Are you still chipping away at your holiday shopping list? You can get gifts for everyone on your list while taking in some local art during December’s First Friday Art Walk.
Nineteen venues are participating in this month’s Art Walk, a monthly effort in which galleries and businesses line up arts-related events across downtown Springfield. Everyone is encouraged to walk around the neighborhood and pop into galleries in what organizers call a “self-guided tour.” Venues will be open for variable hours between 5 and 10 p.m.
Affordable art at the $100 and Under Art Market
The Springfield Regional Arts Council is presenting its eighth annual $100 and Under Art Market. This year’s venue is the Springfield Art Museum (1111 E. Brookside Drive) and the hours are 5-8 p.m. Get there early. The first 100 people through the door receive a free SRAC tote bag.
The Arts Council has assembled 30 Springfield-area vendors for the $100 and Under Art Market, offering a wide variety of handmade items. Follow them on Facebook for previews of those artists and what they’re selling. After you’re done shopping, you can browse the Springfield Art Museum’s galleries before you head out to your next Art Walk stop.
The $100 and Under Art Market has made a positive impact on the arts community in Springfield. The SRAC estimates it has helped its member artists sell almost $10,000 in art through the event, held each December since 2016.
One more month of Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe’s Under $150 Exhibit
Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe (220 E. Walnut St.) continues its annual Under $150 Exhibit with a reception from 4:30-7 p.m. This is the last month the exhibit will be open.
Shop photography and original artwork, dine at one of the Queen City’s iconic restaurants and even enjoy a little karaoke with Mason on the Beat from Springfield radio station 92.9 The Beat.
Hyper-realistic artist and cocktail kits at J.L. Long Traders
Like to get an early start on your Art Walk? Head to J.L. Long Traders (318 W. Walnut St.). They’ll be open from 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
This month’s featured artist is Katie Hopkins. She specializes in custom hyper-realism. Hopkins can take any high-quality photo — pet pictures, family portraits, landscapes, food, floras and more — and turn it into a painting. She’ll be showing off original Christmas paintings during Art Walk.
While you’re inside J.L. Long Traders, you can shop their holiday merchandise and check out exclusive cocktail kits from 417 Cocktails.
Sisters Kaleen Long and Kelle Rathe own J.L. Long Traders, which stands where their great-great-grandfather operated J.L. Long and Sons Furniture Co., established in 1903. They offer unique items ranging from paper products to vintage furniture in “micro-batches.”
Formed: An Artist Collective hosts a Downtown Christmas
Head to Formed: An Artist Collective (210 E. Walnut St.) for their Downtown Christmas event. You can shop from their lineup of more than 40 southwest Missouri artists while you enjoy light refreshments and live music from Tony Menown. Some of Formed’s artists in residence will be on-site to meet shoppers and talk about their processes.
Formed: An Artist Collective is a multi-artist gallery and retail space, designed by owners Grace Huckfeldt and Laura Ingalsbe to be a one-stop shop for local art. They also offer community support and direction for artists at all stages of their careers. Formed offers classroom and studio time, photography assistance and guidance on social media, web design and online retail.
Once you’re done at Formed, visit their sister spot, Forming Artist Studios (330 South Ave.) and check out “Girls Hanging Out.” It’s an exhibition of paintings and prints by Violet Austerlitz. There will be robots and river monsters that are the culmination of an independent study course in painting at Ozarks Technical Community College.
Austerlitz will enter the MFA in Visual Studies program at Missouri State University in the fall of 2024. Her work includes printmaking, comics, videos and paintings.
“Who you want to be can become who you are,” Austerlitz said in a press release. “You can be changed by your desires (and you can desire almost anything), and what I want my art to do is illustrate that process of change. I work in a variety of mediums because each one shapes what I want to say differently and leads me to places I might not have planned on going.”
Farley Lewis featured at Fresh Gallery
December’s featured artist at Fresh Gallery (401 N. Boonville Ave.) is Farley Lewis. He’s been a full-time artist since 2018 and took a winding road to get there.
Lewis graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1985. He started and ran a sign shop and graphic design studio for 15 years, doing occasional commissioned paintings and murals, and even some mural work for Bass Pro Shops. From 1998-2016 Lewis served as a pastor, doing art and graphics on the side.
In early 2017 he started pursuing a career as a fine artist again, going full-time in January of 2018. He also teaches painting classes and workshops.
“When I look down a beautiful creek at sunset and watch the play of light on the ripples, something comes alive in me, something I try to capture for others,” Lewis said in a press release. “That is my joy as an artist. I believe beauty is powerful, whether in a painting, a song, a Savior or a well-planned city. Good paintings are far more than pretty décor — they have power to create atmosphere, awaken dreams, and even stir a sleeping heart to life.”
Fresh Gallery will also be selling art from its 20-plus juried members during First Friday Art Walk.
BookMarx, Obelisk Home offer more shopping opportunities
Two other downtown businesses will give you a chance to shop while you Art Walk. They include Obelisk Home (214 W. Phelps St., Suite 101), which is opening two exhibitions in December. To celebrate its 15-year anniversary, the Celebration group show will be in the main gallery, featuring 30 local artists. Head downstairs to the Lower Level Gallery for a show by Missouri State University’s Visual Studies Graduate Students.
Obelisk Home offers several great gifting times, including art, candles and decorative items. December’s First Friday Art Walk is also your last chance to enter to win 15 different giveaway items donated by the shop’s vendors.
Have a book lover on your list? Be sure to pop into BookMarx (325 E. Walnut St., Suite 101) to shop its collection of new and used books. BookMarx is featuring new work from Chef H.J. Schumer this month. The show is a collection of new multimedia work, along with images of local landmarks from his earlier works.
Other venues for December’s First Friday Art Walk are:
- Alleyscapes by Sculpture Walk Springfield, in the alley behind Hotel Vandivort
- The Robert & Margaret Carolla Arts Exhibition Center, 326 N. Boonville Ave.
- BE Creative, 430 S. Jefferson Ave., Suite 125
- Brick City Gallery, 215 W. Mill St.
- The Downtown Church, 413 E. Walnut St.
- Historic Holland Building, 205 Park Central East
- Hold Fast Brewing, 235 N. Kimbrough Ave.
- Hotel Vandivort, 305 E. Walnut St.
- Ozarks Technical Community College Arts, Design & Humanities, 1001 E. Chestnut Expressway
- Park Central Branch Library, 128 Park Central Square
- Transformation Gallery & Tattoo, 330 E. Walnut St.
For more information, visit the official First Friday Art Walk website, or find them on Facebook.
