Conway, ARK – Conway Downtown Art Walk, will kick off the 2024 season this Friday, March 1. The event takes place every First Friday of the month March-November, with a break in May.
From 5 to 8 pm, visitors downtown will find artists selling and demonstrating art, performances by street musicians, interactive arts activities for kids, and more. Several of the downtown businesses also participate by staying open later these Fridays.
While visitors will still enjoy the same walkable art experience as in recent years, 2024 brings a few changes, such as the addition of small outdoor cafés with food or drink options available for purchase from local vendors.
This season also features monthly themes. “We love partnering with other local businesses and organizations to create new opportunities for Art Walk attendees. The themes give us a chance to expand those partnerships while providing even more hands-on, fun educational activities,” explained Jennie McNulty, the Program Director for the Creative Institute and Art Walk. “For example, our March theme is Bring the Beat In; the Faulkner County Library will have stations where kids can build maracas and drums, the UCA Symphony is bringing their instrument petting zoo, and crowd favorite Community Collective will have their live drum circle.”
Mikayla Stiles, one of the Art Walk organizers, said, “We are excited to introduce members of the Conway community to a variety of artistic styles, as well as the different ways the arts impact our world.”
The April 5th Total Eclipse of the Art Downtown Art Walk will include local performers coming together to participate in the installation of Luna, a 20-foot-tall inflatable sculpture commissioned by the University of Central Arkansas College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
Other themes will center around storytelling, sustainable art, and movement, each with guest performers and demonstrations. The November event will be a Holiday Market, encouraging attendees to purchase locally made items as holiday gifts.
The Downtown Art Walk was revived in 2022 by local nonprofit The Creative Institute of Central Arkansas. Institute founder, Jessica Crum said “It’s important to give local artists a platform to share their work in a way that also contributes to their income.”
Over the past two and a half years, the event has grown to see 800-1000 visitors each month, with approximately 30-40 artists participating at a time.
Head to www.creativeinstitutear.org/artwalk to see the full schedule and find out more.
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