The Downtown Arts Alliance is hosting the holiday-themed Downtown Gallery Crawl on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 5 to 9 p.m. Guests are encouraged to wear their tacky Christmas sweaters as they enjoy their time at the crawl's two locations: downtown Monroe and West Monroe.
This year's holiday crawl will include food and drinks, live music, visual art of all kinds, and opportunities to buy unique Christmas presents from local vendors. A free shuttle service will run between Monroe and West Monroe, so guests can get the complete experience on both sides of the river.
Downtown West Monroe is planning to host over 45 vendors at two galleries, the Rialto and the Hamilton House. There will also be a fundraiser, music provided by KEDM, and a 4-H photography show featuring West Monroe Mayor Staci Albritton Mitchell. Downtown Monroe will also be hosting several vendors and art, not only at their usual exhibitions in Art Alley, but in two new locations as well.
The Flying Tiger Brewery and The Louisiana Catalyst will be making their Crawl debuts, bringing the number of galleries for viewing to eleven. Brooke Foy, president of the Downtown Arts Alliance, says about the new editions, "We are starting to build and get new galleries, which is always really exciting for us because there are some new people who are curating the spaces and ready to do some fun, new things."
While walking between the old and new art galleries, local vendors and musicians will also be set up along the streets. As holiday music fills the air, the vendors will be selling painted Christmas items, hand-drawn holiday cards, treats, and more.
For more information about the Downtown Gallery Crawl, click here.