Durham Arts Council Presents the 2013 Durham Art Walk Spring Market

Imagine taking a leisurely stroll through the picturesque streets of Downtown Durham and browsing hundreds of pieces of artwork, talking to artists, enjoying live music, and tasting scrumptious foods. Your imagination doesn't have to take you too far, because the Durham Art Walk is coming soon.

The Durham Art Walk (DAW) Spring Market will take place on April 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and April 14 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m in downtown Durham.  The work of over 200 talented artists will be displayed at 33 venues, including the Durham Arts Council, Vega Metals, West Village Apartment Lofts, the Durham Armory, Bull City Arts Collaborative, Net Friends, LabourLove Gallery, Liberty Arts, the Pleiades Gallery, the Scrap Exchange, and the Smitten Boutique.   The Durham Art Walk is produced and presented by the Durham Arts Council.

The DAW Spring Market brings thousands of visitors for a weekend of art enjoyment, shopping, and exploration of all the great things the newly revitalized downtown Durham has to offer.  Visitors will be able enjoy festive musical performances, eat great food and find creative, local gifts for everyone on their Mother’s Day or graduation lists.  The full Art Walk program, including a list of artists and all Art Walk locations, is available in the Durham Herald-Sun the week before Art Walk and can also be viewed at www.durhamartwalk.com.

This year features a second collaboration with the Bull City BUCK$ mobile app program on the Art Walk “Scan”venger Hunt.  Each Art Walk site will feature a QR code that can be scanned to earn BUCK$, which can be redeemed at local businesses.

Storefront installations by the Durham Storefront Project will create a celebratory and springy atmosphere, providing unique artist installations throughout the Spring Market route.  Storefront installations are temporary, so catch them now before they disappear!  A talk by the Storefront Project artists will be held on Saturday April 13th from 5pm-7pm at the Carrack Modern Art Gallery on 111 W. Parrish St. in downtown Durham.

Art Walk is for the whole family.  Children’s shorts and cartoons are on view in the Durham Arts Council’s PSI Theater during the Art Walk weekend.  The Museum of Durham History’s newly renovated History Hub will feature Durham-centric educational exhibits and Art Walk artists.  The Scrap Exchange will feature a group of re-use artists on site during the Saturday of Art Walk.  Vega Metals will be continuing their tradition of offering a unique Durham Art Walk ornament.  Vega Metals will also have food trucks parked outside their location throughout the Art Walk weekend.

Live music organized by Kirk Ridge of the North Carolina Songwriter’s Co-Op will entertain visitors throughout the weekend at the Durham Arts Council, and the Durham Armory.  On Saturday Vega Metals will also have live music, organized by Squier Red.  The Durham School of the Arts will be showing student work Art Walk weekend and Saturday night at 7:30 will feature a dance performance by Blank Slate Dance Company.  The performance will take place at Weaver Auditorium and is being held to benefit cancer support organizations.

Hungry?  Food is never far away with Durham’s special fleet of food trucks and great restaurants including Art Walk sites Blue Coffee Café, Bull City Burger and Brewery, and Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub.  Also make sure to visit The Parlour, downtown Durhamn’s newest truck-to-storefront food addition, to grab some made-from-scratch ice cream during your walk!

“The creative economy is booming here in Durham,” said Durham Arts Council Executive Director Sherry DeVries, “and this event is a great example of this upsurge with so many talented artists at a single event working in every imaginable medium.  We intentionally keep Art Walk as an unjuried event to encourage visual artists at all levels to share and market their work – from artists showcasing for the first time to experienced, nationally known artists.”

The Durham Art Walk Spring Market is free and open to the public, rain or shine.  Visitors can take the Bull City Connector, a fare free bus service connecting Duke Medical Center and Golden Belt, on Saturday.  Free shuttle service is provided on Sunday by Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.  The Durham Art Walk is presented and produced by the Durham Arts Council with support from community sponsors.  For more information, visit online or call 919-560-ARTS.

Durham Arts Council, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization that promotes excellence in and access to the creation, experience and active support of the arts for all people in our community.  The Durham Arts Council, one of the oldest art councils in the United States and one of the largest in North Carolina, manages a historic building at 120 Morris St., a public facility in downtown Durham that attracts nearly 300,000 visitors a year.  The Durham Arts Council has year-round programs including art exhibitions; classes in the performing and visual arts; artist residencies; advocacy and fundraising; grants for artists and arts organizations; the Durham Art Walk; and CenterFest.  For more information, visit their website. To volunteer with the Durham Art Walk, email Lindsay Gordon.

For more information about great Durham art or things to do and see, please visit online.

PARASOL B ART INSTALLATION

"Depiction" is the second interactive installation by Parasol B to be selected by the Durham Storefront Project (DSP) in downtown Durham.

Formation 1 - by Parasol B

Organizers of the Spring Durham Storefront Project wanted to incorporate more performance elements into the installations. Parasol B interprets this in a way that makes the viewer the performer.


Starting at Scratch Bakery (111 Orange St.), viewers with smartphones can scan the painting (colorful and textural upon close inspection but still scannable), of a QR code that will show them a map of sites where they are directed to go and take photos, according to specific instructions. They can then submit their photos to a collection on the Parasol B website.

Thus, the viewers are the performers and the content beyond the initial painting is crowd-sourced/community-created.

QR codes are posted at each photo site for the functional purpose of submitting photos from the site as well as for marking the site for participants and curious passersby.
Viewers are encouraged to visit as many photo sites as possible and in the process, discover some visually interesting nooks and crannies of downtown Durham that may typically go unnoticed.

Parasol B states: “My current work strives to push traditional paint-on-canvas to become interactive and experiential beyond just using one’s eyes. New technologies, like QR code-reading smartphone apps, give me an opportunity to relate old and new mediums/media in an interesting way...as well as to amuse myself.”


The installation will be active 24/7 Thursday, April 12, through May 20, 2012, encompassing both the Full Frame Documentary Festival and the Durham Arts Council Spring Art Walk.


To make the most of the experience, bring your smartphone and a friend.

Bull City Connector Launches Art Walk "Scan"venger Hunt

Residents and visitors interested in earning a few BUCK$ while experiencing the creative energy of local artists, arts organizations, and downtown businesses should mark their calendars for the first-ever Bull City Connector Art Walk “Scan”venger Hunt from Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29, 2012.

The Bull City Connector is partnering with Bull City BUCK$ and the Durham Arts Council for a new and fun way residents and visitors to experience local art and all that downtown Durham has to offer. Participants will earn Bull City BUCK$ during the Bull City Connector Art Walk “Scan”venger Hunt that are redeemable for goods and services at partnering downtown businesses.

Here's how “Scan”venger Hunt works:

• Sign up for Bull City BUCK$ online or download the smart phone application.

• Download the "Scan"venger Hunt Art Walk Guide on the Bull City Connector's website or pick up the guide beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 28 at the Durham Arts Council, 120 Morris St., Durham.

• Use the Bull City BUCK$ application to scan the QR Code at each Art Walk site or bonus “Scan”venger Hunt locations on the Bull City Connector and along the route.

According to Jesica Averhart, market and events manager for the Bull City BUCK$ program, “Scan”venger Hunt participants who use the Bull City Connector frequently can earn over $250 BUCK$ during this weekend-long event. “We are excited about our partnership with the Bull City Connector and the Durham Arts Council. There are several bonus locations along the Bull City Connector route that give participants additional opportunities to earn BUCK$, such as Duke’s East Campus, the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a few businesses on Ninth Street.”

The “Scan”venger Hunt will kick-off with a free event sponsored by the Bull City Connector Advisory Council at Beyú Caffé, 335 W. Main St., on Friday, April 27 at 5 p.m. Participants are encouraged to take the Bull City Connector to the kick-off party to sign up for Bull City BUCK$ and start earning while enjoying live music by The Black Experience.

Free “Scan”venger Hunt After Parties will also be hosted by the Bull City Connector Advisory Council at the following locations:

• The Pinhook, 117 W. Main St., on Saturday, April 28 at 5 p.m. featuring live music by The Wigg Report, Beloved Binge, and All Electronic.

• Bull City Burger and Brewery, 107 E. Parrish St., Sunday, April 29 at 5 p.m. featuring Tubby Ridge with award-winning swing-grass music and joined by celebrated guitarist Justin Johnston.

For more information on the Bull City Connector Art Walk “Scan”venger Hunt or service information, visit the Bull City Connector website, “like” the Bull City Connector on Facebook, or “follow” the Bull City Connector on Twitter. Click the link for more information about the Durham Art Walk.

Durham Art Walk This Weekend

Durham is home to great art, be it performance, music or object.  Looking at the richness of the arts culture in Durham, it is hard to deny the communities commitment to arts overall.

This weekend, more than 200 local artists will participate in Durham Art Walk, an annual cultural event in Durham that has grown significantly over the years. Celebrating its 12th anniversary, the biannual Art Walk organized by the Durham Arts Council, signals its 2011 spring iteration with artwork ranging from photography to painting to jewelry, in addition to other local staples such as Durham-based musical groups and various food trucks.

Work will be displayed in many locations, hence the "walk" part of the name.  A map of locations is here and a list of them is here.  Attendees would do well to remember the Bull City Connector when planning to attend.  This fare-free bus service in Durham will make getting to the event much easier.

Spring into Action

Daylight saving time starts this Sunday and that means one thing, it’s time to spring forward in the Bull City. As daylight expands and the weather gets warmer, make your way to the Pavilion at Durham Central Park to visit the Durham Farmers’ Market, an all local, producer-only market.

Durham Farmers’ Market has 64 vendors that are all located within 70 miles guaranteeing fresh goods. Currently the farmers’ market is open from 10am until noon, but starting in April the market will open at 8am.

This year, to compliment the farmers’ market, Vega Metals is starting an art market at 214 Hunt Street in the Central Park District of Downtown. The Art Market at Vega Metals will feature all kinds of local art including: jewelry, woodwork, metalwork, paintings, home goods, fabric arts, pottery and apparel.

Although the art market will be open every Saturday in March and on April 2, it will celebrate its grand opening on April 16 following a week off due to the Durham Art Walk. Artists interested in participating can visit their website for more information and to learn how to apply.

Speaking of Durham Art Walk, this twice annual art event showcases the work of over 200 artists at sites all over downtown Durham. The Durham Art Walk features visual and performing artists in both traditional and unexpected sites throughout downtown Durham. All sites are within easy walking distance around downtown but walkers are encouraged to take advantage of the Bull City Connector.

So, this spring get out and take advantage of all the creativity Durham has to offer at these three events.