First Friday Art Walk

Amateur artist everywhere!.. Seriously I don’t think but two of them have took art classes. Sure I like that Springfield is becoming more cultured, but it’s a bit annoying at time’s. People bring their kid’s out from the surrounding area’s so they don’t have to spend money on a «family night.» People walk out in front of you because they think they have the right of way… Creepy single people hit all the shop’s for free wine, and nobody I mean nobody buy’s art!

The art walk In Springfield is entertaining but small. The number of galleries can definitely grow. Enjoyable with early dinner and good walking shoes. Only a handful of galleries are my favorite. The younger artists really need to take control of this opportunity and build more behind art walks.

The reason I gave FFAW five stars is because it IS about as good as it gets for a place like Springfield, and yet it still is gradually becoming better. FFAW is the lifeblood of local culture in Springfield and keeps the relationship between passionate locals and this city alive and well. Plus, not many other cities our size can boast anything similar.
There’s a lot of good stuff to note about FFAW. For instance: restaurants and retail stores stay open a little bit later and often offer up sales or deals; galleries with fresh exhibits offer up complimentary wine or snacks for the 21+ art fiends; street musicians do their thing with harmonicas and acoustic guitars; street vendors sell their goodies on street corners (although admittedly, there’s a lot of hemp jewelry to be found); venues host movies and live shows with local bands; and there’s a major push for high school and college students to showcase their own art pieces. The support for academia is strong in this downtown scene.
I’ve even grown to love the cons as cultural identifiers. Watching the grim anti-​adultery, anti-​gay marriage sign holders on the corner of South and Walnut duel for territory with an almost obnoxiously positive group of people giving out free hugs releases the tension most people feel when walking by, and that infamous ultra-​conservative guy with the megaphone is often not heard over the local music drifting out from venues indoor and outdoor.
Disclaimer about the crowd: the downtown riff raff and druggies really come out of the woodwork every FFAW, but they do that pretty much every night. Plus, there are always plenty of normal people — families, couples, teens, college kids, AND cops — to offset any awkward moments brought on by the rougher crowd, even later in the evening.
For a really perfect FFAW, I’d suggest grabbing an early dinner anywhere between Walnut and Commercial, picking up a coffee and doing a little window shopping, perusing a few galleries, squeezing in a table at one of the bars for a quick drink, then hitting up a show or a movie before going home happy. I’ve done it a million times since I’ve lived in Springfield and it never gets any less fun.

I enjoy the Art Walk, but sweet Christmas there are a lot of nimrods walking around downtown.
If we don’t have any plans on the first Friday of the month and the temperature is right my wife and I will be off to the Art Walk.
Wander around look at a couple galleries, have a drink, go through a couple of shops, have a drink, get a bite to eat (along with a drink.) You get the idea.

Art walk is a mixed bag.
You can have AWESOME art walks with a little of everything, or you get shitty ones that try to follow themes or have little turnout. I HATE going to the galleries. Why are there so many art galleries in Springfield and how do they stay open? I know MSU has a great and wonderful art program, but artists (who don’t make much money at all) collect and meet together to support each other (with little to no money at all) and crowd up small buildings to talk about elitist concepts of art that I, especially, don’t give a rat’s ass about!
You want to know my opinion about art? Art is a skill that comes from necessity. Hunting, for example, is a necessary skill that later turned into target practicing. Painting, I think, came only after someone started conveying messages on cave walls. We DO need to convey messages, but when that message is an entire gallery of penises – I mean, «phallic symbols” – what message are you making?
No joke. Before it became Pickleman’s, there was a MSU gallery there. They’d have featured artists who got famous from shtick or gimmick. The artwork wasn’t about skill, but usually controversy. I was a dating a design major at the time and she invited me out. She told me that she wanted to see the phallic exhibit. I walked in the front door and felt like smashing the sculptures and killing anyone who had anything positive to say about it.
Think about this: if I opened a gallery with sculptures and pictures of vulvas, would I be a pervert or an artist? This bitch who fashioned dongs out of clay is a pervert. Somehow, though, she’s making money.
I go for the bars and specials. I HATE paying full price for beer and will go places that offer me something to drink at a reduced rate. So what if I have to wait 15 minutes to get it, I’m paying half price for the same shit that was costing me my night’s budget!
I suggest going to art walk AFTER 9 pm. The roving packs of high schoolers, older and slower moving car targets, and many yuppies tend to recluse around that time. Galleries start closing. Don’t worry, you’re only missing a tray of crackers and Yellow Tail if miss out on the wonderful, wonderful artistic fortitudes of Springfield’s financially desolate only found in cold, pretentious art galleries.
There will be a lot of people in the bars, so I suggest you and your friends secure a table and send one person the bar at a time for pitchers. Beware of the frat-​asses who’ll blindly intimidate you into moving, but never keep good on their promises of ass-​kickery. You may need to bring a squirt gun with you to fight off hipsters smoking clove cigarettes (hipsters hate water).
If you’re like me, you’ll probably be content in finding a hole-​in-​the-​wall by your lonesome and farting when someone starts crowding your shit OR riding your bike as fast as you can through large crowds of Jersey Shore look-​alikes hoping to flatten a Snooki or Situation.
Keep a flask in your pocket, ’cause you’re likely to wait.

First Friday Art Walk is simply outstanding.
It’s a year-​round way of seeing great art and socializing at the same time, with around 25 galleries taking part, and other stores staying open late.

First Friday is a terrific opportunity for everyone in Springfield to come downtown and discover the best eating, shopping, galleries, and entertainment in town.
Also, the previous reviewer said First Friday only happens during the Summer, which is no longer true… it’s year long, weather-​permitting.

I can’t believe a town like Springfield has such a great art walk. Seriously.
Tons of galleries participate, and you really get to meet people who are a little more on the cultured side. Usually free wine and apps. The first friday of every month in the summer.