PRESS RELEASE
Downtown Arts Alliance
P.O. Box 2952
West Monroe, LA 71294
For information, contact Ann Bloxom Smith, 318-503-5125, bloxom51@gmail.com.
July 14, 2017
For immediate release:
August 3rd Downtown Gallery Crawl Begins Its 10th Anniversary Celebration
In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Downtown Gallery Crawl, on Thursday, August 3, all nine galleries of the Downtown Arts Alliance will be hosting special exhibitions while lots of exciting activities will be happening outdoors. As usual on the first Thursday of every even-numbered month, the Alliance will produce a great, free party for the whole community. But this year, August 2017-June 2018, the celebration will be ramped up to highlight ten years of wonderful art, food, and music!
From 5-9 pm, the whole family is invited to participate in the Crawl, which happens in the downtown areas of Monroe and West Monroe, with free golf-cart rides available for those who prefer not to make the walk from gallery to gallery. Five galleries are located on Art Alley (N. 2nd St.) in Monroe while another is on DeSiard Street, one is on South Grand by the River Market, and one is on Antique Alley in West Monroe. All nine galleries’ artists invite you to view and discuss their work, enjoy refreshments, and listen to live music. Original art will be for sale, too, so all can share in their very personal expression. Resident and guest artists will be on hand to talk with patrons about their art. And neighbors will simply enjoy visiting with neighbors during this bi-monthly occasion.
In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Downtown Gallery Crawl, the artists are excited to work again with Alan Brockman, one of the co-founders of the Crawl, who is bringing the North Delta Ramble to Downtown Monroe for the Crawl. The Ramble will be headquartered at the Palace Gallery with work by featured artist Margaret Moses, a local abstract artist inspired by natural forms. Her large-scale paintings are shown in galleries throughout the South, her brilliant colors and interesting textures reflecting her connection to the natural world. The Palace Gallery is curated by Jarod Stokes.
In the park to the left of the Palace, the Ramble Bus will be parked with live music by renowned local singer-songwriter Monty Russell and friends. To top things off, the Ramble is hosting Chef Galen Iverstine, proprietor of Iverstine Farms in Kentwood, Louisiana, who is creating a "farm to table" dining experience. Galen will be serving $14 plates of barbequed meats with all the fixings. Contact Alan Brockman via Facebook for pre-sale Ramble dinner tickets, or call 318-325-3735.
This Ramble Revival will be bringing together food, music, and art as a token of appreciation to the Crawl, where the original idea was seeded ten years ago. The event is family friendly, so bring the kids, out-of-towners, and anyone else looking for a great time. In the words of the Ramble, "Through food, music, and art, we are able to break through barriers and bring people together to enjoy one thing we all have in common – LIFE."
Join the anniversary party with Sugar Gallery's artists for The Third Dimension: The 3D Show. View various works of art sporting 3D glasses, available at each artist's station, and see how different color combinations vibrate and seem to move forward when viewed in 3D. See resident photographer Burg Ransom's butterfly appear close enough to touch; experience Leah Reitzell's Electric Daylilies and see Melanie Douthit's live scale super hero vibrate in 3D. Stacy Medaries will be back this month with her unique mixed media art. Chris D. Cox will have unique industrial / farmhouse style lamps, and Scott Stone's art will be on the landing. Don't miss the big anniversary celebration at Sugar, where there's always something sweet!
The Garrett House will have an interactive show where the community can get engaged in a Social Mapping Project. This project will be led by Brooke Foy, curator of the Garrett House. Make plans to come by and help make the art work at the Garrett House. Caster and Chicory will be set up on the lawn at the Garrett House, where they will serve up their yummy beignets and coffee!
UPSTAIRS gallery, in partnership with the Masur Museum’s AltEx program, will present Entre Nosotros (Between Us) Variation II, an immersive video installation by the artist Lionel Cruet. This is an audio-visual and interactive installation that recreates the illusion of an indoor beach environment stuck in time. The work consists of video projections, sounds, lights, and a floor covered in sand and scattered objects that remind us of the contradictions of space, culture, and rituals. Visit lionelcruet.com for more information about the artist.
Also in partnership with the Masur Museum, the Outside Gallery (Art Alley at the railroad track) will present Will Work for Food, an outdoor exhibition by the artist Jenny Ellerbe. The exhibition will deal with themes of environmentalism related to bees and other pollinators’ fraught relationship with humans. Pay careful attention, or, like bees, you will take Will Work for Food for granted. Since the Outside Gallery is outside, it is always open. You can “like” the Outside Gallery on Facebook and on Instagram.
The Big Room gallery, curated by Anna Rowan, will host a show called 4@Work. The featured artists will include Dustin Cody Greer, who will present new paintings and will do a live demonstration. He will be joined by Alyssa Guidry Posey, presenting ceramics, as well as Pint Size Printers (Victoria and Mashall Smith), who will demonstrate their screen printing process. Finally, Lora Lee, a skilled metalworker, will show her jewelry made from coins, copper, and found objects. She will also demonstrate enameling of coin pendants.
The shows at the Downtown Gallery, curated by Ricky Sikes, and Arender Studio and Gallery, curated by Brad Arender, both on Art Alley, will feature new art and old to celebrate the last ten years of art and artists in beautiful downtown Monroe and West Monroe.
RUMO’s on Trenton Street in West Monroe is celebrating its second anniversary as a gallery while joining in the tenth anniversary of the Arts Alliance. Rumo’s is sponsoring a Lawn Party at the end of Antique Alley across the street from the Giant Metal Flowers. AMmusic's Andrew Harris will be D.J.ing starting at 7:30 pm. There will be food trucks parked out on the streets for people to grab some food and enjoy the music and the outdoor Art Show. Joshua Mitchell is the artist and will be showing large format works made of reclaimed wood fit together in brilliant geometric patterns. It will be a great time on Antique Alley as we kick off the 10-Year Anniversary of the Downtown Gallery Crawl with a bang. Rumo’s is owned by Russell and Morgan Moore and curated by Austin Bantel.
The party continues back on Monroe’s Art Alley, where Crawlers can enjoy free Coke floats, donated by the Biedenharn Museum along with the Creamery and the Coca-Cola Company. Also in that area and near the Bry Fountain will be food trucks/tents and a booth for the new Crawl Companions—the new “friends group” that will help to keep the Crawl a free event.
At each Crawl during this anniversary year, there will be new swag for Crawl Companions and other fans of the Crawls. This time the offering will be limited edition T-shirts and tanks, which may be preordered via email--$25 each for unisex dark gray heather T-shirts and women’s deep emerald tanks. Email your shirt choice and size before July 21 to artsalliancedowntown@gmail.com to reserve your shirt. You’ll love the new Crawl logo designed by Jason Byron Nelson!
The artists of the Downtown Arts Alliance, as well as their appreciative public, sincerely thank the always-generous DAA sponsors, especially Sunquest Properties, Louisiana Pain Care, Creed and Creed Law Firm, Fiesta Nutrition Center/The Good Earth Salad Bar, Cross Keys Bank, Lavalle Salomon Law office, Dr. Terry Tugwell, Bayou Roux Restaurant, Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau, Masur Museum of Art, Northeast Louisiana Arts Council, Sir Speedy, the News-Star, KEDM Public Radio, DeltaStyle, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Choice Brands and Marsala Beverage.
Sponsorships are still available. For information on levels of support and benefits, see the organization’s website at www.downtowngallerycrawl.com and Facebook page.
The next Downtown Gallery Crawl will be Thursday, October 5, 2017, when the galleries will continue to celebrate their tenth year of entertaining their neighbors.
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Supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and as administered by the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works.
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