by Andy Lyons, Editor-in-Chief
The Warrensburg, Mo. First Fridays Art Walk returns this Friday after a successful inaugural effort in April. The Warrensburg Arts Collective has put together even more for its second art walk, with the number of businesses hosting both local art and music growing from 16 businesses to 23, and featuring more than 50 artists and musicians on what will be a busy weekend in ‘Burg.
Organizer Jay Linhardt said there are some other new additions this month, including new artists, roaming musicians, and a special street concert at 8:30 p.m. at the “Downtown Vibrations” art instillation on West Pine Street with performances by DOOMBLUES and local hip-hop artist Madness.
The new businesses are along the same route as the April art walk, which makes a “U” shape from Hout Street near the courthouse, south on North Holden Street, and then west on West Pine Street.
This weekend also marks graduation for students at the University of Central Missouri. With so much going on, Linhardt said he sees it as a positive.
“In the end I think that will only bring more traffic to the Art Walk,” Linhardt said. “I must admit, it has made it very difficult to book this time. A lot of our artists are graduating, we’ve got an increase in participating businesses and we are still trying to get our name out there. The show must go on though, and we’ve done a great job of filling it up I think.”
The additional businesses make for more stops to visit along with more musicians and art exhibits to take in. Maps will be available online via the Warrensburg First Friday Art Walk Facebook page and available in businesses on later this week.
The event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday May 5 in downtown Warrensburg.
For more information, or for those who want to participate either as an artist or as a volunteer, email the Warrensburg Arts Collective at warrensburgartscollective@gmail.com.