March is the month of many things. It’s the month of the god of war, Mars, which Russia seems to be taking a little too literally. Back in Sydney though, we’re all about the conceptual (and expressing our deepest, darkest emotions on canvas rather than someone else’s sovereign soil).

IT IS ART MONTH.

This year Art Month, produced by 10 Group for the Australian Art Events Foundation, presents over two-hundred panels, tours and events across the city. As if the wine list wasn’t intimidating enough, they’re assaulting us with choice?! Personally, I can’t afford to collect anything that doesn’t come out of a Kinder Surprise, so I won’t be frequenting the ‘Collector’s Space’ series (I have never felt so poor, inadequate or alone as when reading the summary for ‘Collecting Couples, a lively and personal panel discussion which explores the dynamics of two couples who collect art collaboratively’). BUT that’s just me, and even if the walls of your apartment do bare menacingly over you with their stark, blank, uncultured lack, there are a stash of talks and tours simultaneously accessible, free and relevant to those art lovers amongst us with a less disposable income.

There are also many many MANY group and solo shows opening, if you’re more of a ‘ponder in peace’ type. Check out the website for a full listing. Without further ado, here are The Flog’s picks for panels and tours worth taking advantage of…

The Role of the Art Critic

March 10, 6-8pm

Collector’s Space, Darlinghurst

A panel including Sydney Morning Herald art critic John McDonald, artist and theorist Dr Oliver Watts, and gallery director and social media enthusiast Vasili Kaliman talk the role of the art critic in a contemporary, social media enriched climate. A good one for any aspiring arts writers out there.

The Art of Branding the Arts, presented in collaboration with SAMAG

March 17, 6pm

The Australia Council for the Arts, Surry Hills

If you’re 2014’s Picasso but nobody else seems to have noticed, you might need a little lesson on selling yourself. Does good art need no help or is there value in cultivating a strong brand? Industry professionals and market leaders top this panel sharing best practice examples from around the world.

Visual Feasts

March 25

Sydney’s top chefs collaborate with contemporary artists to create a culinary masterpiece that promises to be a feast for the senses. You have to pay for this baby but it’d make for a damn original date night. Chef Luke Mangan teams up with Dank Street Galleries and hatted Italian restaurant Popolo presents a menu at Dominik Mersch Gallery.

Buy Art Tour- My First Time

March 15, 2-5pm

MOP Projects, Chippendale

Awkward virginal art buyers unite, hold hands and take it slow. A fantastic and unique opportunity for anyone wide-eyed and wanting an introduction to buying art without the spin.

The Democracy of Drawing

14-30 March

AirSpace Projects, Marrickville

Just one of the many incredible group exhibitions curated for Art Month, The Democracy of Drawing ‘celebrates the many ways in which drawing can be understood and the accessibility of the process’. Grab your HB and head along.

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Madeleine Clarke | Art Month