Article by Stephanie Schuck
Local Art Scene – June 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
MANY A GREAT IDEA first surfaced on a beverage napkin while the creator wielded a pen in one hand and a cocktail in the other. And rumor has it that Salida’s Artwalk had similar origins. “I think it basically started over a couple of beers by Michael Boyd and Michael Parry,” says Geraldine Alexander, who, along with artist Boyd, co-owns the Salida working studio, cultureclash.
Boyd says the annual art festival sort of began along those lines. “Basically we [he and Parry] wanted to have an opening on the same night,” he maintains. So Boyd, along with local artists Parry, Donna Emsbach and Bernice Strawn talked about providing an opportunity for people to see their studios in addition to their work. “It just expanded off of that,” he adds. “It became an event really.”
The first Artwalk included about a dozen venues in downtown Salida. “It’s confined to the historic district,” says Boyd. “We wanted to keep it as a downtown event.” Although the setting was limited, Boyd says the goal was to involve as many local artists as possible. “One of the things we did was we tried to make it really inclusive,” he adds.
Fast forward to June 2002. It is the tenth annual Artwalk, running June 28-30, and it has become an established festival and party celebrating the visual and performing arts in Salida, complete with art, wine, cheese and the infamous meandering “Mud People.”
“It’s very much an anticipated event,” says Alexander.
It’s an event that’s also anticipated by Salida businesses including local restaurants, inns, hotels and bed and breakfasts.
“Besides First Street [Café], Artwalk put Salida on the map,” says Darlene Louch, who, owns and operates the First Street Café with her husband, Wayne. Their restaurant has been a part of Artwalk since the beginning. The Louches, along with other local restaurant owners, had already been displaying works by local artists for many years, but the idea of an art festival brought visions of pretentious art collectors and snooty art poseurs invading the town. It wasn’t like that, however. “I didn’t know what to expect,” says Louch. “But it was a success right from the start.” And “it brought lots of people — lots of hungry people.”
Boyd and other early organizers attribute the success of Artwalk to the many volunteers and local supporters who pitch in every year. “The only reason it is such a big event, is because it’s been worked on by dozens of great people,” he says.
Alexander was visiting from Chicago during her first Artwalk. At the third Artwalk she purchased art and by the fourth she had moved to Salida; she had barely opened cultureclash when she became an organizer. Since then Alexander has been actively involved with the festival; she has served as chair, and more recently, as a consultant. In fact, cultureclash artist Todd Tychewicz refers to her as “the Michael Jordan of Artwalk.”
Basketball aside, Alexander says the first few Artwalks remained casually planned. However, due to its growth, the event showed signs of needing tighter structure. “It stayed that grassroots and that informal until the fourth Artwalk,” she says. During the fourth annual Artwalk, Alexander and some of the other organizers decided the event needed a budget, fundraising efforts, committees, publicity, record-keeping, and a vision statement. “It is still a grassroots event,” she says, adding, “the credit for the event needs to be spread far and wide. My strength is that I gave it some organizational bones.”
JEWELRY DESIGNER Leigh Mills is the chair of the 2002 Artwalk. Mills, who owns and operates the Salida art gallery, Off the Beaten Path, also joined the ranks of volunteers during the fourth Artwalk. Mills had displayed her work at previous Artwalks including the first, but it was at the fourth event that she broadened her efforts to aid in promotion.
She also created the “Mud People,” the spirited mud-clad tribe of individuals who saunter around downtown during Artwalk. “I didn’t plan to make Artwalk and Mud [associated together],” Mills says. “It was just a great time to do [the Mud People], and that was the heart and intention behind it.” However, many people associate the Mud People with the festival and its evolution.
Mills compares the actual evolution of Artwalk to the accumulation of festival archives. The first year promotion consisted of one piece of paper, and then the second year it was a public service announcement (PSA). “When I came on board,” Mills says, “we had a brochure and we started doing some fundraising.” The accumulation continued. “The file got a little fatter, and then it started quantum leaping.” The 2000 Artwalk files alone needed a separate box. This year Mills is developing a master plan that she calls “the recipe for Artwalk,” which will detail the inner workings of the annual festival.
According to Mills, advertising and promotion have been a key to the evolution of Artwalk. In fact, the event has gained exposure because of the Front Range and national press. Writers have dubbed Artwalk, “Soho in Salida,” and the town was included by author John Villani in his book, 100 Best Art Towns.
Last year, according to Mills, “we were voted as the area’s best art festival by Westword [a Denver alternative weekly].” And her reaction to this: “We just beat Cherry Creek.”
However, most artists maintain that Artwalk is not just about them. “It’s not just artists — it’s members of the community [who are involved],” Mills maintains. “It’s art-focused and art-centered, but it’s a community event.”
Salida, of course, also is composed of children. “Kids are definitely a part of the community,” says artist Mary McEnany, who owns and operates The Working Studio, a community center for art education, which opened in 2001. McEnany has participated in previous Artwalks as both an artist and volunteer. This year the studio will be included in the festival for the first time. For 2002, McEnany is offering a “Parents Night Out,” in which kids work on art while their parents have a chance to go out and explore galleries and artists’ receptions. “We’re hoping kids get excited [about art]”says McEnany, who is also helping organize a kids’ art show for Artwalk at the Community Art Gallery.
THE SALIDA STEAM PLANT highlights performing arts and offers an art gallery, which has been a part of Artwalk for several years. The Steam Plant has provided such Artwalk entertainment as storytellers, tumblers, skits, dancing and musicians. “Salida is so much fun during Artwalk,” says Jerri Lines, owner of the High Steppin’ dance studio. Lines teaches jazz, tap and theater dance. She has organized Steam Plant student performances during Artwalk for the past three years. “I love it because it’s a place for my students to perform without a lot of pressure.”
However, pressure is a familiar feeling for many artists before Artwalk. Through the years the annual event challenges artists to produce their newest and best creations. “It’s a great opportunity to get the lead out and get something done,” says artist and metalsmith Todd Tychewicz.
“Artwalk kicks off the summer season,” says potter Bob Crosthwait who co-owns and operates the Salida working studio, Wildlife Art Works, with artist Elizabeth Rothwell. “It was a natural evolution,” says Rothwell of Artwalk in Salida. “We have many more working studios than we do galleries,” she maintains.
“It makes us more unique,” says Crosthwait, “You don’t go down to Santa Fé and see that.” Both Crosthwait and Rothwell maintain that the fact that Salida has so many working studios creates an atmosphere promoting an “exchange of ideas” between artists.
Tychewicz agrees that the community has been supportive. “I just love it when people come up to me and say ‘this town is really a booming art community.'”
But not everyone feels the same about Artwalk. Jack Byars who helps his brother Chris, a sculptor, run his art gallery and studio on First Street, says he doesn’t really feel like he’s as much a part of the art community. “There seems to be a thinking in the group that there is low art and high art,” he says, but “I’d like to show anybody who we’d like to show.” Jack considers the gallery a cooperative gallery, where they do not charge a commission to the artists who show their work.
“We were the first ones here,” Jack maintains. “We had the first gallery in town.” While Jack may not really feel like a part of the art community, he and his brother do participate during Artwalk. “We participate on our terms,” Jack says. According to Jack it is difficult to put money into Artwalk and spend it on wine and cheese. “It might be a little too high-brow for us.”
The art community has been booming, though, and this year more than forty galleries, restaurants and shops will be participating in Artwalk. Saturday night is the big event, with artists’ receptions, food and entertainment throughout the historic downtown district. Once again, Artwalk guarantees a party and a showing of many of the artists’ best works.
“If you want to see local artists at their finest, Artwalk is the time,” maintains Alexander. And according to many Salida artists this kind of attitude is the essence of Artwalk — even ten years later. “It’s the same spirit, the same thing,” claims Boyd. “It’s just bigger.”
Stephanie Schuck has worked in both education and public relations, and also waits tables at the First Street Café in Salida. Earlier this year, she carried the Olympic Torch on its way to Salt Lake City.