Local residents, students, business owners, musicians and artists are getting ready for another year of the 4th Annual SummerNight Downtown Art Walk, a free community event that will be held in downtown Auburn on Friday, June 18.
"SummerNight is a self-guided art walk featuring works in every medium, from painting to sculpture, fine art to live music and even spoken word poetry," said Sara Hand, cultural arts director for the city of Auburn parks and recreation department. "Each business, restaurant or stop along the way features an opportunity to meet local artists exhibiting and selling their work, experience innovative performances, listen to music, enjoy delicious food, shop after hours and involve children in the activities area."
The SummerNight Downtown Art Walk is from 6-9:30 p.m. During the Art Walk, College Street and Magnolia Avenue will be shut down to vehicular traffic, allowing crowds to walk freely between shops, entertainment areas, restaurants and art displays.
There will be more than 40 artists from Auburn and surrounding communities displaying their work in and outside of downtown businesses.
Each medium of art will be covered, including ceramics and pottery, watercolor, illustration, painting, jewelry and more.
"My favorite part of SummerNight is showing people what we do," said Eric Stamp, owner of Stamp and president of the Downtown Merchants Association. "Stamp is a print shop, and it is an interesting process. We get the equipment, screens and ink and print it out on the street. We let everybody do it."
There will be three performance areas featuring local musicians such as Therapy, Pangea, Muse, John Peterson and My Two Wings. Kolayah and Spoken Word Dub Poetry. A children's parade and a hula hooping fire performance will also be held in the performance areas.
"It's a mix of bands with different play lists and different styles, so it provides something for everyone," said Meg Rainey, public relations specialist for the city of Auburn parks and recreation department. "The artists cover the spectrum in terms of their pieces and their medium, and their style of work is very similar to music, just trying to offer something for everyone to enjoy."
SummerNight will have activities for children including inflatables, an arts and crafts area, a chalk walk, a puppet show by the Auburn Public Library Youth Services and a children's parade.
"The parade through downtown Auburn is all about the creative children in our community," said Hand. "They create parade attire such as festive vests, hats and shakers that they wear as they stomp through Auburn with a marching band and our favorite mascot, Aubie."
Local businesses that will be participating include Taylor's Bakery, Behind the Glass, Little Italy, The Bike Shop, Wrapsody, Cheeburger Cheeburger, Chick-Fil-A, Auburn Awards and more.
"I like the fact that the Art Walk provides a community event coordinated in the downtown area," said Ingrid Brown, business owner of AuburnArt.com and The Villager. "It reminds locals the downtown area is available to them for dining and shopping all summer long with available parking and locally owned boutique-style stores."
Hand said the SummerNight Downtown Art Walk was started by the City of Auburn, Auburn Arts Association and Auburn Downtown Merchants as a way for the community to celebrate local artists and enjoy an evening of art, music, late night shopping, dining and children's activities.
"It's just a great way to add some excitement to the summer months around here," said Rainey. "It's always busy in Auburn, but sometimes things slow down a little in the summer, so it's really great to have a free event like this to shake things up a bit."
In the event of rain, The SummerNight Downtown Art Walk will be moved to Saturday, June 19, from 6-9:30 p.m.
"We encourage the entire community to take advantage of this opportunity to shop, dine and support the arts in a fun and creative downtown atmosphere," said Hand. "We also want to encourage everyone to join the Auburn Arts Association so they can continue to put on events like SummerNight."
For more information, contact the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center at 334-501-2963 or visit www.auburnalabama.org/arts.
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