“First Friday” Art Walk
Planned For This Friday

November 2011 - Downtown Fairbury’s art galleries will once again be open for “First Friday” coming up this Friday evening, December 2nd.  They will be opening their doors to visitors from
7 p.m. – 9 p.m. as part of the “First Friday Art Walk” in historic downtown Fairbury. Some cities hold "art walks", in which a number of the town's art galleries or artists' studios will open their doors into Friday evening. The idea is that galleries will attract people to the downtown and enrich the art community by pooling their openings together into one monthly evening.

Located at 515 4th Street, New Earth Clay Pottery features locally made stoneware pottery by Bill Robbins of Fairbury.The gallery regularly features (for viewing and for sale) functional stoneware pottery, ceramic art, handmade tiles, jewelry, porcelain, paintings, hand-made paper, photography, sculpture and art glass pieces produced by local & regional artists. The December Art Walk will feature “new pots, fresh from the kiln,” according to Robbins. He will also give visitors tours of his studio and the kiln.

Located at 515 5th Street, BB Studios is owned by artist and sculptor, Thom Hunt of Fairbury. Hunt currently specializes in “decorative concrete training” and offers monthly classes and seminars teaching other artists either onsite at their location or in his studio in downtown Fairbury. Visitors to BB Studios will experience a tropical rain forest in the making, complete with a 14-foot tall waterfall, large Banyan tree “growing” up  thru the ceiling, and a Scarlet McCaw Parrot named Captain Jack.  December’s Art Walk will feature the works of artist Cindy Chinn of Chester and Lucky Stradley of Hubbell. In addition, Hunt will be debuting a new series of sculptures to promote his newest student curriculum, available to high school seniors and college art students.

Located at 508 E Street, Storyteller inside Stagecoach Mall will also be open for the December First Friday. Visitors will be able to see the “century-old” brick wall  and massive limestone fireplace created by Thom Hunt and fellow artists  as part of the “Decorative Concrete Meets Historic Preservation” class held this past August. Eighteen artists from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Brazil came to Fairbury to be trained by Hunt in the techniques of decorative concrete. “The next step is a decorative concrete overlay on the floor, which is scheduled for January,” according to owner, Julie Katz. Also on display will be featured works from members of the Jefferson County Art Guild, art glass pieces by Deb Klaus of Crete Glass Creations and handmade Murano art glass jewelry by Mary Stapaules, available for viewing and for sale.

Located at 520 5th Street, the former Smitty’s Bakery will be open from 7 – 9 p.m. and feature the caricatures of Fairbury artist, Keith Trimm. Visitors are encouraged to stop by and watch as Trimm draw caricatures, which make great gifts for family and friends. Click here to see examples of Trimm’s caricatures.

Gallery 413, located at 413 5th Street will not be open for the December Art Walk, however, will be part of the 2012 series of First Fridays beginning in February. According to building owner David Lange of Lincoln,
“Plans are to have a permanent gallery in that location that will be open to the public on a regular basis.”

“First Friday in November was well-attended and we hope that the new features at this month’s Art Walk will bring folks back to see what’s new in the art community and in downtown Fairbury,” Lange added.