Elite Event: SALA Art After Dark Tour

What an eye opening evening this was! I have walked past this area so many times and never knew that there were so many diverse gallery spaces in such a small area.
Our guide Claire from Art After Dark was clearly passionate about what she does (and did a great job even though she was unwell!). It was great to have her to guide us around the venues and tell us about some of the exhibitions that were part of the SALA festival, as well as what they exhibit year round. I never realised the Samstag Gallery is open later on Thursdays and I love the idea of heading down after the workday and being able to listen to some live music while perusing the artworks!
I love visiting new art places and especially seeing some things from lesser known or up and coming artists. Sometimes it is hard to know where to go or what to see so this was a great taster of places to keep an eye on! I will definitely be keeping an eye on the Art After Dark events.
My favourite spot on the tour was the Jam Factory. I have been in the retail section several times before but I never realised that the studios are open too, and that you can wander around and watch the various artists at work. I could have sat and watched the glass blowers all night, especially with the warmth drifting up on a chilly evening!
Thanks Anita and Art After Dark for a very interesting evening!

A great night being given a glimpse into SALA exhibitions by the lovely Claire. We got to see the weird and the wonderful. Highlights for me were the Samstag Museum and the Jam Factory. I love being able to watch the glassblowing live at Jam Factory, it’s such an interesting process. Another lovely Elite Event from Unilocal

Big thank you to Claire for giving us such a great insight into SALA exhibitions within 200 metres of Samstag museum, we even gate crash at an unscheduled stop of an opening launch! Well done team, that was an eye opener!
The short duration at each stop was sufficient for us to have a taste of the West End art spaces’ exhibitions and to find out that ‘Art after Dark’ experience is on every Thursday from 5pm is great, what a treat! There’s one coming up on 3 September with jazz! Hope I can make it?!
The spread of food and beverages offered at West Bar were well appreciated on this drizzly night. The sprinkling of rain didn’t deter our enthusiasm appreciating the ‘art’ and to be able to see some glass blowers at work as well at Jam Factory was a bonus! Apparently they can be ‘working’ on their piece of work anytime of the day especially when inspiration strikes? What a place to be on a cold winter’s night.
Thank you to CM Anita for organising the special SALA event and above all for being one of the lucky elites to be invited!

I’m loving how the Elite event this month gave us an opportunity to absorb the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) vibe in the West End after dark! I probably love the SALA festival month of August second to the March Madness of the Adelaide Fringe. Radalaide Rocks!
We started off the evening walkabout of artsy venues at the Samstag museum on the Uni Adelaide Campus and visited several galleries before having a nibble and tipple at the WestBar.
The highlight of my night was the visit to the Jam Factory, watching the über cool glass blower artists crafting stemless wine glasses — wow!

Another excellent Unilocal event from the wonderful Adelaide CM Anita! Sala is one of those fantastic times of year when art comes to life around the streets of our city and it can certainly be difficult to know where to start however with this fun tour our little group was able to have a taste of everything that is happening on our Rad streets!
We started at the Samstag gallery — a place I have often walked past but never entered. Never again will I walk by without seeing whats inside — our tour guide Claire told us all about the great exhibitions that come through and I am keen to come back and see more!
Following this we went to the jam factory — one of my favourite cool places in Adelaide. I have always loved stopping in to watch the glass blowing and this was no exception.
We were able to check out a few other cool gallery spaces before settling in for some yummy cheese and wine at the West bar.
Some of our group went on to the Art Battle at the Queens Theatre (and it looked like great fun!) but I’d already had enough excitement for one night and retreated to my warm, cozy bed! Well done Anita, can’t wait for the next Elite Event!