(Part 5 in my Hometown Tourist Summer Blog Series)
It’s no secret that the community i grew up in was deeply invested in promoting, sustaining, and enabling the arts. As a child i was lavished with creative camps in everything from clay handbuilding to playwriting, and such youthful pursuits translated naturally into a high school spent in arts-focused English classes and afternoons spent serving as a board member for a student-run theatre company. It was an enormous privilege to partake in such a vibrant and encouraging community, and a privilege doubled in magnitude in an economic climate wherein arts programs are the first to be hacked from public schools. But Carrboro-Chapel Hill’s investment in engaging young people with the arts extends far beyond painting classes for fourth graders: it is integral to the identity of the community itself. Prime example? The 2nd Friday Art Walk.
Over a decade old, the tradition of the 2nd Friday Art Walk is put on (to my knowledge) by the Carrboro Arts Center. Spanning the width and breadth of these two towns, the Walk encompasses all manner of galleries, knick-knack shops, and coffee corners whereupon local artists exhibit their work free to the public. Some places have hors d’oeuvres, some have wine tastings, and still others use the Art Walk to showcase more permanent collections of artistry and craftsmanship. While the various nooks and crannies housing these pieces are, in their large number, too far apart to be entirely within strolling distance, tackling one section of town for an evening of art appreciation makes for an illuminative and eccentric night out – perfect for an inexpensive date, art lovers, parent-child bonding time, or a too-cool-for-you night out with your hipster friends.
I had incidentally done the Art Walk in my years prowling the streets of second-hand clothing stores and cheap Tex Mex cuisine, but never had i prowled such corner shops with the intention of appreciating their small-wall galleries. Once again, in an effort to rediscover my hometown as an adult, i decided the time for conscientious and intentional art-walking had come. With camera and map in hand, J and i decided we would tackle the main streets of Carrboro for our first true Walking-with-Wolves-Art-Things Experience.
Alack, my timing couldn’t have been more imprecise. When we left for our sojourn, the heavens had thrust themselves wide and rain poured forth in torrents. Naturally, it cleared as soon as we made it to the first gallery stop on the walk (the ArtsCenter itself!), but it nevertheless left Carrboro glistening with the still air and fresh scent of a world recently drenched.
Though our clothes were damp, our mood and determination remained protected by umbrellas, so we continued to peruse the galleries lining Main and Weaver Street. As i did not have explicit permission by the artists to photograph their work, i didn’t take any pictures of the pieces on display. I can assure you, though, that there truly was something for every modern and post-modern taste; photography (my favorite a collection of prints taken in Tanzania (of course)), mixed media, up-cycled crafts, watercolor landscapes, acrylic portraiture and cityscapes, each piece truly rife with the joie de vivre of this corner of Carolina.
(art reflections, art in progress)
Easily my favorite pieces were in the This & That Gallery, which houses a number of small beauties for purchase on any given day, but for the occasion housed the prints in question of my much-missed East African trees and wildlife.
After exhausting the lanes of downtown Carrboro, we stopped in at Elmo’s for a bite of dinner before heading out to another (shamefully) first for me – Caffè Driade. This coffee shop is now officially my most favorite coffee place in all the triangle, and possibly the East Coast – so much so, i think it deserves its own blog post at a later date. But for now, i will say this: the garlands of fairy lights strung over the tiered back patio encompassed by the tall oaks and forest encompassing Chapel Hill made for a beautiful end to a beautiful evening – reminding me that art is foremost, for me, found in what is all around us.
If you’re ever in want of a free, fun, and unique way to spend a Friday night, i highly recommend a romp through Chapel Hill/Carrboro on the Art Walk!
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current jam: ‘payphone’ covered by walk off the earth
best thing: showdowns.
Tagged: 2nd friday, art, art walk, artist, artists, artscenter, caffe driade, carrboro, chapel hill, date night, free, free event, free things to do in north carolina, lizzie mcmizzie, local artists, nc, north carolina, painting, photography, sculpture, this and that gallery, unc, upcycle, walking
