“We have been talking about this for a couple of months now. We wanted to step it up and take action. We want to take the empty buildings that everyone has to walk by everyday, and we want to fill them with art. It’s going to be like an outdoor gallery walking experience. We put out an open call for artists, so we’ll see how many show when the event starts. Anyone can come down tonight and help. This is a family friendly event. Hyatt’s gave us a ton of art supplies – we’re working with Buffalo Place to gain access to the buildings. We have artists who are working on some exciting projects (already scheduled to attend)… but we want everyone to show up to make art with us. This is as much about bringing people together to make the art as it is to showcase the artwork. Channel 2 will be on-hand to highlight some of the positive things that are taking on the 500 block of Main Street (see backstory). This will be the first of many events that we are going to host on the block. This is an inexpensive initiative – a big bang for just a few bucks!”
This evening, from 6pm-10pm, members of the arts community are gathering at the 500-block of Main Street to create artwork that will then be showcased in various vacant storefront windows. I spoke to organizer Erica Eichelraut, one of the coordinators of the Main (St)udios, who told me that this concept was created to draw more people to the area, make it more pleasant for those already in the district, and add vitality and life to a corridor that is on the brink of being successfully marketed as an alternate arts destination. From Erica:
As I spoke to Erica, I suggested that the windows also be labeled with leasing information for anyone who might like to be a tenant on a permanent basis. So often these empty storefronts don’t have any contact info, leaving prospective business owners with no leads on the spaces.
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