Onlookers view the number of different art exhibits located inside King Hall on Emporia State Campus on Oct. 6
Twenty-one artists displayed and sold their artwork on campus and in businesses on Commercial Street on Friday, Oct. 6 for Emporia’s monthly First Friday Art Walk. The monthly event, hosted by the local non-profit organization Emporia First Friday, strives to connect local artists with the community and promote cultural growth.
This month, the art walk had more on-campus locations than usual with music program performances in Beach Hall, a community mural in King Hall, the Presbyterian Manor Portrait Show in the Memorial Union, and a Glass Guild demonstration and pumpkin sale in Emporia State’s Art Annex.
Off campus, ESU theater tickets were sold in De Stijl, print guild sold pieces in Gravel City Roasters, a Latin American Dance Showcase was held at Faces of Emporia Greenspace, and several independent artists sold their work. Among those artists was Wichita resident and ESU alumnus Hap Waddell.
“I was told that I was doing the art walk on the twentieth, so it’s been a bit of a sprint to get everything done,” Waddell said. “Emporia First Friday instagram reached out to my art instagram. I came up and we had a little meeting…I like to do art, I’ve never really put it up on a wall for someone to look at before, so it was exciting to get down here and do some art.”
Students and community members who participated in the art walk were given passports listing different locations to visit and those who got each location stamped were eligible to be drawn in a raffle at Mulready’s at 8:30 p.m. Several prizes were awarded including three fifty dollar gift certificates and a gift basket courtesy of Emporia Mainstreet.
“The art walk brings the community together and gives artists of all ages an opportunity to share their love of art,” graphic design student Darroh Sokolov said. “It makes this town feel alive and is one of the reasons I stay in Emporia.”