MONROE-WESTMONROE, LA- Downtown Monroe and West Monroe will soon be “crawling” with art enthusiasts and fun seekers at the upcoming Downtown Gallery Crawl on June 1. Presented by the Northeast Realtors of Louisiana, the Downtown Gallery Crawl, an initiative of the non-profit Downtown Arts Alliance, was designed to enhance the art culture of the 318 and to allow North Louisiana artists a platform to grow, prosper and connect with one another and the local community while continuing to revitalize the downtowns of Monroe and West Monroe. The Crawl's mission is to provide interactive art education and to showcase and make accessible to the NELA community the works of emerging and established local, regional and national artists and artisans.
Participating galleries in June include:
Monroe- Anapolé Gallery, Art Alley Marketplace, Ascent Gallery, Flying Tiger Brewery, La Bella Events & Receptions, Neville House, Revival Design & Consign, Sugar Gallery (presented by Black Creatives Circle of North Louisiana), The Good Daze, and The Palace Gallery
West Monroe- Albritton Photography, Alley Park, Northeast Louisiana Arts Council Gallery, and Rumo's
The Downtown Gallery Crawl is free and open to the public occurring every other month, six times a year happening from 5pm-9pm on the first Thursday of each month starting in February of each year. Remaining dates for the 2023 season are June 1, August 3, October 5, and December 7. Participating galleries provide a free and fun environment for the community to interact with, observe, learn about, and acquire fine art.
The 2023 Downtown Gallery Crawl is made possible by the generosity of local sponsors including the Northeast Realtors of Louisiana (Crawl Presenter), Origin Bank (Crawl Believer), and North Delta Title (Crawl Sponsor).
“The Northeast Realtors of Louisiana are committed to supporting our community and so excited to be a sponsor of the Downtown Gallery Crawl,” said Debbie Bayles, President of the Northeast Realtors of Louisiana. “We hope to help promote the arts and our beautiful twin cities through this wonderful event. Hope to see you there!”
In kind sponsors include Sir Speedy Monroe, KEDM Public Radio, Flying Tiger Brewery and Herons on the Bayou.
In addition to the Downtown Gallery Crawl, the Downtown Arts Alliance provides ongoing support to the Northeast Louisiana art community through the following art outreach and educational programming initiatives:
- From 2016-2019 the Downtown Arts Alliance hosted an art competition for local high school and middle schooler art classes to create annual Christmas cards and display them around the downtown areas. The DAA's goal and plan is to bring this program back in 2024.
- In June 2023, Herons on the Bayou will reveal its third and final wave of Herons rounding off the project with 100 full size herons throughout the Northeast Louisiana community. Funds raised contribute directly to the Herons Give Back project.
- The Herons Give Back project will distribute the proceeds of the Herons on the Bayou initiative back into the NELA art community through small grants.
- During 2023 back to school, the DAA provided art supplies to the Children’s Coalition to support their back-to-school drive.
- Cultivate/Create Artist Residency program kicked off in 2022 which allowed two artists to live and work at the Neville House for two weeks and to create art.
The Downtown Arts Alliance and its community programs are supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and as administered by the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works.
For more information about the Downtown Arts Alliance or for sponsorship information, contact Brooke Foy, President of the Downtown Arts Alliance, at 318.512.2131 or artsalliancedowntown@gmail.com.