Art on the Move, a program of the University of Missouri School of Visual Studies, has arrived in Springfield for the month of June to help reinvigorate commercial spaces affected by the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can see artwork by MU students in three downtown storefronts during the June 7 First Friday Art Walk.
There are nearly 20 venues participating in this month’s Art Walk, a monthly effort in which galleries and businesses line up arts-related events across downtown Springfield. Everyone is encouraged to walk around the neighborhood and pop into galleries in what organizers call a “self-guided tour.” Venues will be open for variable hours between 4:30 and 10 p.m.
Art on the Move goes to June 29
The Wheeler Lofts Building is one of those storefronts. Mosaic Arts Collective is hosting the work of MU student and mixed media visual artist William Wallace in the former Seattle Roast Coffee space (401 South Avenue) from 6-9 p.m.
Wallace, a second-year master of fine arts (MFA) candidate in mixed media, will be there to meet and greet patrons. Mama Jean’s Natural Market is providing beer, wine and snacks for the evening, while Mosaic Arts Collective has scheduled vocalists and spoken word performers to entertain the crowds.
Just across the street, 5 Pound Apparel (412 South Avenue) is displaying the work of Summer Hall (MFA). Art by undergrad student Caroline Topham is at the Ike Martin Building (220 S. Campbell Ave.), the former home of the Hepcat jazz club.
All of the art will be on view through June 29. After enjoying the walk-up exhibit, patrons are invited to scan a QR code and participate in a survey to help improve the program.
Art on the Move provides real-life experiences for MU students and alumni, including hands-on professional career-building opportunities. It also returns them to their Missouri hometowns or other Show Me State communities to share their art and careers. More information is available on the MU website.
Springfield Regional Arts Council hosts Annual Art Auction opening reception
The Springfield Regional Arts Council (SRAC) presents an evening of art, music and community celebration at the opening reception for its Annual Art Auction. The event is at the Creamery Arts Center (411 N. Sherman Parkway) from 5-7 p.m.
“We are excited to bring the community together for an evening of celebration and support for the arts,” Leslie Forrester, SRAC executive director, said in a press release. “The Annual Art Auction is a crucial event for funding our programs that nurture the next generation of artists and cultural leaders.”
Those programs include Artsfest, Growing Up In The Arts, professional development and exhibit openings.
The reception features live music from Michelle Gillam and refreshments will be served. The SRAC will also announce and award the recipients of the 2024 Arts and Culture Grants, supported by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation. Those awards are dedicated to aiding nonprofit arts and culture organizations in program assistance, organizational support and collaborative partnership opportunities.
Bidding for the Annual Art Auction goes live at 5 p.m. and continues until 11:59 p.m. June 21. More information is available on the Springfield Regional Arts Council website.
Sing ‘Karaoke Opera’ at the Gillioz Theatre
The Gillioz Gallery Bar will be open for First Friday Art Walk from 6-9 p.m. Grab a drink while you stroll through for an evening of art, music and film.
That includes Ozark Lyric Opera’s “Karaoke Opera” from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Enjoy a unique blend of karaoke and opera as you sing along with Springfield-area opera singers to arias, rock, pop and musical theater hits.
Two Black Ravens — a nonprofit art program for wounded, injured and ill service members and veterans — presents the exhibition “Mara Cressey: Things I Wish I Could Say but Sometimes I Am Afraid,” also inside the Gillioz. Cressy, a Missouri-based artist, is an MFA in Visual Studies candidate at Missouri State University. Her primary mediums are oil paintings and digital collages.
Organizers of the SATO48 Film Festival, meanwhile, will screen short films in room 301.
Rising star in nature photography featured at Formed
At the urging of his dying mother, Terry Nunn purchased his first camera in January 2022. It has changed his life.
The outdoor enthusiast is completely self-taught, but his work has been displayed in galleries here in the United States as well as in Lisbon, Portugal; Hanoi, Vietnam; Barcelona, Spain; and Delhi, India.
Nunn’s nature photography will be on display at Formed: An Artist Collective (210 E. Walnut St., Suite 100) from 6-9 p.m. Guests will be able to visit with artists and learn about their creative processes while listening to live music from Tony Menown and enjoying light refreshments.
Portugal-based artist takes over Alleyscapes
This month’s Alleyscapes artist is originally from Youngstown, Ohio, but is now based in Porto, Portugal. Sarah Legow’s video project “Dear Ceiling” will be projected in the “backstage alley” behind the Hotel Vandivort and the Landers Theatre from sunset to midnight daily.
“Dear Ceiling” is described as a brief love letter from the floor to the ceiling spelled out in stop-motion text. It takes a rejection of a human-centered view of the world as its starting point. Legow feels it’s perfect for a public-facing venue in an unexpected location.
“… (It) is all about re-engaging the viewer with normally overlooked or vacant spaces of the built environment — a playful invitation to reimagine the architecture around us as just as spiritually yearning and libidinous as we are,” Legow said in a press release. “It transforms the most utilitarian, abandoned or banal space into a love story.”
The Downtown Church presents family-friendly fun
Live music from the Springfield Community Jazz Ensemble is just part of the fun hosted by the Downtown Church (413 E. Walnut St.). There will also be free activities for kids, popcorn, lemonade and popsicles. It’s all free and it runs from 6-8 p.m. near the intersection of Walnut and Jefferson.
More than 10 other venues will be open June 7
Other venues for the June 7 First Friday Art Walk are:
- BookMarx, 325 E. Walnut St., Suite 101
- Carl’s Bad Designs, 314 S. Campbell Ave.
- Forming Art Studios, 330 South Ave.
- Fresh Gallery, 401 N. Boonville Ave.
- Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe, 220 E. Walnut St.
- Hold Fast Brewing, 235 N. Kimbrough Ave.
- Hotel Vandivort, 305 E. Walnut St.
- J.L. Long Traders, 318 W. Walnut St.
- Obelisk Home, 214 W. Phelps St., Suite 101
- Park Central Branch Library, 128 Park Central Square
- Transformation Gallery & Tattoo, 330 E. Walnut St.
For more information, visit the official First Friday Art Walk website, or find First Friday Art Walk on Facebook.
Jeff Kessinger
Jeff Kessinger is the Reader Engagement Editor for the Springfield Daily Citizen, and the voice of its daily newsletter SGF A.M. He covered sports in southwest Missouri for the better part of 20 years, from young athletes to the pros. The Springfield native and Missouri State University alumnus is thrilled to be doing journalism in the Queen City, helping connect the community with important information. He and wife Jamie daily try to keep a tent on the circus that is a blended family of five kids and three cats. More by Jeff Kessinger
