
Sometimes it means realizing what you want your work to do.
And sometimes it means creating a physical place where other people can make, experiment, gather and belong.
That process is happening all around Collingwood — in studios, galleries, rehearsal spaces, shops, restaurants, heritage buildings and unexpected corners of the community.
For one night, the Collingwood Art Crawl opens those doors.
Come Find What’s Being Made
Collingwood Art Crawl
September 19, 2026
4 – 8 pm
Explore the artists, venues and experiences taking part in this year’s Crawl.
About the podcast
These conversations were originally recorded for Rebel Artists Through Time in collaboration with the Collingwood Art Crawl. The podcast has since evolved into In the Making, a Piperlime Studio podcast exploring the lives of working creatives — how they build their practices, navigate change and keep making meaningful work.