Residents Enjoy Local Art at Linden’s Second Annual Art Walk
Local residents turned out to enjoy Linden’s Second Annual Art Walk on Friday, June 20. I enjoyed hosting the art walk that was the result of several months of coordination with my community partners, Kathryn Friday of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Brenda Tuck of the Marengo County Economic Development Authority.
The Art Walk is a project that began in the summer of 2013 with Living Democracy student Kaleb Kirkpatrick to increase traffic in the downtown district.
The art displayed inside the businesses this year came from around Marengo and Dallas counties. More than 20 artists participated, bringing in over 100 pieces of various kinds of artwork.
Ceramics, pottery, woodwork, painting, sketches, and quilts were displayed in nine businesses downtown: Whistle Stop, 2 of A Kind, Larry Walter’s Furniture Store, Tee’s Creations, Silver Shears, Pops, Screamers, Persnickety, and Charley Burl’s.
Screamer’s restaurant hosted a special quilt exhibit this year. The local quilter’s guild, the “Piecemakers”, displayed more than 20 quilts and wall hangings in the side room at the restaurant. The displays included small descriptions to tell the story behind their quilts.
The Piecemakers meet each Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. at the home of Linda Walters in Linden to eat breakfast, quilt and socialize.
Gee’s Bend Quilts were also displayed in Screamers, with one valued at $30,000. In fact, three Gee’s Bend quilters drove the 44 miles from Boykin, Ala., to Linden simply to see their quilts displayed and to enjoy the Art Walk. They took their quilts home to Gee’s Bend after promising that they will consider participating again next year. The Art Walk was honored with their presence and by their quilts.
The artwork of participants in a local summer workshop was displayed on the outside of some storefronts. These canvases were painted at the National Guard Armory at the June 11-12 art workshop.
Around 25 kids from around Marengo County came for the two-day workshop and painted their masterpieces with the help of teachers Mary Long of Demopolis, and Lee Singleton and Lori Chapman of Linden. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System 4-H program hosted the workshop coordinated by Kathryn Friday and Lucinda Mason.
These canvases were set up from Whistle Stop to Charley Burl’s. Kids and their parents walked up and down Main Street to see their art on display.
A new addition to this year’s Art Walk was live music at the Gazebo. The band Reborn, led by Cody Braswell, performed a mix of southern rock, country and contemporary Christian music. Some folks sat in the shade and listened to the music while others walked in and out of businesses downtown.
Another new display in this year’s Art Walk was a wood carving section. Carver Don Self and his wife Judy set up their table filled with their most intricate carvings inside Pop’s. Their display featured several ornamental carvings along with some bigger pieces. Self said that one of his carvings had taken around 600 hours of work.
Lisa Wilson of Selma, Donna Luker of Thomasville, and Carolyn Cowling of Demopolis displayed several pieces of pottery and ceramics.
Charley Burl’s owner, Charlotte Barkley, said that she had a good turn out. Customers enjoyed her refreshments of lemon water, chips and dip.
Overall, I believe Linden’s second downtown Art Walk was a great success! Visitors came from far and near to enjoy the amazing talents of local artists.
The Art Walk would not have been what it was without the help of sponsors: the First Bank of Linden, Pappa’s Foods, Sweetwater Bank, Robertson Banking Company and Charley Burl’s.
Special thanks to Nicole Aledo, JonAlan Aydelott, Zachary Collier, Joe Friday, Kathryn Friday, Joanna Hinson, Lee Stevens, Brenda Tuck, and Joyce Yeager for their help before and during the Art Walk.
Tags: Linden