Through Facebook, I found out about Crush Crew. They had an application process, but ultimately everyone who applied were accepted. The application involved submitting the story of “my first art crush.” Of course, I told them about how I was an impressionable young girl when Titanic came out and I adored his charcoal drawings. He was pretty easy on the eyes, too.

So, yesterday was the first meeting. It was held at the Armory (Read: Seattle Center Theatre/food court place) on the fourth floor. It was funny because everyone that I passed on the way up that looked lost were also going to the meeting. It was the first public function I’ve attended that offered free beer. The coordinators, Sam and Courtney, briefed us. There were about 25 of us youngins there– half of the total number accepted as part of Crush Crew.

Crush Crew is the young brigade of artlovers that will be attending Art Crush events and hopefully promoting the events on their respective blogs and twitters. They had a clipboard going around as an attendance sheet, with spaces to put names, blog urls and twitnames. I felt like I had found my own kind –which is funny because Crush Crew was invented so that the public (especially young people) could feel that art is an accessible thing and here I am feeling like part of an elite group. It was incredible though. Dangling earrings, loud print dresses and thick-rimmed glasses abound in the room. 8:1 Girl to Guy ratio (if that says anything about the current state of art and young people.) One of the guys joked about his reason for attending, nodding to his friend, “I’m just here to be his chaperone.”

We went around the room saying a little bit about ourselves. I am a painter, blogger and graphic design student. Others attending were event coordinators, dancers, actors and writers. We collectively addressed the problem of art: this culture puts art on a pedestal. People feel like they can’t understand it, relegating art “duties” to a specific class of people. Perhaps, one of the most basic human instincts is to create. Sam wanted to bring that “Improv Everywhere” spirit to the group and encourage us to self-assemble into a tight-knit art support group where we can feel comfortable if not inspired to explore local art of all kinds (and then talk–read: social media– about it afterwards).

So, in September and October, I will be going to Crush events and bars (apparently, a bit part of socializing as a young adult is bonding over beers) and blogging (and maybe, video-blogging) about art. Stay Tuned.