Chickasha once again expressed its artistic side with the Second Friday Art Walk, which took place Friday, July 14, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Various businesses across downtown Chickasha participated in this month’s art walk. The range went from the Leg Lamp Statue at 1st Street and Chickasha Avenue down to Shakespeare Wine Company located at 6th Street and Kansas.
The entire event saw local artists from Grady and Caddo counties displaying and selling their work, as well as USAO students and faculty.
Junior fine arts major Meli Salcido sold his work outside of the USAO Art Wrecker along with other current USAO students.
“I think that art walks are a great idea, and when the school year starts, business will boom,” Salcido said. anticipating how the school year will change the future art walks.
Just beyond Salcido’s table inside the Art Wrecker studio was USAO Special Instructor of Art Freddy Baeza displaying and selling many of his hand-crafted ceramics. The Art Wrecker featured Baezea’s work and refreshments for attendees.
Baeza spent an entire week setting up for the event, with at least three-to-four hours a day dedicated to setting up the ceramics and lighting.
Baeza also aspires for art walks during the fall trimester, hoping to have students give live demonstrations.
“For students, I want to bring back the end of the year firing [Firing is heating a ceramic to remove moisture and solidify it]. Eventually, I will have students demonstrate firings at these kinds of events, but I want to get them trained up first,” Baeza said.
Another host of the art walk was the First National Bank and Trust Company of Chickasha (FNB). The FNB plays host to the art walk every quarter of the year, with every showing planned out well in advance.
“The art walk is a fascinating creative endeavor created by local artists,” said Randy Talley, senior vice president for marketing. “We have focused on featuring historic Oklahoma artists during the event.”
The work prominently featured in this art walk at the FNB was the work of the late artist Leonard Good, who was born in Oklahoma prior to its statehood. His work featured at the event went from paint to pencil, as Good worked in many styles.
People could walk freely in the lobby of the FNB, seeing the architecture of the building as well as the work of Good. There were also refreshments available, as well as live music from Cody and Shanna Couch.
Talley also spoke on the importance of featuring local artists’ work at the FNB:
“All of these local artists who are deceased, their works get forgotten if they’re not out for the public to see,” Talley said. “USAO has done a great job in getting these artists out again with the art walks and the Art Wrecker.”
Talley said that the FNB has the next five art walks planned that they will participate in (up to November 2024), and they have the artists and musicians booked for October’s art walk.
Bringing up the west end of the Second Friday Art Walk was Shakespeare Wine Company, hosting many local vendors as well as live music from the band Justus & the Hometown Revival. There were also activities for kids as well as wine for the adults. Free hot dogs and water bottles were available to patrons as well.
As the evening concluded, both ends of the art walk saw many people walking around and enjoying the art and activities. Many of the restaurants downtown were packed with people as they experienced food and live music.
As the name implies, the Second Friday Art Walk will happen once again August 11.
Paul Tointigh is a fourth-year Communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
