Arts Walk has tough competition from super Seahawks

Published 11:00 am Saturday, February 4, 2006

Organizers may scale back future events, as the walk struggles for support

Had she known then what she knows now, Nicole Ringgold may not have volunteered to be manager of Arts Walk 2006 after all.

“After I took the job, I learned there was not much awareness about it and it was poorly attended,” said Ringgold, an artist who also works full time.

Lack of enthusiasm on the part of some artists and downtown merchants, and the popularity of the island’s larger studio tour events during the year contribute to the 10-year-old walk’s struggles, Ringgold said.

Having this weekend’s event on a Super Bowl Sunday that features the Seattle Seahawks may not help.

Future Arts Walks may be scaled back to twice-a-year events. But the series “is not on its last leg,” said Nancy Frey, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council.

“We need to reassess and re-invigorate it,” Frey said.

When a steering committee was in charge of the event, “there was a lot of response and buy-in by merchants,” Frey said. When BIAHC took over the walk in 1997, the steering committee was dissolved and a coordinator was hired.

Participating artists and attendees have dipped through the years, she said, but added that “it’s really hard to gauge the numbers.”

“There are ups and downs (in attendance) throughout the year. February is a hard month,” Frey said. “May and August are perhaps more popular because of the weather.”

Although Arts Walk is fun and a great opportunity, Ringgold said some artists are feeling frustrated.

“There’s a lot of resistance and people aren’t excited any more. I’m really interested in supporting artists to become more immersed in their community…I love the idea of public art in public spaces,” she said. “I thought this would be the anniversary when it would really work.”

Geared toward artists who are not well-known, Arts Walk is held one afternoon each quarter. Winslow merchants pay a fee to participate and get to decide which artists they’ll display in their shop. Artists contribute 10 percent of their sales to the host business. If they sell nothing, they pay nothing.

That may contribute to the lack of enthusiasm by some merchants.

“The venues feel that if they are paying to have an artist, they should get something in return – like some sales,” Ringgold said. “They pay to support artists to have a place to show their art, but sometimes artists are put in the back of the store, (and) their paintings blend in with the other paintings.

“Some venues don’t clear a space in the front for the artist.”

Ringgold recently sent a letter to Winslow merchants reminding them that the walk is “for the artists,” but says she understands their concerns. Some venues have complained of artists who just drop off their works expecting someone else to display them. Another complaint is artists who don’t help promote the event.

Dealing with shop owners can be difficult, too, Ringgold said. If they veto an artist with whom they’re paired, the Arts Walk manager has to go back with photos of works by other artists so they can choose again.

Ringgold didn’t have enough venues for this weekend’s event – which features more than 20 artists – so she had to double up artists at some locations. That required even more rounds of negotiations.

Wrong day?

Challenges aside, the Arts Walk does have its fans, including painter Carrie Goller, whose works will be displayed at Winslow Way Café.

“This will be my third time,” Goller said. “It may be a bit of a quandary that this is on Super Bowl Sunday, but I’m feeling positive. I always have a great time meeting people on the Arts Walk and appreciate the opportunity. Given the number of fantastic local artists and charming merchant venues, I’m looking forward to some great Arts Walk exhibits this year.”

But she also sees the potential to retool the event.

Art Buffet, a group of women artists with whom Goller gets together monthly, discussed Arts Walk at its meeting this week and agreed that the event’s biggest problem may be where it falls in the week.

“The biggest problem is it is on the wrong day, Sunday, which is a family day for most people,” said Goller, speaking for the Arts Buffet group. “The problem could easily be solved by moving the Arts Walk to First Fridays along with the galleries. Islanders are already trained to come out for first Fridays, so it would make much more sense to have it on the same day.

Goller said galleries shouldn’t be worried about competition from other Arts Walk venues.

“Anything that brings more people out helps the galleries, too,” she said. “It could be a good partnership, and advertising could be combined or at least more supportive.”

Gallery Fraga owners Jeff and Kathe Fraga said they to like to participate in the event.

“The whole town becomes an art gallery, especially for venues that don’t usually show art,” Jeff Fraga said. “It’s good for energizing artists. It’s very hard to get a gallery show (if you’re not established). We loved Arts Walk before we had the gallery.”

Ringgold discussed her concerns with BIAHC recently, and more exchanges are planned.

“We’ll be sitting down next week to discuss Arts Walk and potentially redesign the format for it,” Ringgold said. “In other words, we may limit it to twice annually, we may turn it into more of a ‘beat/art walk,’ we may begin to charge artists an annual fee.

“No decisions have been made, but I think I made it quite clear that changes must take place for the event to become a success once again.”

No matter how the event pans out over the next year, she said, “it is evident that, for this to be successful, increased public participation is necessary.”

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Walk this way

Marking its 10th anniversary, Arts Walk will take place from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday along Winslow Way. A marimba band will

perform at Winslow Mall. The theme is “Recycle, Reuse, Repeat” and more than 30 local artists – from sculptors to painters to jewelry makers – and businesses will participate.