Art Walk networking impacts Coeur d'Alene artists
Artist Alex Galford exhibited his paintings at the Emerge CDA Gallery in May.
COEUR d’ALENE — On the second Friday of each month, artists and art lovers gather to experience art up close and personal during Art Walks in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
Arts and Culture Alliance executive director Abby Light said the monthly looks behind the scenes of the art world and often into an artist’s process began in 2007 with then-owner of the Art Spirit Gallery, Steve Gibbs.
“Artists can really bolster the foot traffic and just draw people in and create something that is a little unexpected or out of the norm,” Light said. “They developed it as a way to bring more people downtown especially during those slow seasons and started for businesses, but it's sort of blossomed into this amazing thing for the artists.”
Businesses have been able to use them as a draw more people into storefronts during slow seasons and artists get to forge direct connections with people who may find the events a more accessible way to engage with the art scene.
In some cases, artists have developed a deeper connection to businesses hosting the arts networking events, bringing back artists to commission special displays or other projects.
For artists without gallery representation, they can show their work publicly in an untraditional way or at an unconventional setting.
The arts events are not necessarily bound by being hosted in a gallery. Instead, they can take place in bars, retail shops or even a park.
“Everybody is curious about the process of making art, too and you get to see that in Art Walk. There's no barrier, it's free and you don't have to feel like you need to be an art connoisseur to appreciate it,” Light said.
Artist Stephen Shortridge has been running the Shortridge Gallery located inside Mix it Up Home for over a year now and said it’s been an effective way of connecting with the downtown arts scene again. Shortridge used to run the Painter's Chair Fine Art Gallery before it closed in 2017.
“The Art Walks are almost a public service in a way,” Shortridge said, stating that they bring the art to interested audiences.
In his experience, art sales at the events themselves are varied because many people want to buy artwork after the Art Walk when it’s more a private purchase, especially for a bigger price tag piece.
“It’s worth doing for the community and it’s worth doing for your business,” Shortridge said.
He’s enjoyed the platform the Art Walks give as a way of swapping information with younger artists and passing on knowledge.
In recent years since parting with his gallery, he has shifted into a less active position within the arts world, but will “never retire and try to be a great golfer.” Instead, he’ll continue painting, write and talk artwork with others.
Stephen Shortridge (center) networks during an Art Walk event.
