It All Starts With Art
art walk, arts, culture, downtown, economic development, licking county, newark,
Art and economic development may not seem like two peas in a pod. But you’d be surprised how far a little creativity goes.
Art Walk 2008 in Newark brought people not just downtown but through shopkeepers’ doors by displaying the work of local artists inside downtown businesses last August.
Hundreds found their way to Art Walk, far surpassing organizers’ turnout expectations.
“People would stroll downtown, and when they would see something, they would tell people, ‘Oh my gosh, you’ve got to get downtown,’” says Vicky Crist, co-chair of the event. “So it was a solid four hours of strolling.”
The event was such a success that organizers have decided to make it an annual affair.
“We heard many times throughout that day, ‘This is the best event ever to happen in downtown Newark,’” Crist says. “That definitely makes you want to do something like this again.”
Roughly 45 artists exhibited their work, ranging from paintings to sculptures to jewelry. The breadth of talent in the city took many festival-goers by surprise.
“I think that the public is now aware, after coming to the event, that we really do have some pretty impressive artists in the area, and that there’s really something going on in terms of what’s happening artistically,” says Kathy Anderson, artist coordinator for Art Walk.
The cultural impact of the event, striking as it was, closely mirrored the economic impact. The event, at its core, is designed to dually promote Newark’s burgeoning arts community and inviting downtown district.
Artists actually set up their art inside downtown establishments, rather than in tents on the sidewalks as in years past.
“We decided early on was that we didn’t want this just to be an art walk with no other benefit,” Anderson says. “We put different artists in different businesses with the hopes that not only would the community see the artist, but they would also be forced to walk into those businesses participating and say, ‘Hey, I didn’t know this was here.’”
Approximately 25 businesses hosted Art Walk artists, and more are in line to participate in this year’s event, which is scheduled for Aug. 1, 2009.
“Different people have different awarenesses of the downtown Newark area, but there’s a lot there that’s really wonderful and thriving,” Anderson says. “I think there are some people that don’t typically come down to take advantage of what’s downtown, and the art walk brought people there.”
Story by Michaela Jackson
