Who’d think that an open casting call posted on Facebook would result in a featured role on a Canadian television series? Last March, two-time NTNA contestant Winnie Huang responded to a Facebook post looking for artists that ultimately led to her landing one of 15 slots on “Crash Gallery,” a five-part competition-style reality show. “At the casting call I was presented with on-the-spot challenges and answered a few questions. A few weeks later, I received a call notifying me I was a successful candidate,” recalls Huang, owner of The RAWR Shop in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Filmed in Vancouver in front of a live audience, “Crash Gallery” centers around a group of artists from different backgrounds, showcasing their talents in a series of artistic challenges. Each episode features three artists going head-to-head in a series of daring and inventive challenges. In Huang’s episode, which aired October 23, she faced off against a graffiti artist and face painter. First, she was asked to create a mosaic using smashed ceramics. Next, the group was asked to draw a portrait of someone in the audience on a huge canvas using invisible glow-in-the-dark chalk. “Both of these challenges were intensely difficult because they were on a much larger scale than we as nail artists are accustomed to,” she says. “It was nerve-wracking, but the audience was so supportive. I was feeding off their positive vibes and that helped tremendously. As it turns out, when people chant your name repeatedly, you are capable of so much more!”

Even though Huang didn’t win, she enjoyed the challenges and being in the company of other amazing artists. “Being put out of my comfort zone allowed me to discover things I didn’t know I was capable of, and that was the whole reason I signed up for the show,” she says.

You can catch the episode at www.cbc.ca/beta/arts/crashgallery.