VANCOUVER - About a dozen people lined up in front of the large, glass building in Vancouver's swanky Gastown, four hours before The Cheaper Show opened its doors.
Like fans waiting to buy concert tickets, some brought lawn chairs Saturday afternoon to mark their place in line before the massive show started.
The eighth-annual, one-night-only art exhibit and sale featured up to two pieces by 150 mostly unknown, mostly local artists.
The artists ranged from street artist The Dark to filmmaker-photographer Murray Siple, whose Carts of Darkness was featured in Toronto's Hot Docs.
Several participants, like Ben Tour and Andrew Pommier, are being heralded as current art darlings, with spreads in the popular and influential American art magazine "Juxtapoz."
All the pieces - installations, photographs, paintings and drawings, among other things - were priced at $200. Advertising for the show featured black, bold letters on a yellow background stating "BUY ART NOT COCAINE."
Graeme Berglund said the event was started in 2000 at a small downtown restaurant to create an event for artists who weren't being recognized.
The first event attracted 200 people. Three thousand were expected for Saturday's show, which was housed in a massive, abandoned space in an increasingly trendy, cobblestoned neighbourhood known for its bistros and high-end boutiques.
"About 85 per cent (of the artists) have no gallery representation whatsoever," Berglund said. "A good half of them have never shown their work before.
"There is nothing but talent here."
Artist Randy Grskovic, who has shown his work across Canada, said he had never taken part in an art show that had such a strong sense of community.
"Within the gallery system, you're not able to do something on this scale so quick," said the 26-year-old. "There's a lot more energy here, there's a lot more efficiency, just people working together. It's nice."
The last show featured 75 artists. The event sold $24,000 of work in four hours.
Berglund said holding the event for one night only created a concentrated focus.
"When you've got a week-long show, people will come out to the opening and the closing," he said. "This really centralizes everything and causes excitement."
News from �The Canadian Press, 2008
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