4 minute read
Fourth Friday Art Walk
~story & photos by Amy Huffman Oliver
Imagine yourself on a crisp evening stroll down the streets of Nashville admiring the beautiful artwork that fills the shops in the village as the fall leaves skitter around your feet.
Make this image real by taking the Fourth Friday Art Walk, a self-paced tour of ten locations featuring local artist shops and studios in downtown Nashville.
During the months of April to October, participating artisan shops remain open from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., allowing visitors to meet the artists as well as view and purchase their favorite pieces. Some artists provide special treats like wine, refreshments, and there is even a scavenger hunt.
Everyone can find an art form they like with participating shops that specialize in pottery, painting, leathercraft, music, candle making, jewelry, photography, needle felt art and even music. Weed Patch Music Company offers a special Chord Melody Ukulele Workshop for beginners during Fourth Friday events. Contact the store to sign up.
New this fall are “Living Art Colony” demonstrations at the Brown County History Center Pioneer Village which will enhance the Fourth Friday events on October 25 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Additional demonstrations are scheduled for September 27 and November 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
At the Living Art Colony, costumed artisans will demonstrate traditional arts from the period of 1890–1920 including soap making, weaving, blacksmithing, and music courtesy of a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission.
On a warm Fourth Friday evening in August, I started our walk with a little wine, cheese, and conversation at the Hoosier Artist Gallery, a collective of artists on Jefferson Street where Anabel Hopkins and 23 other artists sell their work. Hopkins, a landscape and abstract painter, participated in the first Brown County Candlelight Art Walk in 2009 and she remains an active participant today.
At the Hoosier Artist Gallery, I learned that one artist, Marci Wease, started her career as a forensic scientist before pivoting to art three years ago. Now she transforms salvaged and rusted metal pieces into functional and quirky art and sells it under the name “Junk in this Truck.” As I left, I checked out the intricate designs she created on the panels of a rusty VW Beetle that Marci drives. It is a masterpiece.
Next, I ambled down Van Buren Street to visit Mary Burkhart, owner of Our Little World Shop/Studio. Mary sells local art by her mother, notable local painter MK Watkins, and others. What makes Our Little Studio different is that visitors can not only see and purchase art, but they can create it too. The shop features a makerspace with “Make and Take” projects, some available just by walking in. Mary also accommodates appointments and groups. Visitors choose from an impressive menu of creative arts such as making wooden flowers, fusing glass for jewelry, pressing flowers, pouring candles, making goat’s milk lotion, and spinning/painting pottery.
After a visit to appreciate the hand-crafted pottery created by Holly Salo at Holly Pots Stoneware, I ended my walk on Old School Way at a shop that opened in 2023, Lakehouse Candle Company. The shop’s owner, Mandy Hall, is also in her second career as an artist. Formerly a professor of psychology at Butler University in Indianapolis, she now demonstrates for patrons of her shop the creation of over 100 scents of handpoured, soy wax candles with essential oils and no chemicals.
Enjoy a crisp fall evening on a Fourth Friday night in Nashville where you’ll find living history demonstrations and meet local artisans sharing their crafts. What an appropriate introduction to our historic art colony.
