The Downtown Art Alliance (DAA) is gearing up to celebrate 16 years of crawls with a Sweet 16 inspired celebration throughout Downtown Monroe & West Monroe on August 1 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Crawlers can look forward to special photo opportunities at Revival Design on Walnut Street in Monroe and Albritton Photography on Trenton Street in West Monroe. Special birthday signage will be on display in Palace Park along Desiard Street and in Downtown West Monroe. Live paintings will be set up in both downtown areas. Crawlers will also enjoy sweet birthday treats including Coke floats sponsored by the Biedenharn Museum & Gardens. Celebration swag will also be available for purchase at The Good Daze on Art Alley.
Featured shows and artists for this crawl include:
- NELA Arts Council- Region 8 Juried Exhibition: Roots + Reflecting featuring 31 Region 8 artists
- Courtyard Galerie- New Frontiers featuring traditional & contemporary works created by 25+ local and regional artists capturing the cowboy way & heritage of the Wild West
- La Bella- featuring local filmmakers Open Heart Productions and pieces from their upcoming film “The Sea of Madness”
- Albritton Photography- “Crawl with Us”, a photography exhibition focused on the vibrant streets and characters of the modern Downtown Gallery Crawl by official Crawl photographer Dylan Jung
- Flying Tiger Brewery- Points of View by emerging artist Emarie Adams
- Revival Design- Pop Sugar, an interactive art installation with 3 featured artists, makers, bakers, and artisans
- Sugar Gallery by the Black Creative Circle- White Linen Night
Additional participating member galleries are Standard Coffee Co., The Good Daze, Max Porter Provisions, Palace Gallery, and Downtown West Monroe @ Alley Park.
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.
Food trucks and live music can be found throughout both downtown Monroe and West Monroe during the event.
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 2024 season are October 3 and December 5. Participating galleries provide a free and fun environment for the community to interact with, observe, learn about, and acquire fine art.
The 2024 Downtown Gallery Crawl is made possible by the generosity of local sponsors including the Northeast Realtors of Louisiana (Crawl Presenter), Origin Bank (Crawl Believer), North Delta Title (Crawl Sponsor), Yarbrough Capital Advisors (Crawl Sponsor), and the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council. In kind sponsors include Sir Speedy Printing, KEDM Public Radio, and Flying Tiger Brewery.
The DAA's commitment to supporting and promoting art in Northeast Louisiana is evident through its various initiatives, making it a vital part of the local art scene. With the upcoming Sweet 16 celebration, the DAA continues to provide a platform for artists to showcase their work and for the community to engage with art in a meaningful way.
Dr. Leigh Hersey joins Cory Crowe for KEDM's Lagniappe to discuss the event.
